70 Years of Thunder

A few weeks ago, SO and I attended the Luke Air Force Base 70th anniversary Open House and Air Show. It was billed as "70 Years of Thunder" and it was all that. We (and many others) were invited by Brigadier General Jerry Harris, the Commander of the 56th Fighter Wing - Luke Air Force Base.

This is one of the perks of being a board member and general counsel of Valley Partnership. Valley Partnership is a non-profit organization with more than 500 member companies representing all segments of the commercial real estate development industry, including developers, attorneys, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, and other professionals. Valley Partnership advocates responsible development by presenting a balanced, pro-development perspective and the Valley’s best industry education and networking opportunities.

Valley Partnership is very big supporter of Luke Air Force Base located in Glendale, Arizona. Luke is the largest air base in the world with more than 180 F-16 fighter jets housed at Luke. Luke Air Force Base trains 75% of all F-16 pilots in the world. There are more than 6,000 Airmen stationed at Luke Air Force Base with more than 600 deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world every year. Luke contributes more than 18,500 jobs and $1.4billion annually, directly and indirectly, to the Phoenix local economy. The military is the largest employer in Arizona, employing more than 83,000 active duty, reserve and civilians at military installations statewide.

Approximately 260,000 people attended the two-day open house and air show. There were 120,000 on Sunday when we attended. We were treated as DVs (distinguished visitors). We parked in a special parking lot inside the base and were then transported by bus or golf carts to the "Commander's Chalet" (actually a big tent) immediately adjacent to the landing strip and dead center. The air show started at about 10 a.m. and lasted to about 4 p.m. There was a very nice lunch spread inside the tent and chairs and temporary stands outside the tent to watch the air show. All of the military personnel were extremely polite and helpful. Some of them looked like they couldn't be more than 18 or 19 years old. There were aerial acrobatic propeller planes, helicopters and parachutists, but the coolest stuff was the fire power of the U.S. military. We saw the F-18 fighter jets, the A-10 Thunderbolt II, affectionately nicknamed the Warthog, a U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight formation with a modern fighter jet flying with World War II, Korean, and Vietnam era fighters, and finally the internationally acclaimed Thunderbirds flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon planes. A number of fighter planes and pilots from Luke had just left for Libya that day to take control of the air space over Libya. All of the action happened right in front of our location. Planes criss-crossed upside-down and side-by-side; they did dog fight maneuvers flying straight up, in chase formation and engaging in a dogfight; they flew in a number of different formations, including the diamond formation; some of the planes turned on their burners and flew at supersonic speeds with the emblematic supersonic boom; and my favorite, the warthog bombed a target on the ground and then strafed a swath of ground creating a wall of fire.

When the events were over, we were bussed back to our cars and zipped out of the base with military efficiency. SO asked one of the soldiers whether we could walk to our car and while he was polite it was clear he thought she must be crazy. In the area where we waited for the buses, there were signs that the area was patrolled by the military and they were authorized to use "lethal force" if unauthorized personnel were in sensitive locations on the base.