By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Air Force veterans, current service personnel, fighter jets and at least one falcon helped kick off Air Force Week on Tuesday.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Michael Donley ushered in the first Air Force Week of 2010 atop the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
“In the years since September 11, New Yorkers have rested assured knowing that the Air Force is ready at a moment’s notice to defend our city,” Kelly said.
Air Force Week, which runs from Aug. 24 to Aug. 29, features a series of events associated with the Air Force throughout the city, including a park clean-up in Prospect Park, an Air Force Night at a New York Mets game, and a movie night at the Intrepid.
Tuesday’s ceremony honored a handful of “hometown heroes,” as Secretary Donley called the men and women of the Air Force who call New York City home.
“It’s an amazing feeling to be celebrating Air Force Week in my hometown,” said Staff Sergeant MercedesKimble Crossland, who is originally from West Harlem.
“The people in my neighborhood make me feel incredible — like a superstar — when I’m home. They’re always asking my mom what I’m doing and where I am when I’m overseas because they’ve known me since I was a teenager,” Crossland told DNAinfo.
Crossland serves as a photographer for the 31st Fighter Wing public affairs office at Aviano Air Base in Italy. She spent a year as a member of a weapons intelligence team photographing unexploded bombs and improvised explosive devices. Nine suspected terrorists were prosecuted as a result of a database of IEDs created from Crossland’s photos, and she was named Airman of the Year in 2009.
“It’s important for me to come back to Harlem and tell everyone I grew up with how many opportunities the Air Force has given me,” Crossland said.
