The Navy's beloved flight demonstration team is celebrating its 70th anniversary of Blue Angels entertainment on March 12.
The Pensacola, Florida-based squadron — with its seven F/A-18 Hornets, three C-130 pilots and more than 100 maintenance and support staff — has undergone some changes lately, adding an executive officer to its line-up in 2014, and the following year, welcoming its first-ever female pilot, C-130 driver Capt. Katie Higgins. It's also the first season for their new boss, Cmdr. Ryan Bernacchi.
Higgins, XO Cmdr. Bob Flynn, Command Master Chief (SW/AW/EXW/IDW) Blake Schimmel and spokesman Lt. Joe Hontz told Navy Times about the squadron's future in a March 8 phone interview from their Naval Air Facility El Centro, California, training ground. Questions and answers have been edited for brevity.
Why were the Blue Angels started?
Flynn: It was started in 1946. [Fleet] Adm. Chester Nimitz wanted to keep aviation in the front of the minds of the American citizenry after World War II. He’s the one who was the impetus for creating the Blue Angels.
They started with just a few airplanes and they even had some other interesting acts as part of their airshows. And it grew and grew and grew to the present day.
What’s your mission today?
Hontz: I think the mission has evolved by us reaching out to people that may not have any interaction at all with the Navy and Marine Corps. So people in the Midwest can actually see Capt. Higgins flying a C-130, Navy F/A-18s flying in a demonstration. We may be the only time they ever see anything Navy or Marine Corps-related.
Are you adding anything special for the 70th?
Hontz: The city of Pensacola is doing a proclamation on the 21st [of March], a big ceremony at the Blue Angeles atrium at the museum there. And then we’re always doing forums with current and former Blue Angels to engage more with the public. They can come and meet current and former Blue Angels and ask questions, just to bridge that gap even more. We want to be very approachable.
How does the Navy justify having demonstration teams when money is so tight?
Flynn: The connection to the American people — there’s so much talk about how few Americans are actually serving in the military. We just want to make sure that we keep that connection so they know what their tax dollars are going to. The Navy, the Marine Corps, the Army and Air Force spend a lot of money on commercials and things like that, but with the Blue Angels, they can actually look at, and meet and see the service members in action.
I would say that commercials don’t inspire people, and that’s what we tend to do.
Why are the Blue Angels a good career opportunity, for pilots and enlisted?
Schimmel: It’s not just enhancing one’s own career. As our sailors and Marines come here, they’re aware they’re going to be part of a team. And as their level raises here, they’ll be able to take that back to the squadrons and ships they report to in the fleet and in the Corps.
Flynn: The reason why we consider ourselves a center of excellence for the Navy is not because we have always the best. It’s just that we give our sailors so much responsibility, because like I said, we only have 130. So we have second class petty officers that have a tremendous amount of responsibility that they might not have the opportunity to get as quickly...
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