Recruiting odds help Dobbins bring back Blue Angels show

Next month, Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta will welcome back the high-flying, acrobatic Navy flying team the Blue Angels to headline its Wings Over Atlanta 2010 air show.

That weekend, somewhere at the base -- or maybe even in the air --  Maj. Brian Ferguson will join legions of visitors in awe of the precision maneuvers by the 64-year-old aviation team.

After 16 years in the Air Force, Ferguson says he still appreciates a good show.

“I went to a Dobbins air show in 1985 or so and got interested in flying,” said Ferguson, 41, an Athens native. “It just looked like a lot of fun, a fun way to earn a living.”

That air show and others, and having an older brother in the military, set him on a path to pilothood. After attending the University of Georgia, where he was a member of the Air Force ROTC, Ferguson, joined the Air Force in 1994. He is now in the reserves at Dobbins, where he flies the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft.

Ferguson's story is one the Air Force tries to duplicate, and Dobbins' recruitment potential is among the reasons it was chosen for the show.

Every two years, Dobbins hosts an air show -- the last, a two-day show in 2008, featuredg the Air Force's Thunderbirds acrobatic flying team. It drew more than 175,000 visitors, organizers estimated. They anticipate at least that many for this year’s show.

Despite the show's projected cost of about $200,000, the recruiting opportunities and community benefits make the show worthwhile, said James Weslowski, Dobbins spokesman.

The Blue Angels were the star attraction at Dobbins in 2006. To get them back for October's show, base officials began compiling their application last August.

“We have to go in a bidding process with other applicants and bases for the premier acts (such as the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and Air Force Academy Wings of Blue parachute team),”  Weslowski said. “We filled out that package and we got accepted.”

Having two of the Blue Angels' demonstration pilots from Atlanta played a big role in the application process, he said.

“With these two Atlanta pilots, they can promote that and have them visit their old schools," Weslowski said. "This area is a desirable place for recruits. [Blue Angels and Navy officials] look at the colleges in this area. They want the college degree and the best people, and this area has it."

It's a formula that worked for him, Ferguson said.

In addition to the fun that comes with flying for the Air Force, the pilot said, “I also know that you need to be in it for the right reasons, defending our country and its values and beliefs."

Still, he said, “it was certainly the fun factor and the allure of it was what was the hook.”

U.S. Air Force Reserve Recruiting Service attends about 30 air shows a year. The recruitment at the shows has produced an average of 100 recruits at each show this year. From those recruits, about 10 percent end up enlisting, the service reports.

The shows also help educate local communities on the role the Air Force Reserves play in the overall U.S. military mission, according to the recruiting service.

The Blue Angels last performed at the Naval Air Station, which shares a runway with Dobbins, in 2004 and 2006. The team was scheduled to perform at Dobbins in May 2005, but the show was canceled because of budget cuts at the base.

The budget for this October's show is $200,000, half of that for shuttle service to transport visitors between parking lots and the base. Some costs are offset by business sponsorships; Dobbins has to make up any difference.

The Blue Angels charge $6,000 per day for civilian shows. There is no fee charged for military shows, like the Wings Over Atlanta event at Dobbins.

At one point, Dobbins officials considered selling beer to help offset expenses but rejected the  idea when county officials, citing safety and liability issues, balked at providing county transit buses to shuttle visitors if alcohol was offered at the show.

"Every other year [Dobbins] tries to bring in a class act, either the Air Force's Thunderbirds or the Blue Angels, and they are the premiere acrobatic teams in the entire world," said Don Beaver, president and CEO of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber is supports this year's show through a small sponsorship, Beaver said.

"This provides a great opportunity for families to come together. At the same time it creates a lot of synergy for our tourism folks. It really helps us celebrate our men and women in uniform," Beaver said.

The Blue Angels' annual schedule of about 70 shows each year, with two shows at each of the 35 locations selected, is planned through an extensive process beginning each September when the Department of Defense begins screening through the appearance requests received from around the country. If the requests pass basic eligibility tests, they are forwarded to the Blue Angels’ commanding officer, who reviews each one with input from the Chief of Naval Information and Navy Recruiting Command. The team’s events coordinator and Navy and Department of Defense officials meet in December in Washington, D.C., to make the final decisions. Locations for the following year are announced in December at the International Council of Air Shows convention in Las Vegas.

For the 2010 season, the Blue Angels received more than 120 requests for performances, said Lt. Cmdr. Amy Tomlinson, the team’s events coordinator. The 35 selected represent a mix of large and small, military and civilian locations across the country.

Blue Angels require locations with a 6,000-foot runway and an available arresting gear cable to catch the jets’ tailhooks and help them decelerate quickly upon landing.