Photo By Tech. Sgt. Chance Johnson | The Red Eyes of the 120th Fighter Squadron, 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard...... read more read more
The Red Eyes of the 120th Fighter Squadron, 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard opened the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo, Cheyenne, Wyoming, with an F-16 Fighting Falcon flyover for the first time in the event’s 129-year history, July 19, 2025.
The rodeo occurs during the last week of July every year, and this year featured the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, who are considered the premier aerial demonstration squadron of the USAF.
This opportunity provided partnership building through training as well as increased exposure for recruitment in a neighboring state.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Reed “Roller” Barrett, pilot, 120th FS, was born and raised in Cheyenne and now lives in Colorado. He described how building relationships within the community and ensuring that those communities understand what assets they have available in their state is important to not only the 140th Wing’s mission, but also the nation.
“It's pretty legendary when it comes to the world of rodeo and there has never been a guard unit, or an active-duty unit, that's in a flyover for any of their events,” Barret said. “Making an impact on the community drives recruitment, and losing sight of that, impacts the fight down the road.”
Cheyenne is also home to the 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard, who host a C-130 firefighting mission. The 140th Wing is just over 100 miles south. For the 153rd to host the Thunderbirds for Frontier Days, the jets required a cable to be used and sorted. The 140th Wing is the only unit in the area able to provide this skill.
“It was a chance for us to go up there and sort the cable for the Thunderbirds,” Barrett said. “Now, not only are we helping the Wyoming Air National Guard on their runway by preparing it for the Thunderbirds, but we're also helping the Active Duty so that the partnerships don't just stay between the guard units. It’s important that the Active Duty and the Guard work together on a global scale to make sure that events like this happen every single year for the community.”
Barrett explained that despite the fact that the 140th Wing is relatively close to Cheyenne, many people within that community don’t know that there is an F-16 unit so close to them.
“Recruitment comes from the community,” Barrett said. “So when we bring four F-16s up there, we show them what their taxpayer dollars are going toward, which is war fighting machines with extremely tactical pilots who are doing the job every single day.”
Barrett said it’s important to help the community and ultimately grow the force of the future.
“Let's see how we can be a bigger asset to Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, wherever it might be where we land,” he said. “The more that we can make that a part of our mission, then the more our recruitment will thrive, the more our unit will thrive, and the more the wing will thrive. But globally, we will certainly thrive as an Air Force, as long as we can make sure that the community is at the forefront, because the community builds the troops that enter the wing.”
For Barret, the opportunity to fly over the event was historic.
“As a hometown boy, this was huge for me,” he said. “I'd always wanted to be a fighter pilot. Name a cooler moment than to go home where your parents are and to be able to show them what you've done.”
| Date Taken: | 09.05.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.05.2025 17:06 |
| Story ID: | 547375 |
| Location: | CHEYENNE, WYOMING, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 120th Fighter Squadron flyover opens Cheyenne rodeo, by A1C Eliana Raspet, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
