8th Regiment Provides ‘Wings Over Houston’ Support
CPT Joseph Conte, PAO, 8th Civil Affairs Regt., TXSG
2010/10/27
PFC Adam Dudley (Foreground), 1st Bn., 8th Regt., provides flight line crowd control in front of a Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “THUNDER BIRD”.
HOUSTON, Texas -- Over 100 Soldiers of the 8th Civil Affairs Regiment, Texas State Guard, helped make the 26th Annual Wings Over Houston Air Show a success on Saturday Oct. 23 and Sunday, Oct. 24 at Ellington Field in Houston.
The Wings Over Houston Air Show draws approximately 50,000 visitors annually. It is organized as a celebration of patriotism and an educational event providing community entertainment, aviation awareness and military recruiting opportunities.
The 8th Civil Affairs Regiment soldiers provided over 3,000 man-hours to its mission of gate access control, flight line crowd control, and crowd control during air show performances. This was the 24th time the 8th Regiment has participated in the Wings Over Houston Air Show.
Members of the Texas State Guard’s Medical Brigade, Houston Group, provided medical support to Wings Over Houston during air show operations.
The Highlights of the 26th Annual Wings Over Houston Air Show featured the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds Flight Demonstration Team, U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet Tactical Demo Team, USAF Viper West Demo Team F-16 Fighting Falcon, 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 Dauphine Helicopter Demo, Commemorative Air Force “Tora! Tora! Tora!” WWII Airpower Demo, Navy Legacy Flight and many others.
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 noted.
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.
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).