Most of the talk going into the football team’s game against William & Mary is about the condition of redshirt freshman Russell Wilson and the injuries that seem to be piling up for the Wolfpack. But for several seconds just before kickoff, all eyes at Carter-Finley Stadium will be in the skies rather than on the field.
Saturday’s game is Military Appreciation Day, and the day is designed to honor servicemen and women with various activities and events. But the highlight of the day is when pilots from Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base steer their fighter jets over the stadium and army jumpers deliver the gameball.
There is a lot that goes into planning the flyover, according to Captain Seth Hamilton. Hamilton is part of a committee who coordinates the day’s events with the University, FAA and the Pentagon
“I started getting the paperwork together [for a flyover] after the March timeframe,” Hamilton said. The aircraft being sent to fly over Carter-Finley Stadium is the F-15E Strike Eagle. It is a dual-roll fighter designed to perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
Captain Pichard Keely, from the 335th fighter squadron at Seymour-Johnson Air Force base will be the weapons system officer on one of the F-15Es.
Keely’s unit performs flyovers often. He said a flyover is a simple task.
“We fly over a lot of points, we kind of just make it look like the way we train when we do in a tactical scenario,” Keely said. “As far as what we train for in a combat situation, you just find a set of coordinates, which is the center of the field. The ROTC people have requested what the stadium wants us to do–what direction, air speed [and] altitude. And we just point that direction, coordinate with RDU airspace and off we go. It’s really pretty straight forward.”
While this is Keely’s first actual flyover, he has helped with a number of them. His wife, Captain Susan Keely, is an Air Force instructor at N.C. State and a Military Appreciation Day Representative.
Captain Susan Keely said there is more involved than just a flyover by the Air Force.
“There are going to be army jumpers parachuting with the game ball prior to the flyover,” Keely said. “The unique Air Force piece is the flyover by the F-15s. That shows air power and gets the crowd interested in what the Air Force is about and what we do.”
The Air Force will also have a representative on the field–Master Sergeant Woodrow Lemon, who is a Purple Heart recipient. He received his medal after the Khobar Towers bombing in Khobar, Saudi Arabia on June 25, 1996. The bombing killed 19 servicemen and over 300 people were injured.
Alongside Lemon will be Lt. General Ray Odierno, an N.C. State graduate and the replacement for General David Petraeus, who has been commanding the U.S. troops in Iraq.
Lemon was approached by one of his chiefs about the coin toss and is honored about the opportunity.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Lemon said. “I’m really looking forward to it. My middle son Bradley is playing football for the first time ever, and he just made the Little Warriors team. He’s just kind of learning football, so this is going to be awesome for him to get a look on how the big boys play.”
Lemon said the Military Appreciation Day is great for the community and the University.
“I think that it’s an awesome thing that they’re doing,” Lemon said. “It’s a good community builder. It’s nice to have a good relationship with the military and the surrounding community [and] University.”
