inspiration – Page 10

Minekill community scores with GuardHELP

By Staff Sgt. Mike R. Smith, Guard Times Staff

MINEKILL STATE PARK, Blenheim, N.Y. – On a hillside overlooking New York’s Schoharie Valley, olive-colored Army construction equipment groaned amidst brown wafts of dusty afternoon air as engineers leveled several piles of dark dirt. They worked steadily and with purpose. If bags of awaiting grass seed took root before the first frost, valley residents would have a new soccer field to play on in the coming year.

Soldiers from the 204th Engineer Battalion, New York Army National Guard, placed the finishing touches on a GuardHELP project July 29 for Minekill State Park and its surrounding community.

Hercules gets a Nose Job in Scotia

By Staff Sgt. Mike R. Smith, Guard Times Staff

STRATTON ANGB, Scotia, N.Y. — The 109th Airlift Wing’s C-130 Hercules are noted for their good looks. In fact, they win top international honors.

“This is the best-looking aircraft I have ever seen,” remarked a competition judge in 2000, just before the Wing won its third of four “Best Kept Aircraft in Show” titles at the Royal International Air Tattoo in England, beating out more than 150 aircraft, from over 30 countries.

Now, adding style to looks, the Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the Multimedia Flight here started personalizing the Wing’s aircraft with nose-art in November 2004.