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Eastern Air Defense Sector's Canadian-American Honor Guard Opens Local Hockey Team's Home Season

  • Published
  • By Tim Jones
  • EADS Public Affairs
ROME, N.Y. --  The Eastern Air Defense Sector provided a bi-national honor guard Wednesday night for the home ice opener of Rome's new minor league hockey team.

Composed of New York Air National Guardsmen and Canadian Forces members, the five-man detachment presented the American and Canadian flags during the countries' respective national anthems.

Played at Rome's Kennedy Arena, the game pitted the home town Frenzy against the Akwasasne Warriors, a Canadian team. Given the cross-border competition and EADS Canadian detachment, kicking the game off with a bi-national honor guard was a natural.
"The Canadian-American honor guard showcases our Air Guardsmen and Canadian Forces members," said Col. John Bartholf, EADS Commander. "This enables us to support community events in a manner that highlights EADS bi-national mission and organization."

Master Sergeant Jeffrey Lamarche, EADS honor guard program director and Non-commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC), said the unit has provided honor guards for 49 events this year. Most honor guards are composed only of New York Air National Guardsmen, Lamarche noted. EADS typically provides four to five combined Canadian-American honor guards a year, he added.

The EADS honor guard's next event will be a Veterans Day/Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony at Rome's Veterans Park on Nov. 11.

The Eastern Air Defense Sector is headquartered at Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome. Staffed by active-duty New York Air National Guardsmen and a Canadian Forces detachment, the unit supports the North American Aerospace Defense Command's (NORAD) integrated warning and attack assessment missions and the Northern Command's (NORTHCOM) homeland defense mission. EADS is responsible for air sovereignty and counter-air operations over the eastern United States and directs a variety of assets to defend one million square miles of land and sea.