Hometown Heroes' Day

The Friends of the Airman and Family Readiness, and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve organizations are sponsoring a Hometown Heroes’ Day honoring the Airmen and Soldiers, families and employers of Guardsmen at the Horsham Air Guard Station on Oct. 5.

The base will be open to the community from 9 a.m. through 4 p.m. for this free event to recognize the contributions of its base military members, to salute the sacrifices of their spouses and children and to thank actively engaged civilian employers of Pennsylvania’s Guardsmen and women.

Military displays from base-assigned Pa. Air National Guard, Army National Guard and the Army Reserve units will feature equipment and demonstrations highlighting the broad-spectrum of missions performed here in support of local, state and federal needs.

This is the first community invitation to visit the base since the days of the Willow Grove airshows, last held in 2006 and the final flight ceremony at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base in March of 2011.

Events, activities and vendor stations scheduled to appear will appeal to people of all ages. A classic car show, face painting and a moon bounce. The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society will be sponsoring an animal adoption program during the course of the day.

The day will kick off at 8 a.m. with a 5-kilometer fun-run, titled the “Heroes 5K on the Runway”, utilizing the closed runway. Advance registration forms will be available online at http://www.hometownheroesday.org or available on race-day beginning at 7 a.m.

Musical entertainment on a multi-stage setup and official presentations to award recipients will be going on throughout the day. Local food vendors will be onsite, in an area previously used for aircraft parking.

Since the base realignment and closure actions in 2005 and deactivation of the runway, Horsham Air Guard Station has undergone a vast number of changes.

“This is an excellent opportunity to involve the surrounding community”, said 111th Fighter Wing Commander, Col. Howard “Chip” Eissler. “Although our roles in state and federal defense missions had to change over the years, our commitment to the community has remained solid. Our people are proud of the jobs they do every day. The evolving missions here are equally as important to the area and defense of the U.S. even though the footprint of the base has changed dramatically.”

“It’s important to recognize our Airmen and families, to show our appreciation for their dedication and service,” said Anna Richar, program manager for the 111th Fighter Wing’s Airman and Family Readiness office. “We want to open our doors to the community to inform them of our ongoing accomplishments. Our goal is to build and re-enforce relationships with the surrounding townships and community citizens.”

 “The local employers and businesses of our Guard and Reserve personnel make sacrifices as well,” said Theresa Arentzen, base ESGR program support technician. “We’re going to be recognizing them for the hardships they encounter while their valued employees are deployed or called to other military obligations. It’s their flexibility and support that makes the citizen-soldier concept work.”

For everyone’s safety and security: vehicles, bags, backpacks, camera bags, purses, strollers and the like are subject to search at any number of checkpoints while entering the base. Prohibited items include: firearms of any kind, ammunition, explosives, illicit drugs, alcohol and coolers.