8th Civil Affairs Regiment, Texas State Guard, provides Support to Wings Over Houston Air Show
1LT Joseph Conte, 8th Regiment Public Affairs, Texas State Guard
2009/11/04
A 8th Regiment, Texas State Guard, Soldier provides flight line crowd control in front of Commemorative Air Force Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “TEXAS RAIDERS”.Photo by 1LT Joseph Conte, 8th Regiment Public Affairs, Texas State Guard
ELLINGTON FIELD, HOUSTON, TX - Over 100 Soldiers of the 8th Civil Affairs Regiment, Texas State Guard, helped make the 25th Annual Wings Over Houston Air Show a success on Saturday Oct. 31 and Sunday Nov. 1 at Ellington Field in Houston, TX.
The Wings Over Houston Air Show draws approximately 50,000 visitors annually, and is organized as a celebration of patriotism and an educational event that provides community entertainment, aviation awareness, and military recruiting opportunities.
The 8th Civil Affairs Regiment Headquarters, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Battalion, Quick Reaction Team Detachment, and C4I Detachment soldiers devoted over 3,000 man-hours to its mission of gate access control, flight line crowd control, and crowd control during air show performances.
Members of the Texas State Guard Medical Brigade, Houston Group, provided medical support to the 8th Regiment during air show operations.
The Highlights of the 25th Annual Wings Over Houston Air Show featured the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team, U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Tactical Demo Team, USMC AV-8 Harrier, USAF F-15E Strike Eagle, USAF A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II, USAF C-17 Globemaster III Demo, C-47 and C-17 Transport Heritage Flight, Air Force Heritage Flight, U.S. Coast Guard HH-65C Dauphin Helicopter Demo, Commemorative Air Force Tora! Tora! Tora! WWII Airpower Demo, the Horsemen P-51 Mustang Formation Team and many others.
U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly in formation over Ellington Field, Houston, TX, at the Wings Over Houston Air Show, while 8th Regiment, Texas State Guard, Soldiers provide flight line crowd control for thousands of participants.Photo by 1LT Joseph Conte, 8th Regiment Public Affairs, Texas State Guard
The show’s security coordinator, Chris Hendon, said he was very impressed with the 8th Regiment’s handling of the visitors during the air show performances. The 8th Regiment’s assistance will be requested at next year’s show, Hendon said.
This is the 23rd Wings Over Houston Air Show the 8th Regiment has participated in.
Members of the public also expressed thanks to 8th Regiment soldiers for their patriotism and service to the State and to the Country.
The Texas State Guard (TXSG) is one of three branches of the Texas Military Forces (TXMF), reporting to The Texas Adjutant General, Major General Jose S. Mayorga, located at Texas Military Forces HQ, Camp Mabry (Austin), Texas. The Commander in Chief of the Texas Military Forces is the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry. The other two branches are the Texas Army National Guard (TXARNG) and the Texas Air National Guard (TXANG).
The Mission of the Texas State Guard is to provide highly trained soldiers for Defense Support to Civil Authorities (DSCA) by providing ready military forces during State Emergences to assist State and local authorities in homeland security, community service and with medical services.