European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 1, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The coastguard s Navy pictures and Story by William m. Powers the 16 . Coast guardsmen woman the Long Range navigation Loran transmitter at Tala Pulan is land in the Philippines might be called modern Clay Robinson Crusoe. Tala Pulan situated in the Calami Nisland group 180 Miles Southeast of Manila is one of five isolated Lora Sites built and maintained in the Philip Pines by the United  Sites transmit radio signals which allow ships and aircraft in South East Asia to navigate with electronic  interference from Large population centers prevents a Clear Sig Nal so the transmitters Are built in re Mote areas. Robinson Crusoe the Semi fictional hero of Daniel Defoe s novel of the same name spent 28 years on tropical Island with Little companion ship and few material  coast guardsmen at Tala Pulan have it a Little better. They do a one year tour on the Island but unlike Crusoe hey have Contact with the outside world. An amphibious seaplane from the main coast guard base at Langley Point near Manila flies in once a wee carrying fresh food spare parts and what the men consider the most important cargo mail. Since there is no Landing strip on the Island the plane sets Down in the water and the men Transfer their supplies by boat. A Supply ship visits the station about twice a year bringing fuel Oil to Power the diesel electric generators and also lands equipment too Large to transport by  the air plane or ship is gone though Tala Pulan is strictly on  Al he transmitter site is designed to be completely self sustaining. Enough supplies and fuel Are kept on hand to keep the station going for months i necessary without Contact from the outside  sole purpose of the Loran site is to transmit a radio signal which i monitored on special receivers carried on commercial and military planes an ships. The receiver compares the time interval Between signals of several Dif Ferent Loran transmitters in the Philippines. The result is a reference number which shows on the receiver space. The navigator of the aircraft or ship then finds the same reference number on a special map and can immediately pinpoint his position sometimes within  advantage of the Loran system is that it does not depend on visual sightings or weather As does celestial  is also a rapid method. Even a relatively inexperienced navigator can keep a minute to minute Check on his Page 12 position which is particularly desirable when navigating in poor weather. Loran has a Range of 500-600 Mil Sand we Are required to operate 24 hours a Day said electronic technician  l. Gaines of Wilmington . We re also required to transmit Clear accurate signal 99.4 percent of the time. We actually average 99.8,"Gaines said. The Loran equipment Gaines help maintain has been in use since 1946 and there Are no real problems with it he  biggest problem is being away from our families for a year Gaines continued. Being away from civilization i nothing new to the be whiskered senior enlisted Man of  chief Boatswain mate Tom Crosby 38, of West Chestfield n.h., has spent 200 months at sea out of a 19 year , who sports a Beard that probably would have made even Robin son Crusoe envious has sailed in practically every Type of vessel the .coast guard operates. I be been in weather ships ice Breakers and i came Here from two years in the coast guard training bark Eagle the Only Square rigged sailing ship in the .," said Crosby. Vrosby fills in As executive officer since Tala Pulan has Only one commissioned officer. He also supervises the Overall running of the  try and keep people Busy so the time passes More quickly said  a station which operates extremely reliable equipment keeping Busy i sometimes a problem in itself he said. All hands participate in mandatory sports such As the daily volleyball game played on a Cement court every one helped build. Other self help projects include build ing a Patio for showing movies and cisterns to increase water storage capacity. Like Many of his men Tala Pulan s25-year-old commanding officer it. . Peter m. Small of Belville n.y.,enjoys duty on the Island. I wanted to come Here in the firs place and it s turned out to be the most interesting year of my life said Small. Tala Pulan looks like the image of a Beautiful tropical Island people picture in their imaginations he  said his men have plenty of time to work on off duty projects Suchias correspondence courses swimming and other  Are permitted to occasionally take the station s Small outboard Motorboat to one of several Small towns on other  Are also made to the famed Leper Colony on culion Island which lie about two hours to the Southeast by  s Hospital corpsman mar Celino Garcia treats minor ailments of isolated Island duty gave chief Crosby time enough to grow and train his Robinson Crusoe like Beard. F the stars and stripes Crosby steers boat calmly toward Tala Pulan Island in the Philippines As Sun sets Over South China sea. Coast guardsmen make Supply from Albarro Riding Serene ,. Technician Gaines Peers into Hood to Check on transmitted signal. Thursday. 1, 196q the stars and stripes the Island residents and gives information on sanitation and Hygiene. Nightly movies and Good food also help keep morale up Small continued. Approximately 150 filipinos live Onta Lampula and the station employs about six  people on the Island earn their living growing crops Rice or by fishing. The Loran site at Tala Pulan dates Back to 1946 when the equipment was in trailers and the men lived in tents. Gradually both men and electronic gear were moved into quonset huts and in 1960 the present permanent building were erected. Because the weather is hot and humid most of the time and the duty is isolated variation in uniform dress i permitted. It looks Odd to have men in Shower shoes but it definitely cuts Down the cases of athlete s feet we have to treat said Small. Our other Loran Sites Dot the Philippines from the extreme North of the country on Batan Island to the extreme South on Taru Pitao Point others Are located on Catanduanes Island and Naulo Point Luzon. Allare manned by the . Coast guard. The Taru Pitao Loran site has saved the lives of 18 filipinos in the last six  persons were saved from a privately owned dc-7b which made forced Landing in the water close to the  filipinos were saved from drowning last december when their Banca boat overturned in heavy surf a Quarter mile off  of the time life on the Sites like Tala Pulan is a steady routine of keeping up the equipment punctuated by weekly visits of the Supply  Robinson Crusoe though Talam Pulan s coast guardsmen look Forward to leaving their tropical Island and go ing Home