It's hard to keep your cynicism when the Thunderbirds come to town

It's just a jingoistic public relations event, with little redeeming value and the expenditure of millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Or so you say, with your cynical pose, until you see the great stuff we're doing with it.

Then, the cynical pose vanishes, and you find yourself staring in awe at these magnificent machines. Designed for killing, it seems a shame to not think of them as fantastic creatures from some strange and expensive planet, put here to bewitch and delight.

Sometimes, when you go to a particularly jingoistic public relations event, you have to somehow split the substance from what you're being told. What you're being told is not necessarily wrong, you understand; it is simply subject to interpretation.
With that in mind, let us be just a shade cynical about today's PR event at Edwards AFB, celebrating 100 years of flight, by celebrating 100 years of ever more complex and slick military gear.
I'm cynical about this. Sometimes.
But I am also not, because the equipment sure did work bloody well in Iraq.
It would have cost far less to flatten every structure and kill every person in Iraq than it did to defeat Saddam, but leave almost everyone alive and kicking, sometimes back at us.
Let me put it on record that I am quite uncynically proud of our military for doing this.
But that doesn't mean we need to swallow everything they say, does it?

Their Take

My Take

Our
Airforce
Is the Best
in the World
Our planes can go faster than any in the world; they can go slower too, and with fewer crew. They can perform more missions. They can propel themselves around in remote locations, without the need for the fancy gadgetry that normally has to follow planes around to manipulate them on the ground.
But geez, that doesn't mean that every other statement the announcer makes, together with "Are we having fun yet?", has to be "Our airforce is the best in the world, and you should be proud your tax dollars are doing such Great Things."
You know what?
I'm satisfied that our Air Force is the greatest in the world, and I'm satisfied that my tax dollars are, in fact, doing great things.
But the announcer's constant repetition of this got annoying. And the more the two announcers asked if we were excited yet, the less enthusiasm I seemed to detect from the crowd. As one of them yelled, "We're here to see hardware, not you".
I hate to be insulting, I really do -- but ... Amen, brother.

A great event --
Bring the whole
Family!
Be sure to
drink lots of fluids
so you're not
dehydrated.
On the whole, I give the event an A- or B+ for organization and efficiency.
They did exceptionally well in crowd control; they seem to have thought of everything, from temporarily suspending stop signs to having plenty of trams and other transportation to take us from the parking lot to the show. A+ there.
They were perfect in finding friendly people and letting them give first-rate, informative explanations of everything. A+ there, too.
However, the concessions were of poor quality, and the advertised free water from the trucks had a tangy metallic taste that was actually worse than my taps back home. I wound up buying water from the concession instead. The first time I asked for a glass, it was $1. The second, it was $2, and I felt ripped-off and bummed.
My lack of water was what made me leave the show relatively early, and because of this I almost missed the B2 Stealth Bomber, which is surely a sight not to be missed.
So for food and drink concessions, they get a D, which is quite a range of grades. Since the water was in fact available, a D's about right. There should have been ample supplies of bottled water.
It's possible, of course, that there were, and I simply didn't see them. But for a multi-million dollar event to be even slightly marred by problems concerning $1 bottled water seems most unfortuante.
A word of warning: A lot of people seem to "lose" children at this event, or the children appear to "lose" their parents. If you go to the event with your kids, make sure you have a staging area to meet them if one loses the other. Despite the base's slick handling of this situation, I can't help but think it's traumatic for many people, when a little planning might have helped a lot.

The B2 Bomber
in flight
is a spectacular
sight It is.

The Thunderbirds
Perform Awesome
Acrobatic Feats! They do:

But how much does this sort of thing do with engaging the enemy?
This is a serious question - I know how turning fast can help evade enemy forces, but why would you roll?
There's probably a good reason, and if the general public is to attend these events, it might be a nice opportunity to educate them.

Speed Limits
Are Strictly Enforced
On the Base
This wouldn't be worth mentioning, except that it was a constant theme of the publicity material surrounding the event. The newspaper account I read advertising the event mentioned it. The free program/flyer I received at the event mentioned it. The impression you got when reading all this stuff was that there was a CHP or base security officer behind every tree, determined to get you if you as much as thought of driving 1mph over the limit.

Not so fast.
Actually, they are not enforced at all, as far as I could determine.
A whole bunch of us stormed in on the base's roads at over 70 (speed limit: 60) without a peep from anyone.
I mentioned the "strictly enforced" announcement to my seatmates on the tram on the way from the parking lot, and they burst into hoots of derisive laughter.
Score one for the military being a less strict, and therefore more pleasant, environment than one might think.

So what's
your point?
Next year, spend more time flying planes and less time trying to make political points.
Let the planes speak for themselves.
Trust me, they do.

Sometimes, when you go to a particularly jingoistic public relations event, you have to somehow split the substance from what you're being told. What you're being told is not necessarily wrong, you understand; it is simply subject to interpretation. With that in mind, let us be just a shade cynical about today's PR event at Edwards AFB, celebrating 100 years of flight, by celebrating 100 years of ever more complex and slick military gear. I'm cynical about this. Sometimes. But I am also not, because the equipment sure did work bloody well in Iraq. It would have cost far less to flatten every structure and kill every person in Iraq than it did to defeat Saddam, but leave almost everyone alive and kicking, sometimes back at us. Let me put it on record that I am quite uncynically proud of our military for doing this. But that doesn't mean we need to swallow everything they say, does it?	Their Take	My Take
	Our Airforce Is the Best in the World	Our planes can go faster than any in the world; they can go slower too, and with fewer crew. They can perform more missions. They can propel themselves around in remote locations, without the need for the fancy gadgetry that normally has to follow planes around to manipulate them on the ground. But geez, that doesn't mean that every other statement the announcer makes, together with "Are we having fun yet?", has to be "Our airforce is the best in the world, and you should be proud your tax dollars are doing such Great Things." You know what? I'm satisfied that our Air Force is the greatest in the world, and I'm satisfied that my tax dollars are, in fact, doing great things. But the announcer's constant repetition of this got annoying. And the more the two announcers asked if we were excited yet, the less enthusiasm I seemed to detect from the crowd. As one of them yelled, "We're here to see hardware, not you". I hate to be insulting, I really do -- but ... Amen, brother.
	A great event -- Bring the whole Family! Be sure to drink lots of fluids so you're not dehydrated.	On the whole, I give the event an A- or B+ for organization and efficiency. They did exceptionally well in crowd control; they seem to have thought of everything, from temporarily suspending stop signs to having plenty of trams and other transportation to take us from the parking lot to the show. A+ there. They were perfect in finding friendly people and letting them give first-rate, informative explanations of everything. A+ there, too. However, the concessions were of poor quality, and the advertised free water from the trucks had a tangy metallic taste that was actually worse than my taps back home. I wound up buying water from the concession instead. The first time I asked for a glass, it was $1. The second, it was $2, and I felt ripped-off and bummed. My lack of water was what made me leave the show relatively early, and because of this I almost missed the B2 Stealth Bomber, which is surely a sight not to be missed. So for food and drink concessions, they get a D, which is quite a range of grades. Since the water was in fact available, a D's about right. There should have been ample supplies of bottled water. It's possible, of course, that there were, and I simply didn't see them. But for a multi-million dollar event to be even slightly marred by problems concerning $1 bottled water seems most unfortuante. A word of warning: A lot of people seem to "lose" children at this event, or the children appear to "lose" their parents. If you go to the event with your kids, make sure you have a staging area to meet them if one loses the other. Despite the base's slick handling of this situation, I can't help but think it's traumatic for many people, when a little planning might have helped a lot.
	The B2 Bomber in flight is a spectacular sight	It is.
	The Thunderbirds Perform Awesome Acrobatic Feats!	They do: But how much does this sort of thing do with engaging the enemy? This is a serious question - I know how turning fast can help evade enemy forces, but why would you roll? There's probably a good reason, and if the general public is to attend these events, it might be a nice opportunity to educate them.
	Speed Limits Are Strictly Enforced On the Base	This wouldn't be worth mentioning, except that it was a constant theme of the publicity material surrounding the event. The newspaper account I read advertising the event mentioned it. The free program/flyer I received at the event mentioned it. The impression you got when reading all this stuff was that there was a CHP or base security officer behind every tree, determined to get you if you as much as thought of driving 1mph over the limit. Not so fast. Actually, they are not enforced at all, as far as I could determine. A whole bunch of us stormed in on the base's roads at over 70 (speed limit: 60) without a peep from anyone. I mentioned the "strictly enforced" announcement to my seatmates on the tram on the way from the parking lot, and they burst into hoots of derisive laughter. Score one for the military being a less strict, and therefore more pleasant, environment than one might think.
	So what's your point?	Next year, spend more time flying planes and less time trying to make political points. Let the planes speak for themselves. Trust me, they do.