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RALEIGH, N.C. – The National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes paid tribute to the North Carolina National Guard and to all branches of the military during their Military Appreciation game at the RBC Center here, Feb. 25.
Guardsmen from the 130th Attack and Reconnaissance Battalion displayed an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and members of the 440th Army Band performed the National Anthem to Hurricanes fans on the big screen at center ice.
Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Karmire, Safety officer, along with his five-man crew, arrived at the RBC Center in the Apache from their Morrisville headquarters at about 3 p.m. on windy Saturday afternoon.
Karmire, a 20-year veteran, has been deployed twice, once in 2004 to Bosnia and 2009 to Iraq, so a little wind didn’t affect his ability to land.
“We just flew around the arena once,” he said. “We thought about landing it the first time but we thought it would be best to go around once more.”
When they got the aircraft down on the RBC Center’s south lawn, the wind from the propeller blast uprooted a tree.
The Apache was quite the attraction for fans showing up early for Saturday’s annual event, prior to the Hurricanes match-up with the Florida Panthers. Children were eager to hop up in the helicopter and had their pictures taken seated in the cockpit.
Parents and other interested spectators asked about the specifications of the Apache. Sgt. Doug Dove, an armament specialist, explained the functions and capabilities of the aircraft. Dove, also a veteran with three tours – two in Afghanistan in 2003, ’09, and 2010 in Iraq – answered visitors’ questions like ‘how does this helicopter compensate for wind?’
“There are main sensors – air direction sensors. Manual correction is input in the system,” he said. “There are hundreds of calculations going on. All that info is auto-corrected by flight management to get the proper calibration.”
From 3 p.m. until right before 7:30 p.m., the crew stood outside with hockey fans and answered questions. Then the crew headed into the RBC Center where the 440th Army Band, “The Guardsmen,” opened up the game singing the National Anthem.
The quartet appeared slightly nervous in the moments leading up to the performance, but after a strong showing, they were excited to shake the hand and accept congratulatory remarks by Hurricanes’ staff members as they walked off the ice.
The RBC Center had numerous military “shout-outs” during the game from all branches of service and displayed the service members on the big screen throughout the game. There were also several military-related displays throughout the arena ranging from military specialties to military support organizations.
Of the nearly 16,000 fans in attendance, more than 400 soldiers and Airmen of the NCNG were present for the game. Redhat, Inc. provided their full-service, 16-person box suite for the game and the N.C. Guard received 400 complimentary tickets from the Hurricanes.
Though the Canes lost the game 3-2 in a shoot-out after overtime, the N.C. Guard troops enjoyed the tenacious play of the hockey team and the opportunity to watch the game with complimentary tickets.
The event was a success and provided fun for everyone.
EDITORS AND PRODUCERS: For queries, contact the North Carolina National Guard Public Affairs Office at pao@ng.army.mil or by phone at (919) 664-6242. For more NCNG news, visit our website: www.nc.ngb.army.mil/. To become a Facebook fan of the NCNG, please visit www.facebook.com/NCnationalguard or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ncnationalguard #NCNG. To view additional pictures from North Carolina National Guard events, visit www.flickr.com/photos/ncngpao.
| Date Taken: | 02.25.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.02.2012 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 84631 |
| Location: | RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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