ALLIANCE AIRPORT, Texas –  The 2009 Alliance Air Show, held in Fort Worth on October 24-25, was very well attended. On the ground, it featured dozens of military and civilian aircraft. In the sky, the public enjoyed performances by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, the U.S. Army Golden Knights, and many other planes and pilots. Civil Air Patrol cadets got the opportunity to help manage the public and make the air show a success.

Group II, Texas Wing, had been asked to help with the show, and at 7:30am on Oct. 24, the cadets started arriving at the airport. They reported first to the Alliance volunteer check-in and then to the Group II mission base, where Lt. Col. Rick Woolfolk (the Group II Maintenance Officer) was the Incident Commander. The Nighthawk Composite Squadron provided a communications van, from which CAP activities were directed. As they arrived, cadets were assigned to one of five teams and soon were ready to go to work. After the safety briefing, the teams were sent out to their stations.

Throughout the day, the teams rotated between five work areas: the flight deck, the bounce houses (inflatable rubber romping play structures), the recruiting table, and two water buffaloes. The latter are potable water-tank trailers that the City of Fort Worth had provided. Cadets working on the flight deck managed the priority seating area. They checked to ensure that everyone who entered the area had a wristband as proof that he or she had paid for a seat there. They also enforced the air show no-smoking rule.

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[1] CAP cadets looked after their young visitors, as they played in the bounce houses. [2] The Blue Angels did not disappoint the crowd. Their formation was so tight that it seemed an impossibility. [3] (From right to left) Blue Angel #1, Cmdr. Greg McWherter (Flight Leader), Blue Angel #2, Lt. Cmdr. Paul Brantuas (Right Wing), Blue Angel #3, Major Chris Hollins (Left Wing), Blue Angel #4, Lt. Mark Swinger (Slot) . [4] The CAP cadets were easily recognized as they helped control the crowds at the air show. (Photos: Cadet 1st Lt. Emily Crouse, CAP)

At the bounce houses, the attending team looked after safety rules: no roughhousing, no turning flips, and no more than five children at a time in a bounce house. Working with children was a welcome change of pace for some cadets. Cadet Airman Joanna Bridges from Thunderbolt Composite Squadron said, "This is a lot of fun! The little kids are so adorable."

The recruiting table had been stocked with an ample number of CAP brochures, but the cadets working that station soon saw their supply dwindling rapidly. Public interest in CAP was high, since many teenagers attending the air show were interested in aviation. Several air show attendees mentioned that they would visit their local squadron in the near future.

Cadets working at the water buffaloes operated the spigots, serving drinking water to air show guests. The water buffalo located behind a PlayStation 3 truck was many cadets' favorite station, since its music could easily be heard at the water buffalo –  soon  dubbed "the fun water buffalo."

All cadets working the air show could watch the main attraction: the Blue Angels' flight routine. Cadet Airman Basic Colten Honeycutt, from Diamondback Composite Squadron, said, "The Blue Angels were captivating and well worthy of being called the highlight of the air show." Cadet Airman 1st Class Keri Golden, from Nighthawk Composite Squadron, enthusiastically blurted, “The Blue Angels were awesome!” But the CAP cadets did more than just watch the Blue Angels fly; after the performance had ended, they formed a human corridor for the Blue Angels to walk back undisturbed to the terminal building.

The cadets that staffed the five stations on the first day had come from Nighthawk, Johnson County, South Fort Worth, Marauder, Rio del Fierro, and Texoma Composite Squadrons. Cadets from Phoenix Composite Squadron had a different task: they assisted in setting up for the American Airlines Sky Ball, which would begin after the air show had closed on the night of Oct. 24. Their job was to set up tables and ready the facility for the seventh Sky Ball, with all the proceeds benefiting the families of local military personnel.

Oct. 25, the second day of the air show, began as chilly as the first one, with sleepy cadets signing in and being assigned to teams. The squadrons previously staffing the teams were joined by Thunderbolt and Phoenix Composite Squadrons, and the number of working teams was expanded to six.

The first five teams rotated between the five stations they had worked on the first day. The sixth team, however, was assigned to work at the media entry. They checked press passes and allowed newspaper and magazine photographers to enter the special media area that was close to the runway. Since they had to be as close to the performing planes as the media photographers, the cadets working this station enjoyed an excellent view of the air show. Cadet 2nd Lt. Adam Martin and Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Ariel Sten, from Phoenix Composite Squadron, were in agreement, "It was an honor to work up front, where the action was."

Shortly before the Blue Angels' flight, the command staff was alerted that a child had gone missing. When the cadets were given the child's description, and Cadet Airman James Board from Nighthawk Composite Squadron said that he had seen the boy, a team of four cadets searched the area. Before long, two of the cadets had located the missing child and taken him back to mission base. From there, a senior member walked with the boy and the cadets to the terminal building, where the child was reunited with his mother.

After the Blue Angels had performed their exciting aerial maneuvers, the crowd began to thin. At 5pm, with most spectators gone, the cadets said goodbye to the Alliance Air Show –  at least until 2010.

Cadet 1st Lt. Emily Crouse, CAP, Nighthawk Composite Squadron