Airmen participate in Rose Bowl events

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Angelic Ramirez
  • Space and Missile Systems Center Public Affairs
LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) --  A B-1B Lancer kicked off the national college football title game Jan. 4 with a flyover of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Gen. Ronald Keys, commander of Air Combat Command and Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center here, represented the Air Force at several Tournament of Roses week events leading up to the game between the University of Texas and the University of Southern California.

Events included Fan Fest Expo Village, a family festival where the 369th Air Force Recruiting Squadron, Los Angeles, hosted their “Cross Into the Blue” interactive display, an F-16 Fighting Falcon, satellite systems displays and special operations parachute simulators. Air Force recruiters and Los Angeles AFB Airmen helped share the Air Force mission and career opportunities with thousands of Rose Bowl fans and visitors to Pasadena.

Since 1999, a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber with the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Mo., has flown over the parade route of the Tournament of Roses. For the 117th Tournament of Roses parade, the event was moved from its traditional New Year’s Day date, which fell on a Sunday this year, to Jan. 2nd. Despite having the first inclement weather since 1955, the B-2 still flew its eight-hour training mission from and to Whiteman. However, due to cloud ceilings below acceptable minimums, along with low visibility and heavy rains, the B-2’s flyover pass was not seen or heard by parade attendees or on national television.

Two B-1B Lancers, with the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas, staged their single-ship flyover out of the Long Beach Airport, Calif. Dyess maintenance crews launched and recovered both aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force Academy’s Wings of Blue parachute team jumped into the Rose Bowl, delivering the game ball and game coin tossed by the Tournament of Roses Parade Grand Marshall, retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The Academy’s Cadet Chorale entertained the audience with a medley of patriotic songs. General Keys was introduced to the 90,000 Rose Bowl fans at the end of the first quarter.

Texas beat USC, 41-38.