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JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- America’s Airfield is opening its gates to the National Capital Region for the Joint Base Andrews Air Show, Sept. 13-14, for the first time in three years. At the head of this year’s show is U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. James Bowron, 316th Wing chief of safety.
“Being the air show director is a large job where I have a team of about 100 people on day-to-day planning and execution tasks, putting together the monumental undertaking that is the air show, where we're bringing in up to or maybe more than 100,000 people to this base,” Bowron said.
The Joint Base Andrews Air Show typically occurs every two years to provide ample time for Andrews to plan and execute the show. This includes working with the local community to find parking for the event, coordinating the aerial acts, scheduling base operations to accommodate the event, and more.
Bowron’s task for the now long awaited 2025 show has been to create an experience of similar size and quality to the air shows previously hosted at Andrews despite the smaller budget. To achieve this, he said, everyone on the air show staff learned a new skill that does not align with their everyday duties. A byproduct of the event is not only trust built with the local community, but a force of newly mission ready Airmen.
The adaptability of the team to execute a historic event is what makes Bowron excited about introducing the Heritage Speaker Series at the air show.
“Our vaunted heroes from as far back as World War II, but as recently as Afghanistan and Iraq, get to talk to one another, and they get to talk to the public about why what they did matters and why it will matter in the future.”
Coupled with the science, technology, engineering, arts, and math exhibition, the air show is meant to impart the sentiment of ‘Where Legacy Fuels the Future’ on its patrons.
Typically, the reward of the years of preparation that has gone into the event would be to have everything go as planned on the days of the event, but Bowron measures success differently.
“The reward at the end of this is a successful show, but ultimately, just the work that was put in and watching the team grow and work together has been the reward,” Bowron said. “When you're on an installation like Joint Base Andrews, you don't have a choice -- you have to be good at [being] Allies and partners, [and] team[work].”
| Date Taken: | 08.14.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2025 08:57 |
| Story ID: | 545651 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 17 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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