{"id":2072,"date":"2012-08-24T09:41:39","date_gmt":"2012-08-24T09:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=2072"},"modified":"2017-08-09T17:16:41","modified_gmt":"2017-08-09T17:16:41","slug":"maryland-national-guard-trains-estonian-air-force-pilots-for-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2012\/08\/24\/maryland-national-guard-trains-estonian-air-force-pilots-for-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland National Guard Trains Estonian Air Force Pilots for Deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1500630942811{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1500630924693{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”]B<\/span><\/span>y 2nd Lt. Jessica Donnelly,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Maryland National Guard<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Public Affairs Office<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/sup>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1500630900015{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Pilots with the Estonian Air Force have been training with the Maryland Army National Guard, learning to fly rotary wing aircraft and preparing for deployment with the unit.<\/p>\n

Capt. Rene\u00a0Kallis\u00a0and Lt. Martin\u00a0Noorsalu\u00a0have been attached to C Company, 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment, training on UH-60 \u2018Blackhawk\u2019 helicopters in preparation for a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.<\/p>\n

The unit mobilized during a ceremony held Feb. 3, and departed for training at Ft. Hood, Texas, before continuing on to Afghanistan.\u00a0Kallis\u00a0and\u00a0Noorsalu\u00a0will join the unit overseas and are scheduled to participate in six months of the year-long deployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be working together with the Maryland National Guard \u2026 and we hope to act as co-pilots,\u201d added\u00a0Kallis\u00a0about the deployment.<\/p>\n

After they return from deployment,\u00a0Kallis\u00a0and\u00a0Noorsalu\u00a0will remain with the Maryland Army National Guard, rotating through various staff positions to get more first-hand experience and training on how a rotary wing unit is Maryland National Guard trains Estonian Air Force pilots for deployment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

During their time in the U.S.,\u00a0Kallis\u00a0and\u00a0Noorsalu\u00a0have completed the UH-60 qualification course at Fort Rucker, Ala., as well as conducted high altitude training with the OH-58 \u2018Kiowa\u2019 helicopters in Colo. They also participated in pre-mob training, such as chemical warfare training and squad lanes, with the 169th to prepare for the deployment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve gotten a lot of experience and good training,\u201d said\u00a0Kallis\u00a0of his time with the MDNG.<\/p>\n

The Maryland National Guard has a relationship with Estonian through the National Guard\u2019s State Partnership Program, which brings together U.S. states and territories with partner nations to enhance international security and promote understanding, trust and stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaryland has a long history of partnership with Estonia,\u201d said Maj. Gen. James Adkins, adjutant general of Maryland. \u201cWe\u2019ve been partnering with Estonia for nearly 19 years, we\u2019ve grown up together. \u2026 Long-term, enduring relationships have developed through this partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adkins added, \u201cThere is no program with a greater value because of the relationships it creates.\u201d<\/p>\n

C Company, 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment is a medical evacuation aviation unit. The unit, which is known by their nickname\u2026\u201dthe Misfits,\u201d is commanded by Capt. Teresa Parrotta and is based out of Weide Army Airfield[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pilots with the Estonian Air Force have been training with the Maryland Army National Guard, learning to fly rotary wing aircraft and preparing for deployment with the unit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":2073,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2,810],"tags":[289,755,756,290,440,151],"class_list":["post-2072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-state-partnership-program","tag-afghanistan","tag-estonian-air-force-pilots","tag-maryland-national-guard-army-aviation-support","tag-national-guards-state-partnership-program","tag-operation-enduring-freedom","tag-uh-60-blackhawk"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2072"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2075,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072\/revisions\/2075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}