New York National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing Airmen to visit with Brazilian Air Force next week
The visit is being conducted as part of the National Guard's State Partnership Program
STRATTON AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, SCOTIA, N.Y. (09/13/2019) — Airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing will travel to Brazil next week to meet with members of the Brazilian Air Force's 1st Squadron of the 1st Transport Group at Galeao Air Base in Rio de Janeiro.
The meeting is being conducted as part of the New York National Guard's new training partnership with Brazil.
New York's pilots and maintenance personnel will arrive in Brazil to discuss Antarctic operations with the Brazilian flying unit slated to support a Brazilian research station in the South Shetland Islands off the coast of Antarctica. The islands are on the opposite side of the continent from the U.S. base at McMurdo Station.
McMurdo is the home base for the 109th Airlift Wing during its operations in Antarctica as part of Operation Deep Freeze. Operation Deep Freeze is the Department of Defense mission supporting U.S. scientific research in Antarctica.
"This is the first exchange between the 109th and the Brazilians," said Lt. Col. Seth Barrows, a navigator at the 109th. "The focus is Antarctic operations because the squadron we are meeting also flies C-130s to Antarctica. It should be interesting."
The trip is being conducted as part of the New York National Guard's participation in the State Partnership Program administered by the National Guard Bureau.
The program pairs states with a partner country's armed forces to create a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship.
New York and the Brazilian Armed Forces signed their joint declaration to formalize the State Partnership Program between both institutions in March this year during a ceremony in New York City.
New York has had a State Partnership Program relationship with South Africa since 2003.
This is the first unit visit since the New York National Guard has partnered with Brazil. More trips concentrating on different military missions are planned for the future.
"We will share how we operate in Antarctica and they will share what they do. You never know what you might learn," Barrows said.
The 109th Airlift Wing operates the LC-130 Hercules transport equipped with skies. This is the largest aircraft in the world with the ability to land on snow and ice at isolated polar locations.
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New York National Guard
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