Air Force films Edwards, Travis Airmen, aircraft 'Above All'

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) --  Aircrews from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., recently took part in the filming of the latest round of Air Force commercials featuring the new campaign theme "Above All."

The filming at Edwards Feb. 6 through 8 features an Edwards F-22 Raptor first being aerial refueled by a Travis KC-10 Extender, then being called away to perform a new mission.

"The new slogan is admittedly a bold one," said Col. Michael Caldwell, deputy director of Air Force Public Affairs, "but so are Airmen."

This campaign accurately portrays Airmen and how they're executing the Air Force mission to ensure the security and safety of America now and in the future, he said.

"'Above All' is about what we do and how we do it," Colonel Caldwell said. "The job of the Air Force is to defend America and we do that by dominating air, space and cyberspace. The new campaign and slogan captures our roots, but also illustrates where we're going as a service as the Air Force prepares to contend with future threats."

Showcasing the Air Force's rapid mobility and global reach is the purpose of this particular commercial, said Tim Gilmore, Air Force account director at GSD&M, the service's contracted advertising agency in Austin, Texas. There are two other commercials being filmed in this round - one on the newly created Air Force Cyber Command and the other on Air Force Space Command.

"This is all about the ability of the Air Force to globally reach (conflicts) -- of how fast (the Air Force) can be somewhere at twice the speed of sound," Mr. Gilmore said. "It's about trying to get young people ages 18 to 24 excited about jobs that are offered in the Air Force."

During the three days of filming here, Eric Saarinen, the director of the commercial, and his crew filmed exterior shots of the F-22 and the KC-10, as well as inside shots of the KC-10 while aerial refueling the F-22 in the skies above Edwards.

On the second day of shooting, Mr. Saarinen was filming Staff Sgt. Lucero Stockett, the KC-10 boom operator, as she aerial refueled the F-22.

"The main shots that we we're trying to get are the boom operator and her relationship with the pilot and the sense that the Air Force is not just a bunch of machines; it is people with a bunch of machines," Mr. Saarinen said, talking before the aerial filming took place. "People have their own specific duty and (we want to showcase) the kind of trust that (Airmen) have with each other and the high degree of technical expertise that everybody has."

To showcase the aerial refueling capability of the F-22 and the KC-10, the camera crew, normally consisting of a director, cameraman, sound man and other associated people, was reduced to just two -- Mr. Saarinen as the cameraman and director and an assistant on board the aircraft. This was to Sergeant Stockett, enough room to perform her job without the film crew impeding the mission.

Talking about the filming after the mission took place, Sergeant Stockett said she wasn't fazed by the extra attention.

"I was focused on what I was doing, and I really didn't pay attention (to the camera)," she said.

"It was actually pretty cool, I must admit that," the five-year Air Force veteran said. "It was exciting and different. I'm really not used to having people in the back (of the KC-10)... but, I think they got really good shots of what we really do and that's all that's important to me."

Both the KC-10 crew nor the F-22 pilot auditioned for the commercial as what normally happens with roles in Hollywood. Rather, Mr. Gilmore said, the Air Force assigned the aircrews as a normal mission that needed to be filled.

"We want real people," Mr. Gilmore said. "When we go to a base or a particular part of the Air Force, we ask that the (Air Force) presents us with a range of five candidates or more that they think are appropriate.

"We've never had problems finding very articulate people who love to talk about their job," he said. "We want people excited about what they're doing -- by and large, most people are."

The KC-10 aircraft commander, Maj. Ian Larive, said being picked to participate in the filming of the commercial is an honor.

"I feel like it's a great honor to be able to go up there and do my best to show everybody in the world what we do for the Air Force," Major Larive said. "I have a very professional crew that helped me out with that."

The new commercials will debut on TV and the Internet later this year.

For more information on Air Force opportunities, go to www.airforce.com.

(Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, contributed to this report)

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