Guardsmen help make Rhythm and Booms a smashing success

As residents across the state look forward to the Independence Day weekend, members of the Wisconsin National Guard got an early start on the nation’s holiday courtesy of the 2009 Rhythm and Booms celebration, held at Madison’s Warner Park.

Rhythm and Booms fans have become accustomed to a dazzling fireworks display set to music. Wisconsin soldiers and airmen brought the heavy metal — cannons, Humvees, Black Hawk helicopters and F-16 fighter jets.

The highlight of the afternoon was the UH-60 Black Hawk display. Soldiers from the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 147th Aviation Battalion landed at the park and spent more than two hours giving tours and answering questions. For an encore, they conducted a sling-load demonstration later in the day, delivering a Humvee and a single 105-mm howitzer to the park. Their big finale occurred just before dusk when four Black Hawks flew over the park.

Just before the launch of the largest fireworks display in the Midwest, Army Guardsmen raised Old Glory as the National Anthem played. While the "home of the brave" sounded through the park and across the state on local radio, four jets, from the Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard, made a brief but dynamic appearance as they roared across the sky.

“Our absolute favorite is the flyovers,” confessed Michelle Starker of Sun Prairie, who said she preferred the military aircraft to the fireworks.

But not to be out done by their airmen brethren, Guardsmen from the 120th and 121st Field Artillery battalions and the 426th Regiment manned three 105-mm howitzers for much of the day — adding a fourth at the conclusion of the sling-load demonstration. The soldiers fired cannon salutes at the top of each hour most of the afternoon, and provided the firepower for Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” to close out the fireworks show.

This was the fourth Rhythm and Booms celebration for Master Sgt. James Ward of the 426th Regiment, who directed the artillery pieces throughout the day. He said he really enjoys working with soldiers and artillery, but the setting wasn’t too shabby, either.

“To have the front row view of the fireworks, you won’t get that being part of the crowd,” he said.

Weather concerns prompted Rhythm and Booms organizers to postpone this year’s celebration until Sunday. The delay appeared to do little to dampen the enthusiasm of Sunday’s crowd.

Brig. Gen. Donald Dunbar, adjutant general of Wisconsin, called attention to the approximately 3,600 Wisconsin National Guard soldiers and airmen currently deployed around the world supporting the global war on terror and other missions. Deployed units include the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 732nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 951st “Sapper” Engineer Company, a Wisconsin National Guard embedded training team, 128th Air Control Squadron and the 115th Security Forces Squadron. Dunbar also thanked family members and employers of the deployed Guard members for their continued support.

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A Wisconsin Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter positions a 105-mm howitzer near a Humvee as part of a sling-load demonstration Sunday, June 28 at Warner Park in Madison. The Wisconsin National Guard supported the 2009 Rhythm 'n' Booms celebration with a static display of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, fly-overs by four Blackhawks as well as F-16 fighter jets, and multiple salutes from four 105-mm howitzers. Wisconsin National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Vaughn R. Larson		Spc. Joshua Kohn and Pfc. Jeremy Repinski, both members of the Wisconsin Army National Guard's 120th Field Artillery Battalion, explain the 105-mm howitzer to visitors Sunday, June 28 before the Rhythm and Booms fireworks show at Warner Park in Madison. In addition to the static howitzer display, field artillery soldiers performed hourly cannon salutes. Additional Wisconsin National Guard support for the celebration included a static display of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, a Black Hawk sling-load demonstration of a 105-mm howitzer and a Humvee, and flyovers by four Black Hawks as well as F-16 fighter jets. Wisconsin National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Vaughn R. Larson		Wisconsin Army National Guard field artillery soldiers fire cannon salutes during the finale of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" Sunday, June 28 during the 2009 Rhythm and Booms celebration at Madison's Warner Park. Wisconsin National Guard support included a static display of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, a Black Hawk sling-load of a 105-mm towed howitzer cannon and a Humvee, flyovers by four Black Hawks as well as F-16 fighter jets, and multiple salutes from four 105-mm howitzers. Wisconsin National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Vaughn R. Larson