NY Army National Guard Pilot Completes 40 years of service with Final Flight in Rochester on Tuesday

Media Advisory

ROCHESTER, NY (08/24/2020) — New York Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Sauer, an Army aviator with more than 6,000 hours in the air, will cap his 40-year career on Tuesday, August 25, with a traditional military "final flight" in which he will be greeted on return with a salute from airport fire trucks and a line of well-wishers congratulating him.

Sauer, a Churchville, N.Y., resident and a veteran of the Afghanistan War, retires in January after 40 years of military service. Sauer's final flight is expected to return to the Army Aviation Support Facility for the traditional salute as his C-12 airplane will pass under two streams of water sprayed by Rochester Airport crash trucks at about 4:30 p.m.

Warrant Officers are technical specialists who fall in between the Army's non-commissioned officers, known as sergeants, and the commissioned officer corps.

WHAT: Return of the final aviation flight mission of retiring Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Sauer. The aircraft will pass under two streams of water being shot from Rochester Airport crash vehicles on his return. Sauer will be greeted by his family and congratulated by well-wishers.

WHO: Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Sauer, a New York Army National Guard pilot assigned to Detachment 5, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 245th Aviation Regiment. Sauer is a pilot of the C-12 fixed wing aircraft.

WHEN: 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 25, 2020. Media should arrive at the flight facility at 4 p.m. if the aircraft arrives earlier than expected.

WHERE: New York Army National Guard Aviation Support Facility, 76 Patriot Way, Rochester, NY 14624

Media Opportunity: Visual imagery of the Army C-12 aircraft passing under the spray of water from Rochester Airport crash trucks and the greetings of family friends for Chief Warrant Officer Sauer's final military flight.

For media access to this secure military facility, contact Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bill Accuosti at 518-755-6016 to receive updates of the flight itinerary.

Background:

James Sauer began his military career in 1979 as an armored crewman on an M60A1 main battle tank as a loader/driver. After completing his initial training at Fort Knox, Ky., he served in Schwabach, Germany where he continually rotated to the Czechoslovakian border for border security missions.

Sauer went on to attend Warrant Officer Flight School at Fort Rucker, Alabama in 1987 and upon graduation as a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot served in South Korea until 1989 as a medical evacuation pilot. While overseas, Sauer completed more than 110 medevac missions, including shipboard transfers and field site pickups.

Sauer was then assigned to Fort Drum, New York from 1989-1993 as an assault helicopter pilot with the 10th Mountain Division, conducting field training exercises, multi-ship operations in day, night, and night vision goggle conditions. He deployed for counter-drug operations along the U.S. southwest border and deployed in 1993 to Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope.

Sauer left active duty in 1993 and entered the New York Army National Guard as a traditional Guardsman in 1995, serving as an assault helicopter pilot with the 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment in Latham, New York. He participated in countless aviation training events focused on the newly fielded UH-60 aircraft.

He completed a fixed-wing aircraft transition course in 2000 and was reassigned to the C-12 detachment in Latham and conducted flight missions in support of operations that included missions in Central and South America supporting.

Sauer deployed with the detachment in 2009 to Afghanistan as part of Task Force ODIN to provide persistent observance of enemy and friendly force ground movements.

In 2010, he completed the instructor pilot course and returned to perform duties as a unit instructor pilot.

Sauer deployed again in 2014, supporting missions on the Horn of Africa in Djibouti. Missions including movement of personnel and cargo transport to numerous locations on the African continent.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Sauer has more than 6,100 hours of combined military and civilian aviation flight time.

He is employed fulltime with the New York State Police as a civilian pilot assigned to their Aviation Unit in

Rochester. Prior to the State Police, he served approximately nine years with the Rochester Police Department as a patrolmen.

Family attending will include his wife, Marie Sauer, along with his daughter-in-law, Julie Sauer with her children (grandchildren), Jacob and Grave.

Jim's son, Josh, will not be able to attend. He is currently out of state on temporary duty with the Air Force Reserve unit out of Niagara Falls.

Family will also include his daughter Laura (Sauer) Ames with her husband, Jeff, and their children (his other two grandchildren), Olivia and Gavin.

Also attending is Jim's brother, Gerry and sister, Sue.

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