Mangano Announces Expanded Military Helicopter Landing At Eisenhower Park On May 28th

 

 

Declares May 15th – May 21st Armed Forces Week in Nassau County

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced today that this year’s military helicopter landing at Eisenhower Park’s Kite Field on Saturday, May 28, is being expanded to incorporate U.S. Navy helicopters and personnel, in addition to the U.S. Marine Corps helicopters and personnel that traditionally take part in the program.

The free event, part of “Fleet Week 2011” activities in New York City, will follow the Nassau County “Armed Forces Week” celebration that Mangano declared from Sunday, May 15, through Saturday, May 21.

The event is being presented in cooperation with the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums.

“It gives me great pleasure to be involved with the expansion of this popular event, which in addition to being a thrilling show provides the public with the opportunity to meet the fine men and women who serve our nation,” said County Executive Mangano. “The timing of this event is particularly fitting given the miraculous operation just completed by our military personnel in Pakistan.”

The program kicks off at 10 a.m. with a mine countermeasures demonstration by a combined team from the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 (HSC-22). The five-member team, comprising EOD technicians, will demonstrate how a group can be inserted via a MH-60S helicopter into an area in which it would be too dangerous for a ship to navigate or an aircraft to land. After the air and land demonstration, the helicopter will be on public display. The EOD technicians are currently stationed in Virginia Beach and the HSC-22 is stationed at Naval Station Norfolk, both located in Virginia.

At noon, the Marines begin their landing, as a MV-22 Osprey, joined by CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters and AH-1W Cobras, perform an area sweep and transport raid-force Marines to the landing zone. The MV-22 Osprey is a multi-mission tilt-rotor aircraft with both a vertical and short takeoff and landing capability. It is designed to combine the functionality of a helicopter with the long range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.

Marines will perform an assault demonstration, after which helicopters will be on display, along with the weapons typically used by a Marine Corps rifle platoon. Marines supporting this event are part of a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and have recently returned from Afghanistan.

The Nassau County Kite Field, where the program takes place, is located just south of the Veterans Memorial in Eisenhower Park, with parking at fields 6 and 6A. Eisenhower Park, at 930 acres, is the largest park in Nassau County. The park is centrally located in East Meadow with entrances on Hempstead Turnpike at East Meadow Avenue and on Merrick Avenue at Stewart Avenue. For more information about this event, call (516) 572-0396 or visit www.nassaucountyny.gov/parks.