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| Corrections officer: A 'bittersweet' landing for pilot |
| By timesunion.com - CAROL DEMARE Staff writer |
| Published: 06/15/2011 |
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There were water sprays over his Black Hawk and champagne on his head Tuesday as Chief Warrant Officer Steven Derry, a combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam and Iraq and a member of the security force in Bosnia, flew his last flight in a "bittersweet" parting from the National Guard. Derry, 59, of Corinth, enlisted in the Army in 1969 and trained to fly helicopters at Fort Wolters, Texas, and Fort Rucker, Ala. "Why walk when I could fly?" Derry said about choosing aviation over the infantry. It's traditional that when a pilot touches down, wrapping up the last flight of a career, an audience is there for a greeting. Waiting for Derry at the runway at the Army Aviation Support Facility at the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs in Latham, behind the Albany International Airport, were about 60 National Guard members. As the chopper arrived, in true ceremonial style, two water trucks from the airport's fire department sprayed an arc over the Black Hawk, an aircraft that made its debut in the 1970s. Once Derry was out of the pilot's seat and on the ground, two Guard members doused him with bubbly. The others, dressed in fatigues, applauded. All the Guard members are connected to the aviation community, Lt. Col. Richard Goldenberg said. Derry walked down the two lines formed to greet him, shaking the hand of each soldier. "It's bittersweet," the retiring pilot said. "I've spent a lot of time doing it." He recalled good, bad and even "crazy" times in his aviation units, stateside and in war zones. "I'll miss the people." The technology on helicopters has changed immensely since Derry began. "That's one of the reasons I'm getting out," he said. "I can't keep up. I can't do it as fast or as well as I'd like." He spent two hours at the controls Tuesday, flying over Glens Falls and other areas of the Capital Region. His co-pilot was Chief Warrant Officer Jim McCauley. Derry works as a corrections officer at Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility in Wilton. Read More. |
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