Freedom Salute honors DC Guard medevac unit Saturday

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The 121st was the first military unit to fly the UH-72 Lakota in an overseas mission. The helicopter is pictured above over the nation's capital.

WASHINGTON, DC (10/20/2011)(readMedia)-- A Freedom Salute for the D.C. National Guard's 121st Medical Co. (Air Ambulance) at Fort Belvoir, Va., will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. The 121st was the first U.S. military unit to deploy overseas with the UH-72 Lakota, a multimillion dollar helicopter being fielded to the military.

The media is invited to attend the ceremony. Interviews with unit members will be available.

Maj. Gen. William Crosby, U.S. Army Aviation program executive officer, is the keynote speaker for the event.

What: Freedom Salute for 121st Medical Co. (Air Ambulance)

When: 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.

Where: DC National Guard 260th Regional Training Institute

9000 Gunston Road

Fort Belvoir, Va. 22060

Fort Belvoir is located on US Route 1 approximately 15 miles SW of DC and about 5 miles south of the Beltway intersection of I-95 and I-495.

Media planning to attend will be met in the parking lot outside of the Tulley Gate at 8:30 a.m. and will be led to the ceremony from there.

During its deployment, the 121st became the first unit to perform a medical evacuation mission using the Lakota from where it was stationed near Hohenfels, Germany. The unit was also the first to be equipped with the medevac configuration to deploy overseas.

The 121st performed medevac operations at both Hohenfels, which is home to the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, and Grafenwoehr. The Freedom Salute honors the men and women of the unit for their dedication to the nation.

The Lakota replaced the UH-1 "Huey" as the primary medevac helicopter. The last Huey in the National Guard inventory was flown by the unit for the last time Thursday from its home at Davison Army Airfield near Fort Belvoir. It is being refurbished for use as a trainer by the Air Force.