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Show I Weteye equipment displayed The L'.S. Army's Weteye Emergency Ksponse Team and the people of ernat met Saturday-and each went j aay feeling good about the other. . occasion was the open house held 'he response team at Vernal -"micipal Airport where they are -wioned while 888 Weteye bombs filled ith nerve gas agent are air lifted from Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver to Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Several hundred people including many family groups turned out for the open house, which was held Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Many brought cameras and took turns photographing each other trying on protective masks that made them A i mm i 1 2-.: ':;'' imh - I. s '-.Cri , ..... A (i ' , ' '? - i' - . , wB, L RESIDENTS inspected U.S. Army i'- vPrny,elemergency equipment Saturday at the nal Municipal Airport. The large helicopters look like something out of "Star Wars", or they used the occasion to take a picture of the family posing alongside the big Chinook helicopter that was on display. Chinook is the aircraft that will transport the response team should there be an emergency along the (Continued on Page 2) have rotating propellers that measure 60 feet across. Wet eye - - - (Continued from Page 1) Weteye airlift route. The Chinook was the star of the show, both in the air and on the ground. In an aerial demonstration a Chinook make a high-speed pass, and then demonstrated demon-strated how rubber "blivets" filled with two tons of water will be slung to the belly of the helicopter should the team be called to an emergency site. Virtually every visitor took time to walk around in the large cargo hold and check out the cockpit where row on row of switches, gauges and other instrumentation in-strumentation make an impressive display. Army pilots acted as tour guides on the aircraft and answered questions for their civilian guests. Adults seemed most interested in the big aircraft's capabilities and in the Weteye move and the Vemal team's role in it. Children seemed to especially enjoy a chance to sit in the pilot's seat or to play policeman behind the wheel of a military police jeep with working siren. The open house also featured a first aid demonstration and a demonstration of a high pressure water spray decontamination apparatus. "I don't know when we've hosted nicer people," said Capt. Walter Schumacher, senior pilot for the response team. He said his avaintion group the 179th Avaiation Company out of Fort Carson, Colo. attracts attention wherever they take their Chinooks, but that their Vernal visit has been special because of the warm reception they received. "We wanted to meet the people of Venral and let them see what we do and how we do It," said Lt. Lucas Polakowskl, commanding officer of the response team. "We wanted them to take a look at us, talk to us and hopefully see In as the professionalism, care and concern that hns been devoted . to making sure the Weteye move is a safe one. "I'd estimate we had 500-700 people here today, and everyone I talked to said they enjoyed our open house," he said. |