{"id":12025,"date":"2019-02-20T21:30:18","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T21:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/?p=12025"},"modified":"2019-02-20T21:30:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T21:30:20","slug":"d-day-squadron-adds-us-coast-guard-flight-safety-officer-to-protect-mission-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/d-day-squadron-adds-us-coast-guard-flight-safety-officer-to-protect-mission-success\/%20","title":{"rendered":"D-Day Squadron Adds US Coast Guard Flight Safety Officer to Protect Mission Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Kevin Riley<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The D-Day Squadron, part of the Tunison Foundation, has announced\nthat Kevin Riley, United States Coast Guard Flight Safety Officer and MH-60T\npilot, will fill the role of Technical and Flight Safety Coordinator participating\nas a volunteer in the Squadron\u2019s mission. This mission, to return C-47 and DC-3\naircraft to Normandy, France to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, is\none that Kevin connects with on a personal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI grew up around older veterans and quickly developed a\nfascination with aviation,\u201d he shared. \u201cAnd today I want to honor the veterans\nthat flew in the C-47s, one of which was my Grandfather\u2019s brother. We need to\nrealize that this was not an enjoyable experience for the 18-20-year-old pilots,\ncrews and paratroopers that lifted off into the night to kick-off one of the\nmost climatic battles in history. And in June of 2019, we will have the\nunprecedented opportunity to transform swords into plowshares by paying tribute\nto these heroes in a peaceful context using the same machines they once rode\ninto war. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so excited to be joining the D-Day Squadron in this\neffort to ensure a safe and enjoyable journey for these aircraft across the\nAtlantic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin will be stewarding the fleet of C-47 and DC-3 aircraft\nas they transit the original “Blue Spruce” route, used to ferry\nwarbirds during the Second World War. The Squadron will depart from Oxford,\nConnecticut (KOXC); stopping to refuel in Goose Bay Airport (CYYR) in\nNewfoundland, Canada, Narsarsuaq Airport (BGBW) in southern Greenland,\nReykjavik Airport (BIRK) in Iceland and refueling a final time at Prestwick\nAirport (EPIK) on the Western coast of Scotland before making the final leg to\nDuxford Airfield (EGSU) north of London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once at Duxford, the Squadron will join its European\ncounterpart, Daks over Normandy, for commemorations and aerial displays from<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 2nd-5th 2019. This will build up to the entire,\ncombined aerial armada crossing the English Channel on the 5th of June.  Upon landing at Caen-Carpiquet Airport in\nNormandy, France, additional activities honoring the Greatest Generation and\nother events will take place from June 5th-9th 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo say we\u2019re excited to have someone with Kevin\u2019s\nqualifications as part of our team in an understatement,\u201d added Moreno Aguiari,\nExecutive Director of the D-Day Squadron. \u201cTo engage in this type of precision\nformation flying, using historic aircraft over large tracts of open ocean\nrequires skill, precision and experience. Kevin is bringing those qualities to\nthe table to supercharge the professionalism and dedication of our pilots and\ncrews, and we are truly lucky to be able to leverage his expertise for such a\nmonumental effort.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The D-Day Squadron, part of the Tunison Foundation, has announced that Kevin Riley, United States Coast Guard Flight Safety Officer and MH-60T pilot, will fill the role of Technical and Flight Safety Coordinator participating as a volunteer in the Squadron\u2019s mission. This mission, to return C-47 and DC-3 aircraft to Normandy, France to commemorate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12025"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12027,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12025\/revisions\/12027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}