North Carolina Guard Aviation Soldiers Arrive in Lakota UH-72 for Career Day

SPC Kendell Smith, an Apache Helicopter mechanic, 449th Theater Aviation Brigade, answers questions from students at Rogers Lane Elementary School in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina Army National Guard photo by SSG Mary JunellSPC Kendell Smith, an Apache Helicopter mechanic, 449th Theater Aviation Brigade, answers questions from students at Rogers Lane Elementary School in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina Army National Guard photo by SSG Mary Junell

Soldiers with the North Carolina Army National Guard’s 449th Theater Aviation Brigade (449th TAB) landed a UH-72 Lakota Helicopter on the field at Rogers Lane Elementary School, Jan. 31, 2018.

The Soldiers were invited with the help of the school’s Personalized Learning Coach, Heather Collins, whose husband is the commander of the 1-130th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 449th TAB, as part of a career and character event for the students at the school.

“The kids at the school benefit one hundred percent from seeing how they can apply their school skills outside the walls of the building,” Collins said. “Any opportunity we have to connect real-world experiences to our students’ learning, we take advantage of.”

The Soldiers who arrived in the helicopter included pilots, helicopter maintenance, crew chiefs and administrative support, giving the children a wide scope of ways their education could be applied outside the workforce.

Collins said that leading up to the event, students learned about helicopters in the classroom, helping them to ask more thoughtful questions.

“The earlier we can get these character traits instilled in the children – those parallel skills to academics, those life skills – the better we can get them progressed towards college and career readiness.”

LTC Benny Collins, commander of the 1-130th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 449th TAB, said that it was important that the Soldiers talk to the students about skills that will help the children later in life, regardless of whether they join the military or not.

“One of the reasons we came out was to talk about a few specific things like integrity, honesty, being honest with each other and what it takes [in our job] for us to trust each other between pilot, mechanic and crew chief, and the fact that when we say something to each other, it’s true,” said LTC Collins. “We talked about having to finish school, to get a high school diploma – how in life and in the military that is very important.”

BY SSG Mary Junell, North Carolina National Guard

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