Photo By Sgt. Brandon Aultman | U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, take a knee...... read more read more
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It has been seven years since the last Kaneohe Bay Air Show and Open House; seven years since Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s gates have seen record breaking crowds visit; and seven years since the U.S. Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron, The Blue Angels, flew over the Bay, – but this year was like no other.
“Blues on the Bay,” was free and open to all residents and visitors of Oahu, and the community didn’t disappoint, as the air show saw nearly 103,000 guests. It was an amazing opportunity to host the local community and performers while simultaneously demonstrating and showcasing Hawaii’s military to the public.
Prior to the Air Show weekend, The Blue Angels highlighted key influencers who have substantially contributed to the local community, including the 2022 Hawai’i State Teacher of the Year, Whitney Aragaki, the weather man for Hawaii News Now, Guy Hagi, and Ultimate Fighting Championship Featherweight Champion, Max Holloway.
The Blue Angels offer several recognition programs in which nominees are selected to fly in the back seat of an F/A-18 Super Hornet.
“I was blessed with the opportunity to fly with the Blue Angels,” said a Twitter post published by Holloway. “Sadly my ‘never been KO’d [knocked out]’ streak came to an end,” he tweeted, followed by a posted video of him losing consciousness in the back seat of the F/A-18 Super Hornet. “Shout out to number 7 pilot Griffin Stangel and everyone behind the scenes for this unreal experience.” Holloway said.
The opportunity to recognize these upstanding individuals strengthens the military’s bond with Hawaii’s community and enables the military to show its appreciation for the dedication these influencers have.
In addition to demonstrating military assets to the community, MCBH was also proud to embrace and infuse the Hawaiian culture into the Air Show’s opening ceremony.
Each day, the air show commenced with a traditional Hawaiian blessing ceremony from Kahu Dean Harvest, a Hawaiian priest, to invite goodness, aloha, happiness, harmony, health, peace, protection and abundance into the day’s events.
As Hawaii’s Air Show, many local community members and visitors of Oahu were in attendance, whether that be as local performers, vendors, or just spectators. The Flying Leathernecks Demonstration Skydiving Team was among those performing and an important part to the opening ceremony.
The Flying Leathernecks jumped out of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III from a height of 8,000 ft. Among the jumpers were T. K. Hinshaw and Jake Kilfoyle, both Oahu residents. They each boasted a large flag, one the American flag and the other with Hawaii state flag, honoring the island and community for being in attendance and assisting with the success of the air show.
“The best experience so far, out here on base, is actually being able to see people face to face,” explained Charelle Silva, senior manager of programs for Girl Scouts of Hawaii. “We’re able to show the community what we’re all about.”
From the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics zone, to the various vendor and food tents, there was something for everyone.
“It’s a lot of fun seeing the different activities and booths, seeing everyone do their tricks is really cool because I’m so used to seeing them [aircrafts] just fly over my house,” said Lawai Silva, a girl scout and daughter of Silva. “I haven’t been to an air show before so it’s really interesting seeing these things for the first time,” she added.
U.S. Marine Corps Col. Speros Koumparakis, commanding officer for MCBH, was not only surprised at the amount of attendees but just stunned by the community’s involvement.
“What an incredible experience to bring so many people from the community together at the end of the summer to MCBH,” exclaimed Koumparakis. “I am so impressed with the base team, our tenants and our partners…we had record numbers of people on the installation.”
One particular performance showcased an incredible display of the joint and inter-agency worlds here in Hawaii said Koumparakis.
The Joint Task Force demonstration provided a first-hand experience of a simulated assault, combining various elements such as U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys, an Air Force F-22 Raptor, an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon, and infantry Marines from 3d Marine Littoral Regiment.
“Hawaii is a special place, were out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,” stated Koumparakis. “The only way to make it work is to work together…our Joint Task Force showed the world that we know how to operate in a joint way.”
After seven long years, our service members and neighbors from the local community were able to break attendance records, share culture with one another, put on an exceptional performance for spectators and enjoy the 2022 Kaneohe Bay Air Show together. Until next time Oahu! MCBH can’t wait to have you aboard again.
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2022 23:25 |
| Story ID: | 427594 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 555 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, 2022 Kaneohe Bay Air Show: One Air Show, One Community, by Cpl Samantha Sanchez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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