In 2007, the RI Aviation Hall of Fame provided Special Recognition awards to the men and women of the 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment of the Rhode Island Army National Guard, which was named the Outstanding Army National Guard Aviation Unit of the Year nationwide for 2005. Flying in the Iraqi theater for virtually the […]
BG Christopher Callahan
BG Christopher Callahan, USA now serves as the 44th Adjutant General of the State of RI. Previously, he served as the Director of Aviation and Safety at Quonset. He also served in Iraq as CO of 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment.
Maj. William D. Chesarek, USMC
Marine Corps Maj. William D. Chesarek was born in Newport, RI. He is the first American to receive Great Britain’s Distinguished Flying Cross since World War II. His exploits involved the daring rescue of a wounded British soldier in Iraq. Queen Elizabeth II presented his award at Buckingham Palace.
CW5 Mark De Souza, USA
Mark is a RI Army National Guard helicopter and fixed wing pilot who has flown almost 10,000 hours for the RI Army National Guard. He has deployed three times to Iraq, once to Kuwait, and once to Colombia; and has flown numerous Army aircraft in 38 countries and territories.
Thomas J. Magnan
Thomas J. Magnan, retired from the Rhode Island Army National Guard as a Chief Warrant Office Five (CW5) on July 1, 2009, completing nearly 41 years of honorable military service, which included active duty deployments to Viet Nam, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan. He accrued more than 20,000 flight hours in his career, qualifying in aircraft […]