Rapid Fire performs at 76th IBCT deployment ceremony
By Staff Sgt. Les Newport
Rapid Fire Photo Gallery By Sgt. Mike Krieg

The Indiana National Guard's Rapid Fire will debut two songs as a salute to the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team at a departure ceremony in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis on January 2nd. 

"This is a relatively new experience for Rapid Fire," sad Staff Sgt. Cindy Hogwood. "The band played at the Indianapolis 500 and has traveled for a few small venues, but playing for a packed stadium, that's a little different.

Although not a member of Rapid Fire, Hogwood, who is the full-time readiness and supply NCO for the 38th Infantry Division Band, has spent much of her time preparing for the departure ceremony. The 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team is leaving Indiana for approximately two months of pre-deployment training at Ft. Stewart Ga. before deploying to the middle east in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

The two songs, kept under tight seal until the departure ceremony has given the band a lot of new opportunities and a lot of extra work.

"The brigade brought us the songs in October and asked if we would consider helping them out," said Hogwood.

Hogwood said there was no hesitation for band members, although at the time, they probably weren't aware of just how how far they would take the project. After spending an afternoon rehearsing and recording a rough cut of the songs, the band sent them to Indiana National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters for approval.

Lt. Col. Deedra Thombleson, Public Affairs Officer for the state, said the songs were instant hits with Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger and his staff. Umbarger, a previous commander of the 76th Brigade, gave the go ahead for the band to perform the songs at the ceremony and record them in a local studio.

"That was definitely the fun part," said Hogwood.

Band members live across the state, even as far away as Louisville, Kentucky, so getting them together for the evening recording sessions proved a challenge. Working together, and sometimes on their own, the band managed to get the songs together in time for the ceremony.

Lead vocalist Sgt. Paul Foster was struggling with a winter cold and laryngitis, but managed to recover to put the final tracks down in December. A trained military vocalist, Foster recently left the Navy and joined the 38th Infantry Division Band. As a civilian, he is a fulltime youth music minister at his church in Lafayette.  

The band also enlisted the services of deploying Soldier from the brigade for the recordings and the performance. Capt. Lisa Kopczynski, the brigades public affairs officer, frequently sings the National Anthem and other songs for Indiana National Guard. Kopczynski provided lead vocals for a duet with Foster on one song and sings backup on the other.

"This is the first of many incredible memories I'll have from this deployment," said Kopczynski. "I've told (the band) many times how much we appreciate this, but I think it will take some time before they realize just how much it means to us."

The songs will be available for downloading in an MP3 format on the brigade's website at www.76bct.org/songs.htm  

Rapid Fire Photo Gallery