May 12—SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE — With the Scott Air Force Base Airshow slated for this weekend, the Blue Angels arrived in full force on Thursday morning.
Blue Angels pilots, on seven Boeing F/A 18 Super Hornets, flew into the base to prepare for the show on Saturday and Sunday. They were joined by Fat Albert, a reconfigured U.S. Marine Corps Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules. The Blue Angels use Fat Albert for their logistics, carrying spare parts, equipment, and to carry support personnel between shows.
Lt. Commander Thomas Zimmerman, who is Blue Angel No. 7, arrived at the base on Wednesday to give flights for a pair of key influencers, including Collinsville High School Principal Daniel Toberman.
Among the team members to meet with the media on Thursday was Lt. Commander Phillippe Warren, who is the flight surgeon and squadron doctor for the Blue Angels.
The airshow is the first at Scott since 2017, as the 2020 show was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will be the first airshow at Scott since 2010 for the Blue Angels, who were scheduled to be part of the 2020 show.
"It's exciting for us and it's a part of the country that's a little bit far from where we're stationed in Pensacola (Florida)," said Warren, who joined the Blue Angels in November. "To get to come up here and do an airshow and perform outreach in the community someplace where we don't get to spend a lot of time is huge for us."
Scott AFB is the latest stop on the airshow circuit for Warren and his fellow Blue Angels.
"Since the beginning of March, we've been going to airshows every single weekend and the ones before this have been in Florida and Texas and we started out west in California," Warren said. "This is our first one in the Midwest, which makes it even more exciting.
"We like to be able to inspire people to join the military, but beyond that, we like to come to place like this and get out into the community. It's far beyond the Navy and we want to inspire people to be the best they can be."
Fostering hope
As the chief doctor for the Blue Angels for this weekend's airshow, Warren will visit St. Louis Children's Hospital along with some team members.
"We get to visit some sick kids who could use that inspiration and one of the messages I like to send is that hope is medicine," said Warren, who spoke in front of jet No. 3. "I want to bring that hope to kids here at the hospital and try to inspire them."
Warren's primary duty as squadron doctor is to make sure that all the team members stay healthy and to take care of any medical issues that occur. Beyond that, he is also in charge of safety for the flight demonstrations.
"During the demonstrations, I'll be at show center on a headset, and I'll be in communication with the pilots," Warren said. "If they have any issues that pop up, I'm the one that walks them through emergency procedures. My goal is to make sure that the show is safe."
A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Warren grew up near the Norfolk Naval Station. While he was in college, his older brother joined the Navy and that inspired him to join soon afterward.
"I decided to go to medical school around the same time, so the Navy paid for that," Warren said. "After graduation, I went on active duty and did my training in pediatrics the first year."
Warren then went to flight school, inspired by his parents, who both worked for NASA. He served the Marines for two years with an Osprey squadron and applied for the Blue Angels at the first opportunity.
"When I was medical school, I got the opportunity to see the Blue Angels visit sick patients in the hospital and when I say hope is medicine, it's real," Warren said. "Some kids were struggling hard to get better and when the Blue Angels came to the hospital and talked to patients one-on-one, those kids lit up and they got better.
"That motivation to want to get better, just by spending time with folks who were so excited about what they did, was so inspiring. When I saw the opportunity to be part of that team, I wanted to travel around the country to inspire people to get better and be better."
After spending the next two years with the Blue Angels, Warren plans to return to pediatrics.
"Navy doctors do a unique thing where we go out and do operational tours and then go back to the hospital in our primary specialty," Warren said.
'An awesome show'
For anyone who hasn't been to an airshow before, Warren encourages them to come to Scott AFB this weekend.
"They'll get to see a lot of fast planes, but the big thing about the Blue Angels compared to other airshows is the precision flying," Warren said. "They can get excited to see planes flying really close to each other with very precise movements.
"It will also be pretty loud, so I recommend using hearing protection all the time."
In addition to the F/A 18 jets, another highlight of a Blue Angels performance is Fat Albert, which will perform its own routine at the show.
"A lot of the team flew up on Fat Albert today and it usually transports our team personnel and supplies," Warren said. "During the airshow, Fat Albert will showcase a lot of different things that the C-130 can do."
Also on hand at jet No. 3 for Thursday's event was AD1 Cat Henry, who is part of the quality assurance crew and works as a maintainer for the Blue Angels jets.
"The entire maintenance team is made up of roughly 100 individuals from all different grades of the military, specifically the Navy and the Marine Corps," Henry said. "We work on the jets themselves and the C-130 (Fat Albert) as well.
"Behind the scenes administratively, we have the supply group and the actual mechanics. We all want to make sure the jets are doing what they're supposed to be doing."
As part of the quality assurance team, Henry makes sure everyone is doing their job in preparation for the airshow. Her job during the actual demonstration is to operate the runway truck, a pickup truck that can deal with any issues regarding the jets.
"We want to make sure we can get the jet up and flying with no issues," Henry said.
From the maintenance team to the pilots, the airshows themselves are where all the hard work and preparation pays off.
"The airshows are the reason why we love this job," Henry said. "We see all the smiling faces and that's an instant reward. People get to see the jets and it's an awesome show."
Henry, who grew up in Moline, Illinois, joined the military in 2006 as an engine mechanic.
"I joined the Navy mainly because my grandfather was an Army Air Force pilot," Henry said. "I wanted to work in aviation and the Air Force was there and they said they would give me a good job. I've been doing it for 17 years and I love it.
"Joining the Blue Angels is a selection process, and you can apply for it in the military when you're an E5 or E6 (non-commissioned officer ranks). I had heard about the Blue Angels when I was working on F/A 18s in the fleet, and I knew multiple maintainers and pilots who had been on the team. They told me I would be a good fit for it, so I applied and got accepted."
A first for demo pilots
Blue Angel No. 3, who is the pilot of the jet where Warren and Henry conducted their interviews, is Lieutenant Amanda Lee. She is the first woman to serve as a demonstration pilot.
A native of Mounds View, Minnesota, Lee enlisted in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician (AT) and reported to her first command, VFA-136 "Knighthawks."
She was selected to commission as a pilot through the Seaman-to-Admiral (STA-21) commissioning program in 2009. The following year, Lee attended the Naval Science Institute (NSI) for officer training in Newport, Rhode Island, and simultaneously began her studies at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where she received a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry.
Lee joined the Blue Angels in September 2022. She has accumulated more than 1,400 flight hours and over 225 carrier-arrested landings. Her decorations include four Navy Achievement medals and various personal and unit awards.
On Saturday and Sunday, gates for the Airshow at Scott AFB will open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.
For more information on the Airshow, including parking options, visit https://www.scott.af.mil/Airshow/.
___
(c)2023 Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Ill.)
Visit Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Ill.) at www.theintelligencer.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
