Look! Up in the sky!
In the next few weeks, residents of various cities around the country will get to see a pretty awesome sight. The United States Navy’s Blue Angels and the United States Air Force’s Thunderbirds will be carrying out flyovers over selected cities.
Operation America Strong was announced Wednesday by President Donald Trump during his daily press briefings on the coronavirus outbreak. The purpose is to honor the health care workers that have been working tirelessly around the clock at great risk to their own health during the coronavirus outbreak that has closed down much of the country, as well as unite Americans around the world.
Trump said, “I’m excited to announce that in the coming weeks, the Air Force Thunderbirds – are incredible – and the Navy’s Blue Angels, equally incredible, will be performing air shows over America’s major cities. What we’re doing is we’re paying tribute to our front-line health care workers confronting COVID. And it’s really a signal to all Americans to remain vigilant during the outbreak. This is a tribute to them, to our warriors. Because they are equal warriors to those incredible pilots and all of the fighters that we have for the more traditional fights that we win and we win.”
The Thunderbirds have already been flying in honor of health care workers at various locations over the state of Colorado and at the United States Air Force Academy Commencement. Some cities will see one unit or the other, while select cities will get to see a joint flyover.
AirshowStuff on Instagram: “Another awesome view of this afternoon’s combined flyby. #Repost @kalibellemk • • • • • • Pensacola Beach, Florida ??????Always proud.…”
The event was an idea of several senior level military officers who think this will be a great way to show the unified resolve of the country.
Even though the news was just announced, several questions have already arisen over if the intended purpose is necessary and if it could cause any issues as most cities are under lock down. Flyovers are expensive endeavors and can cost up to ,000 an hour. However, Pentagon officials have said that these flyovers have already been accounted for in the yearly budget (safe to say, numerous canceled shows have helped)
As for crowds, the Pentagon has stated that these will not be airshows and aim to have flyovers be over areas where crowds can not congregate, although that might be harder to do in reality than on paper.
While set dates have not been announced, a DOD memo did state the cities which have been initially selected to see a flyover.
U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds
San Antonio, TX
Oklahoma City, OK
Phoenix, AZ
San Diego, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Portland, OR
Seattle, WA
U.S. Navy Blue Angels
Miami, FL
Tampa, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Norfolk, VA
Virginia Beach, VA
Joint Flyover of Both Teams
Washington, DC
Baltimore, MD
New York, NY
Newark, NJ
Trenton, NJ
Philadelphia, PA
Atlanta, GA
Dallas, TX
Houston, TX
Austin, TX
As dates are set, we will update this list. ‘Merica strong!