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Friday, June 26, 2009
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Educators educated about base
Senior Reporter CAMP RIPLEY - The thumping sound from the rotor blades of two Chinook helicopters over Brainerd Thursday brought Camp Ripley's military presence a little closer to home for residents.
But the view was not as close as one the 60 civilian passengers in the two helicopters received. And that was the point of the exercise.
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Two Chinook helicopters took about 60 community members from Brainerd to Camp Ripley Thursday for the educator and Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Flight for an educational tour of the facilities. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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Mike Bellos, Region 4 Chair with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, coordinated the event bringing area employers and staff members from Central Lakes College and the Brainerd School District for a day-long look at Camp Ripley.
Bellos said the goal of the Educator and Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Flight was two-fold to educate schools and employers about the role of the National Guard and Reserve.
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Beverly Peterson and other passengers got a little windblown Thursday while looking out of an open hatch during the helicopter ride to Camp Ripley. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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The challenges of the citizen soldier are familiar to Bellos. His son-in-law, who works at Central Lakes College, was recently on his second deployment in five years.
"So when you see that personal impact - and a lot of you have - I can't say enough about the support," Bellos said.
Beyond the close-up look at the military hardware, Thursday's tour included the message that support - especially in small tasks of helping neighbors - continues to be needed for the families of those deployed and that services are available in the community to the families and children of those deployed as well as returning military members.
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The Brainerd area's lakes and rivers were evident from the view out the back hatch Thursday of a Chinook helicopter that took people to Camp Ripley for an educational tour. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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Bellos said the support of employers is a key factor. He presented Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted with a Patriot Award for support of Officer Clayton Barg, who recently had his year-long deployment extended. Barg is headed to Iraq next. He's been with the police department about four years and now almost half of that time he'll have been on deployment. Barg, a Marine reservist who was in the Pentagon when it was attacked on Sept. 11, nominated Exsted for the employer's award in recognition of the support he's received.
"Even half a world away he is always worried about the department," Exsted said. "That (award) has my name on it, but that belongs to the department and to the city."
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The Brainerd area's lakes and rivers Passengers of the two Chinook helicopters arrived at their destination Thursday morning ready to learn more about Camp Ripley and the National Guard. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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Exsted was getting a broader view Thursday of Camp Ripley and was taken with the natural resources exhibits.
"I guess you live so close you don't realize what is here," Exsted said.
Wendy Antolak, who works with students at Central Lakes College who receive military benefits, praised Bellos' work and echoed Exsted's comments, saying when driving by Camp Ripley she had no idea how big the site was. Antolak works with about 130 students with military benefits each semester.
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From high above, people in the helicopter could see a road cut through the landscape on the way from Brainerd to Camp Ripley. Humphrey
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Participants received an overview of activities at Camp Ripley, toured buildings, the museum, natural resources, were hands-on with simulators and armored vehicles. The trip included an inside look at the extensive maintenance facilities that employ hundreds to keep everything from cement mixers to tanks running.
"It's amazing what we have in our own backyard and don't even realize it," Rick Wiersgalla, chief operating officer of Unity Bank in Brainerd, said after touring new simulator sites.
"Community relations are very important to us," said Warrant Officer Daniel Bednarek, community relations specialist at Camp Ripley. "We do make some noise out here."
While she was waiting to board the Chinook flight back to Brainerd, Evelyn Brabec said the time at Camp Ripley was phenomenal with the professionalism exhibited by the soldiers. Brabec works in the Brainerd School District's South Campus.
"I have family in the military," she said. "I've been here before but not to the extent of what I saw today. You see the support this place needs from our community.
"It makes you appreciate the men and women who are in the military. If more people saw this I think it would increase support not only for the deployed but for families."
Brabec, who teaches an extensive career exploration unit, said the tour helped to give a view of all the types of career options available in the military and she can pass that on as a training and services option to students. And Brabec said she hoped it also would help in connecting to students of family members who have been deployed.
"I knew this place was important to our community and to the nation. It just gives me an appreciation of what goes on here."
Just having the twin-engine tandem rotor Chinook helicopters at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport was attention getting Thursday morning.
"How did we get so lucky?" said a man at Airmotive Enterprises Inc.
The helicopter pilots banked the aircraft so passengers could see the tops of nearby trees. On the flight back to Brainerd, passengers had bird's eye views of sailboat-dotted lakes and a landscape of green intersected with cars moving some 800 feet below.
"It was cool," Kelly McCalla, Central Lakes College dean of liberal arts, said of the flight. "It's impressive to see the capability the military has and what it can do."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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