Estonian Air Force pilots deploy with Maryland National Guard
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1964″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500576588507{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500576331869{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Story and photos by 2nd Lt. Jessica Donnelly[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500576651567{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]Pilots with the Estonian Air Force, who have been assigned to the Maryland National Guard for the past year, deployed from Weide Army Airfield in Edgewood, Md., Aug. 24.
Once overseas, Capt. Rene Kallis and Capt. Martin Noorsalu will be attached to C Co., 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment which deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year.
Capt. Rene Kallis and Capt. Martin Noorsalu, along with Family and Maryland National Guard members, walk out to the UH-60 Blackhawk that the Estonian Air Force pilots left in.
“[Our deployment] is a big step for the Estonian Air Force,” said Kallis. He added, that the deployment is the first of its kind and that hopefully it will pave the way for more Estonian service members to deploy in the future.
The Estonian pilots learned to fly UH-60 ‘Blackhawk’ helicopters with the Maryland National Guard after completing the qualification course at Fort Rucker, Ala. Kallis explained that the Blackhawk is much different than the aircraft they are used to flying in Estonia, which is much smaller, but they have been conducting plenty of flying hours to get familiar with the new aircraft.
“We’re glad that you’ve made it to this point in your training,” said Maj. Gen. James A. Adkins, the adjutant general of Maryland. “We can’t wait to have you back.”
When the Estonian pilots return from their deployment, they will continue serving with the Maryland National Guard, rotating through various positions to include flying, maintenance and operations.
“It will be a tremendous experience and training for you both,” said Adkins. “We want you to feel like one of our Soldiers because you are our Soldiers. You’ve trained for a year with us, you’re going into combat with us, and when you get back, you will still be flying with us.”
The Estonian pilots are assigned to the Maryland National Guard as part of the State Partnership Program. The National Guard’s 65-nation, 20-year-old SPP provides unique partnership capacity-building capabilities to combatant commanders and U.S. ambassadors through partnerships between U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia and foreign countries. The SPP was launched in Europe as part of the initial outreach by the United States to new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
The Maryland Military Department has had a partnership with Estonia since 1993, and has another partnership with Bosnia-Herzegovina that has been in place since 2003.
C company is a medical evacuation aviation unit that is deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with approximately 40 members and six of their UH-60 “Blackhawk” helicopters. The helicopters are based at Weide Army Airfield.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]