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00:00:06,973 --> 00:00:09,976
- [atmospheric music playing]
- [insects trilling]

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[man] The Blue Angel Creed!

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00:00:40,407 --> 00:00:42,208
[group] As a Blue Angel,

4
00:00:42,208 --> 00:00:47,213
I will dedicate all my efforts to pride,
professionalism and perfection.

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00:00:47,213 --> 00:00:52,850
I will strive to honor the crest I earned
and the flag I wear,

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00:00:52,850 --> 00:00:55,455
but I will never forget from where I came.

7
00:00:55,455 --> 00:00:58,692
Once a Blue Angel, always a Blue Angel.

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[dramatic music playing]

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♪ ♪

10
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[quiet chatter]

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[Chris "Cheese" Kapuschansky] First day
that I drove up to the hangar

12
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,237
in El Centro and,

13
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you know, saw my name on a parking sign,

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saw my name on the door,
saw my name on the side of a jet already,

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and it was like, "Man, this is...
this is real."

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[Brian "Boss" Kesselring] I have
the blessing, the privilege,

17
00:02:01,955 --> 00:02:03,256
the honor to be

18
00:02:03,256 --> 00:02:07,270
boss of the Blue Angels right now,
and I've been so for a couple years.

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00:02:08,294 --> 00:02:10,697
But this is my last year.

20
00:02:12,232 --> 00:02:14,234
Had a chance to be part
of seven deployments,

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served in a lot of different conflicts
around the world throughout the years.

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And... and naval aviation was a home
and was something that

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I feel like I was meant to do.

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[Cheese] It was something that
I wanted to do since I was a kid.

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Something that I never thought
was actually gonna happen.

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[Boss] Every year, about a third
of the entire squadron

27
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rotates back to the fleet.

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The challenge for every boss
is to get the newbies,

29
00:02:41,895 --> 00:02:44,931
their replacements,
up to speed for the coming season

30
00:02:44,931 --> 00:02:47,701
and integrated into
the Blue Angel way of life.

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[Cheese] All these thoughts
were going through my mind, like,

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"Oh, man, you know,
it's just... I don't...

33
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I don't know what I'm doing.
Do I even belong here?"

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But this is it. This is who I am
for the next two years,

35
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and this is my job for the next two years.

36
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I am now a Blue Angel.

37
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[jet engine whooshing]

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[energetic, intense music playing]

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♪ ♪

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♪ ♪

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[music pauses]

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[music resumes
with dramatic ending flourish]

43
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[pneumatic tools whirring]

44
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[birds chirping]

45
00:04:44,184 --> 00:04:46,119
All right, welcome back, everybody. Evan.

46
00:04:46,119 --> 00:04:47,654
Yes, Boss, we'll debrief
our practice over El Centro.

47
00:04:47,654 --> 00:04:49,220
- Fired up, ready to go.
- All right.

48
00:04:49,220 --> 00:04:52,125
I'll take a safety for rolling up
to low brake cross at 450.

49
00:04:52,125 --> 00:04:53,860
[rapid technical chatter]

50
00:04:53,860 --> 00:04:55,562
Pay Doc ten dollars
for a zipper and a collar.

51
00:04:55,562 --> 00:04:56,830
I'll fix it all. I'm glad to be here.

52
00:04:56,830 --> 00:04:58,264
- Cheese.
- [Cheese] Yes, sir, Boss.

53
00:04:58,264 --> 00:05:03,300
I'll have it for safety, though,
but underline deep sag on the fan rollout.

54
00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:06,206
[Boss] Naval aviation is something
I fully dedicate myself,

55
00:05:06,206 --> 00:05:07,874
and I can look back in 20 years

56
00:05:07,874 --> 00:05:11,778
and say I gave every fiber of my being
to getting better at it.

57
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But you come to the Blue Angels,

58
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and that really happens
in that first season

59
00:05:15,482 --> 00:05:18,284
where you're trying
to figure this thing out.

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That can be scary.

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I'll fix it all.
I'm glad to be here, Boss.

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- All right, Whiskers.
- [Julius "Whiskers" Bratton] Yes, sir,
Boss,

63
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I'll take safeties for being 296 knots
out of the PUB.

64
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Pay Doc five dollars for pregame jitters.

65
00:05:27,270 --> 00:05:28,695
I'll fix it all. I'm glad to be here,
Boss.

66
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- Day taps, Boss.
- [Boss] Good jet.

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[others] Good jet.

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00:05:32,866 --> 00:05:34,701
All right, roll it!

69
00:05:34,701 --> 00:05:37,837
There's a crucible
you have to go through together.

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00:05:37,837 --> 00:05:39,873
[dramatic music playing]

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00:05:44,210 --> 00:05:48,481
It has to be six pilots
totally synced up, flying as one.

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- Go! Let's go!
- [engines whirring]

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[air traffic controller] You are clear
to taxi via runway two-four-A.

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00:05:55,855 --> 00:05:57,857
[Boss over radio] How's it going?

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00:06:01,610 --> 00:06:05,650
[Boss] And it can be frustrating at times
to train brand-new guys from the fleet.

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00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:12,839
One of the first things we go out and do
is just do basic turns.

77
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We turn left, we turn right.

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Three, two, nine, seven, four...

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[indistinct radio chatter]

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[Boss] And just do that
over and over again,

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because if you don't have the right
foundation, it's just not gonna work.

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[tense music playing]

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Rip it.

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[dramatic music playing]

85
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[Boss] As the boss,
you're the flight leader.

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You're the conductor.

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You're the lead goose
in the formation, right?

88
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[indistinct radio chatter]

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Ready? Hit it.

90
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These jets are max performing.

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At low altitudes, at high air speeds,
in close proximity to other aircraft.

92
00:07:03,390 --> 00:07:06,159
I have to be steady at the helm,
as they say.

93
00:07:06,159 --> 00:07:08,795
Ease in the power.

94
00:07:12,599 --> 00:07:15,502
Chomps flies in the four position.

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He's back there watching
and making sure that we're good.

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00:07:20,140 --> 00:07:22,942
[Frank "Chomps" Zastoupil] The number four
pilot for the Blue Angels.

97
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It's the best seat in the house.

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You can see everything.
You can see what Boss is doing.

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You can see what
all the wingmen are doing.

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And you're kind of
the airborne safety observer

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00:07:34,621 --> 00:07:36,956
because you have
that best seat in the house.

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[Monica "Doc" Borza] Yes.

103
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As the flight surgeon on the team,

104
00:07:42,128 --> 00:07:45,832
you're also the lead
ground safety officer.

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- Okay, rolling.
- Okay, rolling.

106
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[Doc] I study the demo
inside and out for every position.

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I know where they should be at all times:
their altitude, their air speeds.

108
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With two brand-new pilots
on the team this year,

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I am constantly watching them.

110
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Chewy, you kind of start a little flat,
and you're trying to hold it in there,

111
00:08:15,829 --> 00:08:17,630
and Jamammy actually goes deep.

112
00:08:17,630 --> 00:08:19,566
Is that kind of what you're seeing?

113
00:08:19,566 --> 00:08:22,535
[Scott "Jamammy" Goossens] Cheese and I
are 100% the newbies.

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Steep learning curve, for sure.

115
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Just feel deflated

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and like you're the worst pilot ever.

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How did I get here?

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It just rippled through the formation.

119
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So, like, Jamammy was first,
I was second, then Cheese was third,

120
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and just, like, the whole formation
shifted, then had to shift back into set.

121
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So, this year, we've had
a new two pilot, a new three pilot,

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I'm filling a new role as the slot pilot,

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00:08:43,790 --> 00:08:46,459
a new six pilot in the demo,

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and then our number five pilot,
he was out half the year last year,

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not flying in the demo,
so we're getting him

126
00:08:51,765 --> 00:08:53,867
learning how to fly in formation again.

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We're bringing five new people
into this formation and making one demo.

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- [engines whirring]
- [indistinct shouting]

129
00:09:05,779 --> 00:09:07,313
Good work. See you in a little bit.

130
00:09:07,313 --> 00:09:09,683
- Yeah.
- Whoo!

131
00:09:09,683 --> 00:09:11,785
[engines roaring]

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[Jamammy] It's one team, six jets.

133
00:09:16,189 --> 00:09:18,825
We all do something
a little bit different.

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00:09:18,825 --> 00:09:20,694
We'll start the show with four jets,

135
00:09:20,694 --> 00:09:22,862
the Diamond takeoff maneuver.

136
00:09:25,532 --> 00:09:28,868
And then you'll have the two
solo individual takeoff maneuvers.

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00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:33,873
[dramatic music playing]

138
00:09:39,579 --> 00:09:44,150
Generally, our maneuvers alternate
between Diamond and solos.

139
00:09:45,652 --> 00:09:49,456
And by the end of the show, we'll get
the Delta together, all six jets.

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00:09:51,391 --> 00:09:55,328
The Delta Formation is the signature
formation of the Blue Angels.

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00:09:59,432 --> 00:10:01,334
[Boss] Early on in winter training,
both Chomps and I

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00:10:01,334 --> 00:10:04,938
are heads on a swivel, making sure
our new guys are learning that

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00:10:04,938 --> 00:10:07,240
we've got enough space
to get out of the way.

144
00:10:10,377 --> 00:10:12,112
Cheese is a guy who's an aggressive guy.

145
00:10:12,112 --> 00:10:14,381
If you're riding a horse,
you got to pull back on the reins.

146
00:10:14,381 --> 00:10:17,150
He's a little more pull-back-on-the-reins
type of guy.

147
00:10:19,652 --> 00:10:21,588
We had to use a term called
"knock it off" a couple times,

148
00:10:21,588 --> 00:10:23,556
meaning we're stopping right now.

149
00:10:23,556 --> 00:10:25,859
Cheese was bringing in
a whole bag of knots.

150
00:10:25,859 --> 00:10:28,294
Coming in way too hot.

151
00:10:28,294 --> 00:10:30,897
I'm looking over my shoulder going,
"This ain't gonna work."

152
00:10:34,434 --> 00:10:36,836
[Jamammy] Three spot's
incredibly challenging.

153
00:10:36,836 --> 00:10:40,600
A big departure from what you do
in terms of fleet flying.

154
00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,276
You're also on kind of
the more difficult side of the formation.

155
00:10:43,276 --> 00:10:46,279
We're all very used to looking left
when we fly,

156
00:10:46,279 --> 00:10:48,782
which is what Cheese gets to do
in the two spot.

157
00:10:48,782 --> 00:10:51,418
On the left side, in that three spot,
you're looking right the whole time.

158
00:10:51,418 --> 00:10:54,254
All your controls are
right in front of you or to the left.

159
00:10:55,321 --> 00:10:58,324
And it's just sort of
an unnatural position to be in.

160
00:11:01,961 --> 00:11:06,433
[Doc] The very first time the Diamond
was practicing the Vertical Break...

161
00:11:09,169 --> 00:11:11,338
...Jamammy went the wrong way.

162
00:11:11,338 --> 00:11:14,607
[intense music playing]

163
00:11:20,914 --> 00:11:23,750
You think to yourself,
okay, as a safety officer,

164
00:11:23,750 --> 00:11:25,452
is he safe? Number one.

165
00:11:25,452 --> 00:11:29,356
Two, do I speak up and get in his cockpit,
or do I stay silent right now

166
00:11:29,356 --> 00:11:31,558
and watch what he does to recover?

167
00:11:36,863 --> 00:11:39,699
You have to make that decision,
and I decided:

168
00:11:39,699 --> 00:11:41,668
Remain quiet. This is his first time.

169
00:11:41,668 --> 00:11:43,103
He looks safe.

170
00:11:43,103 --> 00:11:45,505
He may be going
the wrong direction. [laughs]

171
00:11:45,505 --> 00:11:48,575
It's not funny, but it doesn't look like
he's gonna hit anybody else.

172
00:11:50,243 --> 00:11:52,245
[Boss] Kind of scared us.

173
00:11:52,245 --> 00:11:55,782
It was like, how is he gonna
respond to this, right?

174
00:11:55,782 --> 00:11:59,519
Did he rattle himself to the point
where he's not able to compartmentalize,

175
00:11:59,519 --> 00:12:01,210
put that one in the past?

176
00:12:02,122 --> 00:12:03,623
[tires squeal]

177
00:12:06,590 --> 00:12:08,895
[Doc] Two flat on the in.
Little mismatch, break the seal.

178
00:12:08,895 --> 00:12:12,198
Apex ten left, two wide
and five tight in the up.

179
00:12:12,198 --> 00:12:14,200
Vertical up was three left.

180
00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,937
It's an incredible amount of stress
going in on the newbies.

181
00:12:18,938 --> 00:12:21,775
You're constantly being told
what you did wrong.

182
00:12:21,775 --> 00:12:23,977
So, Cheese, we actually overbanked,
it looked like.

183
00:12:23,977 --> 00:12:25,378
Did you feel good about that one today?

184
00:12:25,378 --> 00:12:26,713
Cheese, see how tight you look there?

185
00:12:26,713 --> 00:12:28,648
- And, Cheese, you just
drifted forward again.
- [Cheese] Yep.

186
00:12:28,648 --> 00:12:30,684
All of us are way fast,
and we're all idle/boards

187
00:12:30,684 --> 00:12:33,620
trying to control everything
in close here.

188
00:12:33,620 --> 00:12:37,357
[Jamammy] Everyone comes into this team
a relatively accomplished pilot, thinking,

189
00:12:37,357 --> 00:12:39,225
"I feel comfortable flying an F-18,

190
00:12:39,225 --> 00:12:42,280
I feel... I feel pretty good
about my abilities as a pilot,"

191
00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,331
but this place is the...
it's the great equalizer.

192
00:12:47,934 --> 00:12:49,736
Time away from family is...

193
00:12:49,736 --> 00:12:52,906
is the most difficult part
of being on this team.

194
00:12:52,906 --> 00:12:56,276
Work in El Centro
for three months in a cocoon.

195
00:12:56,276 --> 00:12:58,778
Which we need to be--
you need that kind of safe place

196
00:12:58,778 --> 00:13:02,148
to get it to a point where
we can take it on the road.

197
00:13:03,316 --> 00:13:05,752
But it's just such a grind.

198
00:13:05,752 --> 00:13:08,288
It's monotonous. It's Groundhog Day.

199
00:13:08,288 --> 00:13:11,558
You're waking up in the desert
every day in the dark,

200
00:13:11,558 --> 00:13:14,194
going to work in the dark.

201
00:13:15,295 --> 00:13:18,310
Flying two or three times every day.

202
00:13:19,933 --> 00:13:21,935
Going home in the dark,

203
00:13:21,935 --> 00:13:25,710
and then you're studying
for your flight the next day.

204
00:13:27,207 --> 00:13:29,743
[Cheese] I'm not the most
academically sound person,

205
00:13:29,743 --> 00:13:31,811
and it's a struggle.

206
00:13:33,213 --> 00:13:36,160
So, flying two to three times a day,
that's what you need.

207
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,351
I absolutely needed it.

208
00:13:38,351 --> 00:13:40,620
[crickets chirping]

209
00:13:40,620 --> 00:13:42,489
[Boss] This is how I typically do it.

210
00:13:42,489 --> 00:13:44,157
Bring it inboard a little bit,

211
00:13:44,157 --> 00:13:46,659
and I'll extend a little bit here,
and then that'll make

212
00:13:46,659 --> 00:13:48,661
the arc feel more normal
as we come in here.

213
00:13:48,661 --> 00:13:50,296
- Yes, sir, Boss.
- Questions?

214
00:13:50,296 --> 00:13:51,631
- None.
- All right, fired up, ready to go.

215
00:13:51,631 --> 00:13:53,533
Fired up, ready to go, Boss.

216
00:13:55,435 --> 00:14:00,730
[Boss] We're all responsible for our lives
with... in no uncertain terms.

217
00:14:00,730 --> 00:14:02,609
Everybody's lives are in
each other's hands,

218
00:14:02,609 --> 00:14:06,546
that they're not going to do something
that we don't expect.

219
00:14:09,482 --> 00:14:11,584
It's an unforgiving business.

220
00:14:11,584 --> 00:14:13,653
Rip it.

221
00:14:13,653 --> 00:14:16,189
[triumphant music playing]

222
00:14:21,227 --> 00:14:22,328
[indistinct radio chatter]

223
00:14:22,328 --> 00:14:23,830
Great job today.

224
00:14:23,830 --> 00:14:26,320
Thanks, Boss. It was amazing.
See you back at the ranch.

225
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,333
[Boss over radio] You got it, Mo.

226
00:14:28,401 --> 00:14:31,504
- [insects trilling]
- [birds chirping]

227
00:14:31,504 --> 00:14:33,973
[Jamammy] You walk down the halls
in El Centro, and you see

228
00:14:33,973 --> 00:14:37,143
all the faces that have made up
the past of this organization.

229
00:14:37,143 --> 00:14:39,379
Legendary figures who you hear about,

230
00:14:39,379 --> 00:14:41,247
you hear whispers about
throughout the fleet.

231
00:14:42,449 --> 00:14:44,284
Boss Wooldridge--
he's one of the first people

232
00:14:44,284 --> 00:14:45,952
I met after I made the team.

233
00:14:47,354 --> 00:14:49,356
He's a legend.

234
00:14:49,356 --> 00:14:51,291
[Lance "Bubb" Benson] One of
the unique things about him is

235
00:14:51,291 --> 00:14:52,525
he got called back

236
00:14:52,525 --> 00:14:54,861
to be the boss of the Blue Angels
three total times.

237
00:14:54,861 --> 00:14:56,863
He's the only guy
that's done it three times.

238
00:14:59,650 --> 00:15:00,367
He has spent so much time.

239
00:15:00,367 --> 00:15:04,204
He's intimately familiar
with what goes on.

240
00:15:04,204 --> 00:15:06,940
[Greg "Boss" Wooldridge] When I came
to the Blue Angels, I was amazed

241
00:15:06,940 --> 00:15:10,877
at how close the formations were
and-and the maneuvers.

242
00:15:12,312 --> 00:15:15,248
How can you do that?

243
00:15:15,248 --> 00:15:17,584
But as Vince Lombardi said,

244
00:15:17,584 --> 00:15:21,621
we're gonna go out there today,
and we're gonna "chase perfection."

245
00:15:21,621 --> 00:15:24,190
We'll never get perfection,
but along the way,

246
00:15:24,190 --> 00:15:26,793
we're going to realize excellence.

247
00:15:26,793 --> 00:15:29,829
[announcer] ...accelerate to
300 miles per hour.

248
00:15:29,829 --> 00:15:31,698
[Wooldridge] The markers toward
getting to excellence

249
00:15:31,698 --> 00:15:33,900
is when you're able to, as a formation,

250
00:15:33,900 --> 00:15:35,902
feel like you can move it in closer.

251
00:15:35,902 --> 00:15:38,400
[dramatic music playing]

252
00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,807
[Boss] We define our season
by what we call our sets,

253
00:15:40,807 --> 00:15:43,760
which is how close we fly together.

254
00:15:45,278 --> 00:15:48,140
[Jamammy] At the beginning of the season,
we'll start in our furthest-out set,

255
00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:49,683
which we call the Fleet Parade.

256
00:15:49,683 --> 00:15:52,452
As close as you would ever fly
in the Navy.

257
00:15:52,452 --> 00:15:54,587
And then as we start to progress,

258
00:15:54,587 --> 00:15:58,458
we'll start to bring those sets in
a little bit tighter to Blue Gold.

259
00:15:58,458 --> 00:16:00,160
[Cheese] When we say Blue Gold set,

260
00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,629
it's where the line of the blue paint

261
00:16:02,629 --> 00:16:05,365
and the gold paint actually meet.

262
00:16:05,365 --> 00:16:10,360
That's where Jamammy's gonna
put in his head, is underneath that.

263
00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,539
And that's about 18 inches apart.

264
00:16:12,539 --> 00:16:14,474
[Wooldridge] If you raise your hands
above your head,

265
00:16:14,474 --> 00:16:17,110
it'd be from the top of your fingertips
to your top of your head

266
00:16:17,110 --> 00:16:19,579
is 18 inches away from each other.

267
00:16:19,579 --> 00:16:20,947
22-ton jets,

268
00:16:20,947 --> 00:16:23,249
400 miles an hour.

269
00:16:25,652 --> 00:16:28,321
The next step would be
our closest set, which is Yankee,

270
00:16:28,321 --> 00:16:30,323
meaning that he's
going to put his aircraft

271
00:16:30,323 --> 00:16:32,826
underneath the "Y" on my left wing.

272
00:16:32,826 --> 00:16:36,296
So, Jamammy, he's actually gonna
slide up underneath like that.

273
00:16:37,364 --> 00:16:40,834
That creates that parallax that we're all
in that perfect Diamond Formation

274
00:16:40,834 --> 00:16:44,237
and almost have our wingtips overlapping.

275
00:16:44,237 --> 00:16:46,539
[tense music playing]

276
00:16:49,750 --> 00:16:52,212
As the new number two,
I set the formation.

277
00:16:53,246 --> 00:16:57,350
I need to be perfect in every way
because everybody looks at me

278
00:16:57,350 --> 00:16:58,985
to set the distance.

279
00:17:00,353 --> 00:17:02,880
If I'm off by a letter,

280
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:04,290
Jamammy then looks at that
and he sets it off of me,

281
00:17:04,290 --> 00:17:06,860
and then Chomps sets that distance
off of both of us.

282
00:17:06,860 --> 00:17:10,363
So, if there's any mismatch down the line,

283
00:17:10,363 --> 00:17:12,565
essentially, it's probably caused by me.

284
00:17:20,573 --> 00:17:24,770
[Whiskers] People just don't realize
how physically demanding the flight is.

285
00:17:28,140 --> 00:17:29,516
I mean, the demo is

286
00:17:29,516 --> 00:17:32,952
45 minutes of, as Blue Angel eight
calls it, pure violence.

287
00:17:32,952 --> 00:17:35,210
[tense, dramatic music playing]

288
00:17:38,291 --> 00:17:41,494
[Wooldridge] We had, first of all,
a 45-pound spring

289
00:17:41,494 --> 00:17:43,496
pulling the stick away from us.

290
00:17:43,496 --> 00:17:47,000
You couldn't get a good feel for it
unless it was pulling away from you

291
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:49,690
at about 45 pounds.

292
00:17:51,905 --> 00:17:55,775
[Doc] It is a full-body workout
when these aviators fly,

293
00:17:55,775 --> 00:17:58,780
from their feet to their hands
to their head.

294
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:02,315
They use their entire body

295
00:18:02,315 --> 00:18:04,684
to combat g-forces.

296
00:18:04,684 --> 00:18:06,786
[dramatic music playing]

297
00:18:09,155 --> 00:18:11,691
[Jamammy] When you're pulling g's
in the aircraft, all your blood

298
00:18:11,691 --> 00:18:14,894
is rushing down to your legs,
to your lower extremities.

299
00:18:14,894 --> 00:18:17,397
And once that blood leaves your head,

300
00:18:17,397 --> 00:18:20,233
you're then at risk
of loss of consciousness.

301
00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:25,710
[Doc] First sign is
you're gonna lose your vision

302
00:18:25,710 --> 00:18:28,908
and start graying out-- tunnel vision.

303
00:18:28,908 --> 00:18:33,980
In order to combat that, we're gonna push
that blood back up with our muscles.

304
00:18:33,980 --> 00:18:37,317
[Whiskers] Squeezing the legs,
the butt, the abs.

305
00:18:37,317 --> 00:18:40,954
And if it's a real heavy g pull,
then making sure I lock down

306
00:18:40,954 --> 00:18:42,522
a three-quarter-lung-capacity breath.

307
00:18:56,269 --> 00:19:00,707
As a pilot, you understand the risk.

308
00:19:00,707 --> 00:19:03,243
You do a job where,
at practice, in training,

309
00:19:03,243 --> 00:19:05,378
you can end it all in an accident.

310
00:19:08,248 --> 00:19:10,450
So it's just... it's a mix of emotions.

311
00:19:10,450 --> 00:19:12,519
[majestic music playing]

312
00:19:17,991 --> 00:19:19,993
[Cary "Chewy" Rickoff] What we do
is very dangerous.

313
00:19:19,993 --> 00:19:24,300
First couple times you take off,
you got to push the "I believe" button.

314
00:19:24,300 --> 00:19:26,332
But one of the things we learn
in flight school

315
00:19:26,332 --> 00:19:28,401
very early on is it's a team sport.

316
00:19:28,401 --> 00:19:30,537
We're all the same,
cut from the same cloth.

317
00:19:32,706 --> 00:19:37,110
[Jamammy] The risk is never any lower
when we go out and practice

318
00:19:37,110 --> 00:19:40,113
as it is when we're doing the actual show,
so we take

319
00:19:40,113 --> 00:19:41,815
a fine-tooth comb to everything.

320
00:19:43,350 --> 00:19:44,784
[engines whooshing]

321
00:19:52,959 --> 00:19:55,562
[indistinct chatter, laughter]

322
00:19:57,330 --> 00:19:58,865
[Jamammy] It looked like
we were good, and--

323
00:19:58,865 --> 00:20:00,834
[Cheese] We were good until a half mile.

324
00:20:00,834 --> 00:20:03,103
[Chomps] That's gonna be your focus
for tomorrow, is that arc.

325
00:20:03,103 --> 00:20:05,171
So let's take a hammer down
to that one tomorrow.

326
00:20:05,171 --> 00:20:06,706
Really try to fine-tune that.

327
00:20:08,475 --> 00:20:11,144
[Jamammy] During the debrief,
we dissect everything.

328
00:20:11,144 --> 00:20:13,446
There's definitely times
at the end of days

329
00:20:13,446 --> 00:20:15,849
where you're frustrated
'cause you can't get a maneuver right.

330
00:20:15,849 --> 00:20:19,319
And not only do you know
that you did it incorrectly in the air,

331
00:20:19,319 --> 00:20:22,756
but now you get to watch it
frame by frame on a TV screen,

332
00:20:22,756 --> 00:20:24,824
like, zoomed in with an HD camera,

333
00:20:24,824 --> 00:20:27,694
so you can really see
how bad you were, you know.

334
00:20:27,694 --> 00:20:31,197
But that's-that's part of it.
That's how we... that's how we get better.

335
00:20:31,197 --> 00:20:34,834
Every single person does that,
including Boss.

336
00:20:34,834 --> 00:20:37,404
That's, like... that's a tendency for me,
probably a tendency for somebody else,

337
00:20:37,404 --> 00:20:38,938
is you're trying to get down this much...

338
00:20:38,938 --> 00:20:41,441
You should be your own worst critic.

339
00:20:41,441 --> 00:20:42,909
That's a commitment we have.

340
00:20:42,909 --> 00:20:44,978
It's easy to say, tough to do.

341
00:20:44,978 --> 00:20:46,780
Be a better version of yourself.
Be a better teammate.

342
00:20:46,780 --> 00:20:48,415
Help the team get better every day.

343
00:20:48,415 --> 00:20:50,817
[♪ Buzzcocks: "Why Can't I Touch It?"]

344
00:20:50,817 --> 00:20:53,920
- Let's go, let's go, let's go.
- [cheering, laughing]

345
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,656
-"Diamond" on three. One, two, three.
- [group] Diamond!

346
00:20:58,658 --> 00:21:01,270
[Cheese] Failing together.

347
00:21:01,270 --> 00:21:02,962
The "failing together" mindset

348
00:21:02,962 --> 00:21:04,464
really gets people close.

349
00:21:07,167 --> 00:21:09,869
[Chomps] Everything is trust,

350
00:21:09,869 --> 00:21:12,872
and so far, over El Centro,
that's where we really build that trust.

351
00:21:12,872 --> 00:21:16,376
[rapid technical chatter]

352
00:21:17,444 --> 00:21:19,979
[Chomps] What you're seeing now
in this final week is this teamwork,

353
00:21:19,979 --> 00:21:21,648
this focus point, this foundation

354
00:21:21,648 --> 00:21:25,850
to try to reach for that perfection
every single day.

355
00:21:25,850 --> 00:21:27,153
But the closer you get to that pinnacle,

356
00:21:27,153 --> 00:21:29,155
the further away
you realize you actually are.

357
00:21:29,155 --> 00:21:32,625
♪ Well, it seems so real ♪

358
00:21:32,625 --> 00:21:35,328
♪ I can see it ♪

359
00:21:35,328 --> 00:21:38,198
♪ And it seems so real ♪

360
00:21:38,198 --> 00:21:40,900
♪ I can feel it ♪

361
00:21:40,900 --> 00:21:43,903
♪ And it seems so real ♪

362
00:21:43,903 --> 00:21:46,873
♪ I can taste it ♪

363
00:21:46,873 --> 00:21:49,642
♪ And it seems so real ♪

364
00:21:49,642 --> 00:21:52,445
♪ I can hear it ♪

365
00:21:52,445 --> 00:21:57,684
♪ So why ♪

366
00:21:57,684 --> 00:22:00,620
♪ Can't I touch it? ♪

367
00:22:04,224 --> 00:22:08,528
♪ So why ♪

368
00:22:08,528 --> 00:22:11,531
♪ Can't I touch it? ♪

369
00:22:21,541 --> 00:22:23,543
[crickets chirping]

370
00:22:23,543 --> 00:22:25,612
[song ends]

371
00:22:30,350 --> 00:22:32,352
[quiet, atmospheric music playing]

372
00:22:34,988 --> 00:22:36,489
[clears throat]

373
00:22:39,192 --> 00:22:42,295
All right. It's Friday, March 11, 2022

374
00:22:42,295 --> 00:22:44,364
over Naval Air Facility El Centro,
California,

375
00:22:44,364 --> 00:22:47,567
where the winds are three-three-zero
at nine, ten miles vis, sky clear.

376
00:22:47,567 --> 00:22:51,604
Forecast for the winds: three-four-zero
at six, unlimited vis, sky clear.

377
00:22:51,604 --> 00:22:54,140
When we're cleared for takeoff, we'll put
four on the runway with a wind check.

378
00:22:54,140 --> 00:22:57,944
Check your parking brake off.
Maneuver: Diamond Half Squirrel Cage.

379
00:22:57,944 --> 00:22:59,813
Left turnout
followed by the solo section...

380
00:22:59,813 --> 00:23:03,683
[Whiskers] During the briefs,
we will follow around our ground track

381
00:23:03,683 --> 00:23:06,860
with our pens
as Boss is talking through the sequence.

382
00:23:06,860 --> 00:23:09,322
[Boss] Whiskers will be in from behind
the crowd to Sneak to Vertical Rolls,

383
00:23:09,322 --> 00:23:12,492
and the five ship will be in from
the right for the Line Abreast Loop.

384
00:23:12,492 --> 00:23:15,161
[Whiskers] Once we get
to a certain maneuver,

385
00:23:15,161 --> 00:23:16,563
we will chair-fly.

386
00:23:16,563 --> 00:23:18,131
Around the crowd for the Delta Roll.

387
00:23:18,131 --> 00:23:19,265
- Ball, say five.
- [Cheese] Cheese.

388
00:23:19,265 --> 00:23:20,367
- [Jamammy] Jamammy.
- [Chomps] Chomps.

389
00:23:20,367 --> 00:23:21,434
- [Chewy] Chewy.
- [Whiskers] Whiskers.

390
00:23:21,434 --> 00:23:23,536
[Cheese] After you do it so much,

391
00:23:23,536 --> 00:23:26,606
you know exactly where you're going,
what you're doing, how it's gonna feel,

392
00:23:26,606 --> 00:23:29,376
and you can actually, like,
visualize yourself doing it,

393
00:23:29,376 --> 00:23:34,414
getting a-a practice in on that maneuver
before you go out and do it.

394
00:23:34,414 --> 00:23:36,916
Airspeed call. Come left.

395
00:23:36,916 --> 00:23:38,151
[Whiskers] Got six, Boss.

396
00:23:38,151 --> 00:23:40,153
Boss.

397
00:23:40,153 --> 00:23:41,654
Come in for left.

398
00:23:43,656 --> 00:23:45,291
We're left turn for the Delta Roll.

399
00:23:45,291 --> 00:23:48,661
A little more pull.

400
00:23:48,661 --> 00:23:51,498
Horizon seven-five, easing power idle.

401
00:23:51,498 --> 00:23:53,266
Ready? Roll hat.

402
00:23:54,501 --> 00:23:56,169
- We're left turn for the Fleur De Lis.
- [Cheese] Cheese.

403
00:23:56,169 --> 00:23:57,237
- [Jamammy] Jamammy.
- [Chomps] Chomps.

404
00:23:57,237 --> 00:23:58,605
- [Chewy] Chewy.
- [Whiskers] Whiskers.

405
00:24:02,308 --> 00:24:04,544
[Boss] Distractions, we talked about it,
are gonna be here.

406
00:24:04,544 --> 00:24:05,912
It's game-on time.

407
00:24:05,912 --> 00:24:08,682
And just keep in mind
you're gonna have jitters.

408
00:24:08,682 --> 00:24:11,818
You're gonna go out there,
and even though it's at El Centro,

409
00:24:11,818 --> 00:24:14,320
there's-there's gonna be
a few thousand people there

410
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,624
that'll be saying something
that's gonna be looking to distract you.

411
00:24:17,624 --> 00:24:19,826
Think about that tonight,
and think about when you get in there,

412
00:24:19,826 --> 00:24:22,696
just like we talked about,
everything from the walk down,

413
00:24:22,696 --> 00:24:26,990
start talking the cadence,
thinking about it, hop in the jet,

414
00:24:26,990 --> 00:24:28,935
do everything and don't get distracted
by looking around.

415
00:24:28,935 --> 00:24:30,670
Stay focused inside the canopy.

416
00:24:30,670 --> 00:24:33,540
And then once we're on the runway,
it's same as it ever was.

417
00:24:33,540 --> 00:24:34,941
So, with that, I'm glad to be here.

418
00:24:34,941 --> 00:24:36,609
Rip it!

419
00:24:36,609 --> 00:24:38,712
[majestic music playing]

420
00:24:54,361 --> 00:24:57,497
- [sirens wailing]
- [pulsing, suspenseful music playing]

421
00:25:06,239 --> 00:25:08,241
[Boss] We're going to try to do
what we can to make the demo

422
00:25:08,241 --> 00:25:12,712
as tight, as low,
as entertaining as possible.

423
00:25:12,712 --> 00:25:14,414
But that's not my line.

424
00:25:14,414 --> 00:25:17,317
You know, this...
this-this tiger that I'm chasing.

425
00:25:18,485 --> 00:25:20,253
The most important thing is

426
00:25:20,253 --> 00:25:21,988
six jets up, six jets down.

427
00:25:21,988 --> 00:25:24,570
♪ ♪

428
00:25:33,933 --> 00:25:35,935
[Cheese] First day of the show season,

429
00:25:35,935 --> 00:25:39,105
and I can't tell you
what it's gonna feel like.

430
00:25:39,105 --> 00:25:41,574
I have no idea what to expect.

431
00:25:41,574 --> 00:25:43,760
You know, it's another
one of those things.

432
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,479
Like, man, am I... am I ready to do this?

433
00:25:46,479 --> 00:25:48,581
[dramatic music playing]

434
00:26:05,865 --> 00:26:08,668
♪ ♪

435
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,243
[applause, whistling]

436
00:26:21,614 --> 00:26:24,517
[Griffin "Push Pop" Stangel] Ladies
and gentlemen, your United States Navy

437
00:26:24,517 --> 00:26:27,354
takes pleasure in performing for you this,

438
00:26:27,354 --> 00:26:29,389
our first flight demonstration
of the season.

439
00:26:29,389 --> 00:26:31,825
[engines whirring]

440
00:26:31,825 --> 00:26:34,794
Now, to the left,
Captain Kesselring calls:

441
00:26:34,794 --> 00:26:36,996
"Smoke on. Off brakes now.

442
00:26:36,996 --> 00:26:38,331
Burners ready now."

443
00:26:38,331 --> 00:26:40,330
And the Blue Angel Diamond is rolling.

444
00:26:41,340 --> 00:26:43,536
Burners ready now.

445
00:26:43,536 --> 00:26:46,720
[engines whooshing]

446
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,242
[dramatic music continues]

447
00:27:03,390 --> 00:27:06,393
[speaking indistinctly
in chanting cadence]

448
00:27:09,462 --> 00:27:11,765
[Push Pop over speakers] The Diamond is
approaching for a maneuver that is likely

449
00:27:11,765 --> 00:27:15,435
familiar to those of you who have seen
the Blue Angels perform in the past.

450
00:27:15,435 --> 00:27:18,938
From the right, at 400 miles per hour,
the Diamond Roll.

451
00:27:21,808 --> 00:27:26,880
All four aircraft flying as one in this
graceful 360-degree rolling maneuver.

452
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,649
♪ ♪

453
00:27:36,256 --> 00:27:37,957
[applause]

454
00:27:39,225 --> 00:27:41,294
The two solo pilots will next demonstrate

455
00:27:41,294 --> 00:27:45,231
the inverted flight capability
of the F-18.

456
00:27:45,231 --> 00:27:47,834
Approaching inverted from the left
and right, Lieutenant Commander Rickoff

457
00:27:47,834 --> 00:27:51,938
and Lieutenant Commander Bratton
will roll their aircraft 360 degrees.

458
00:27:51,938 --> 00:27:53,440
[Boss] Bratty, hit it.

459
00:27:59,412 --> 00:28:04,840
[Push Pop] Ladies and gentlemen,
the Opposing Inverted to Inverted Roll.

460
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,956
As the four Diamond pilots approach,
you should notice

461
00:28:09,956 --> 00:28:13,560
the flight leader and slot pilot
are both in the inverted position.

462
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,462
The Blue Angel Double Farvel.

463
00:28:15,462 --> 00:28:16,830
Ready? Hit it.

464
00:28:17,831 --> 00:28:19,833
[soaring, dramatic music playing]

465
00:28:30,577 --> 00:28:32,450
[Boss] Rip it.

466
00:28:33,113 --> 00:28:35,615
Pull. Pull it.

467
00:28:36,616 --> 00:28:38,485
[indistinct radio chatter]

468
00:28:42,522 --> 00:28:45,250
[Push Pop] The 2022 team
takes a great deal of pride

469
00:28:45,250 --> 00:28:47,627
in saluting Navy
and Marine Corps aviators,

470
00:28:47,627 --> 00:28:51,197
maintenance crews
and support personnel everywhere.

471
00:28:51,197 --> 00:28:54,534
From the left, your Blue Angels.

472
00:28:56,269 --> 00:28:58,271
[majestic music playing]

473
00:29:09,315 --> 00:29:12,352
It has been an honor and our pleasure
to perform for you

474
00:29:12,352 --> 00:29:15,588
our first flight demonstration
of the season.

475
00:29:15,588 --> 00:29:17,657
[cheering and applause]

476
00:29:19,125 --> 00:29:21,494
[Boss] The Blue Angels aren't about
just jet performance.

477
00:29:21,494 --> 00:29:25,310
Anybody can go out there and learn
to do a lot of twirls and loops and rolls,

478
00:29:25,310 --> 00:29:26,533
but to do it together,

479
00:29:26,533 --> 00:29:29,869
to make six jets fly as one,
that's the magic.

480
00:29:29,869 --> 00:29:31,271
That's the Blue Angel magic.

481
00:29:31,271 --> 00:29:32,605
[Push Pop] Ladies and gentlemen,

482
00:29:32,605 --> 00:29:35,642
representing your United States Navy
and Marine Corps,

483
00:29:35,642 --> 00:29:38,144
the Blue Angels 2022.

484
00:29:38,144 --> 00:29:40,947
[applause]

485
00:29:40,947 --> 00:29:44,184
[Whiskers] It was a little bumpy road,
but I made it.

486
00:29:44,184 --> 00:29:46,853
[Cheese] Once we finished crowd-lining,
you know, Chomps came up and said,

487
00:29:46,853 --> 00:29:49,823
"Hey, guys, congrats.
You're... you're demo pilots now."

488
00:29:50,824 --> 00:29:52,826
So it was pretty incredible.

489
00:29:55,729 --> 00:29:57,564
[Jamammy] You finish
that show in El Centro,

490
00:29:57,564 --> 00:30:00,433
that drop of salute happens,
you head back to your room,

491
00:30:00,433 --> 00:30:02,168
and you start packing it up.

492
00:30:02,168 --> 00:30:04,571
Then you see Fat Albert
getting loaded up with all of our gear,

493
00:30:04,571 --> 00:30:07,107
all of our personnel,
and you realize that,

494
00:30:07,107 --> 00:30:11,144
"Hey, I've got an eight-month season
staring me in the face right now."

495
00:30:12,812 --> 00:30:14,647
So it's daunting, to say the least.

496
00:30:14,647 --> 00:30:18,284
Not just that first week
but every week after that.

497
00:30:18,284 --> 00:30:21,688
Bert's rolling, and so are we,
to a... to a town near you.

498
00:30:23,623 --> 00:30:27,600
[Jon "XO" Fay] Fat Albert is
our C-130J Super Hercules asset,

499
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,329
affectionately known as Bert.

500
00:30:29,329 --> 00:30:31,998
Those are our Marines, an all-Marine crew.

501
00:30:31,998 --> 00:30:34,670
They also provide logistics support.

502
00:30:35,769 --> 00:30:38,605
Fat Albert is key in essentially
supporting the team

503
00:30:38,605 --> 00:30:40,540
to and from every single air show site.

504
00:30:41,608 --> 00:30:45,745
It's about 30,000 pounds of cargo,
45 personnel.

505
00:30:47,470 --> 00:30:49,983
- Okay, you got all the newbies?
- Maybe.

506
00:30:49,983 --> 00:30:51,317
- [laughter]
- Yeah.

507
00:30:51,317 --> 00:30:53,820
[Lauren Song] We have
six pallets worth of gear.

508
00:30:53,820 --> 00:30:56,289
All of our friends are sitting
on the red seats or blue seats

509
00:30:56,289 --> 00:31:00,527
on the sides, crammed in tight,
almost knee to pallet.

510
00:31:00,527 --> 00:31:03,630
- And about this close to your buddy.
- [both laugh]

511
00:31:10,770 --> 00:31:13,390
[Boss] We've just done
that first air show.

512
00:31:13,390 --> 00:31:15,241
Now we're off to New Orleans.

513
00:31:15,241 --> 00:31:17,477
We're gonna roll into town like a...

514
00:31:17,477 --> 00:31:18,712
like a circus, I guess.

515
00:31:18,712 --> 00:31:21,147
[dramatic music playing]

516
00:31:22,182 --> 00:31:24,417
[reporter] The U.S. Navy Blue Angels
returned to town this weekend.

517
00:31:24,417 --> 00:31:25,819
[reporter 2] The Blue Angels
came into town,

518
00:31:25,819 --> 00:31:28,154
landing at the Naval Air Station
in Belle Chasse.

519
00:31:32,859 --> 00:31:34,828
[William "B" Huckeba] Right when
we get there with Fat Albert,

520
00:31:34,828 --> 00:31:37,330
you know, we kind of, like, set the tone.

521
00:31:38,898 --> 00:31:43,336
When that crew entrance door opens,
everything is set up perfectly

522
00:31:43,336 --> 00:31:45,105
so that we're able to put on a great show.

523
00:31:46,706 --> 00:31:49,876
[Jamammy] It's definitely similar
to being on a sports team.

524
00:31:51,111 --> 00:31:52,946
The schedule is relentless.

525
00:31:54,247 --> 00:31:57,830
You are constantly on the road.
You're constantly traveling.

526
00:31:58,184 --> 00:32:00,820
Exact mesh of a sports team

527
00:32:00,820 --> 00:32:03,790
with the schedule of a touring
rock and roll band.

528
00:32:06,726 --> 00:32:08,728
[indistinct chatter, cheering]

529
00:32:08,728 --> 00:32:11,331
I always say it's like
planning 30 weddings.

530
00:32:11,331 --> 00:32:14,868
Thirty weddings and 30 places
you've never been to

531
00:32:14,868 --> 00:32:16,670
with 30 families you've just met.

532
00:32:28,181 --> 00:32:30,183
[jet engines roaring]

533
00:32:32,452 --> 00:32:34,688
[indistinct radio chatter]

534
00:32:34,688 --> 00:32:36,856
[Boss] Great job today.

535
00:32:39,526 --> 00:32:41,361
Pitch-Up Break. Cheese, upper deck.

536
00:32:41,361 --> 00:32:42,529
And down.

537
00:32:50,103 --> 00:32:53,139
[majestic music playing]

538
00:32:53,139 --> 00:32:56,309
[yelling excitedly]

539
00:33:14,994 --> 00:33:17,197
[Jamammy] Coming back home
at the end of those three months

540
00:33:17,197 --> 00:33:19,432
and-and seeing our families
on the flight line

541
00:33:19,432 --> 00:33:21,935
for the first time was incredible.

542
00:33:28,742 --> 00:33:31,440
It's so special to have this home base.

543
00:33:33,460 --> 00:33:35,682
This place that just loves us so much.

544
00:33:37,751 --> 00:33:39,152
Our families are here.

545
00:33:39,152 --> 00:33:41,621
Our families live here all the time.

546
00:33:45,250 --> 00:33:47,227
[excited chatter]

547
00:33:49,629 --> 00:33:55,235
[Jamammy] For me, when I found out
I made the team, that was on July 11th.

548
00:33:55,235 --> 00:33:56,536
One month later, Jo was born.

549
00:33:56,536 --> 00:33:59,639
And a month after that,
I left to go join the team.

550
00:33:59,639 --> 00:34:03,443
So, the fact that they take care
of our families so well, I think,

551
00:34:03,443 --> 00:34:06,713
is what really, uh,
endears this place to us.

552
00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:12,850
[tires squeal]

553
00:34:17,457 --> 00:34:19,459
♪ ♪

554
00:34:41,614 --> 00:34:43,817
[indistinct chatter]

555
00:34:45,952 --> 00:34:47,954
[insects trilling]

556
00:34:57,897 --> 00:34:59,332
[quiet chatter]

557
00:34:59,332 --> 00:35:00,667
[opens drawer]

558
00:35:00,667 --> 00:35:01,901
[rummaging]

559
00:35:01,901 --> 00:35:03,503
[closes drawer]

560
00:35:05,105 --> 00:35:07,874
[Boss] I never had any thought
that I would be on the team.

561
00:35:07,874 --> 00:35:10,310
You know, joining a team
where I'm gonna be gone for,

562
00:35:10,310 --> 00:35:12,545
you know, nearly 300 days a year,

563
00:35:12,545 --> 00:35:15,615
uh, with a brand-new little daughter
and having some tough conversations

564
00:35:15,615 --> 00:35:18,180
with my wife about:
"Do we want to do this?"

565
00:35:18,180 --> 00:35:20,860
And for me, it was... it was:

566
00:35:20,860 --> 00:35:23,256
This is a way I can, you know,
in a sense, kind of give back.

567
00:35:23,256 --> 00:35:25,325
[soft, wistful music playing]

568
00:35:26,693 --> 00:35:28,828
June 20, 1986.

569
00:35:28,828 --> 00:35:31,731
I'm, like, this nine-year-old boy
up in Fargo, North Dakota.

570
00:35:33,433 --> 00:35:37,537
My dream when I saw the Blue Angels
was to go serve my country.

571
00:35:38,605 --> 00:35:40,373
[children chattering]

572
00:35:40,373 --> 00:35:42,642
You know, I grew up
playing sports-- basketball--

573
00:35:42,642 --> 00:35:44,811
and finishing up college
and, you know, thinking like,

574
00:35:44,811 --> 00:35:47,547
"Boy, I'd love to fly for the Navy,
but I'm just... you know, I'm too big.

575
00:35:47,547 --> 00:35:49,315
I can't fit in the cockpit."

576
00:35:49,315 --> 00:35:52,819
And sure enough, it turns out I fit
and they-they would have me,

577
00:35:52,819 --> 00:35:55,822
and kind of the rest is history,
as far as joining the Navy.

578
00:35:55,822 --> 00:35:57,791
[child laughing]

579
00:36:00,193 --> 00:36:01,828
[Ashley Kesselring] I'm currently
a major in the Marine Corps,

580
00:36:01,828 --> 00:36:04,297
managing aircraft maintenance.

581
00:36:05,365 --> 00:36:07,767
Brian told me, you know,
"One of the bucket things in my career

582
00:36:07,767 --> 00:36:09,569
is to maybe apply for the Blue Angels.

583
00:36:09,569 --> 00:36:11,671
It's one in a million.
One in a million, though.

584
00:36:11,671 --> 00:36:13,730
We're never gonna get it."

585
00:36:13,730 --> 00:36:18,611
And we were both in quite a bit of shock
when we found out that that was happening.

586
00:36:18,611 --> 00:36:21,414
We're just super fortunate
to have been stationed together.

587
00:36:22,782 --> 00:36:24,818
For the next duty station,
he's got his orders.

588
00:36:24,818 --> 00:36:27,654
I do not have my orders yet,
so I'm still kind of knocking on wood,

589
00:36:27,654 --> 00:36:30,724
hoping everything kind of
comes in alignment for it.

590
00:36:30,724 --> 00:36:32,359
But again, it's not...

591
00:36:32,359 --> 00:36:34,561
Don't stress about something
you don't have the control over.

592
00:36:36,563 --> 00:36:39,666
It's definitely a bit of a jigsaw,
as far as trying to, you know,

593
00:36:39,666 --> 00:36:42,102
plan a family in the military.

594
00:36:42,102 --> 00:36:43,870
It's doable. I mean, we've got two.

595
00:36:43,870 --> 00:36:45,772
It's definitely doable, so...

596
00:36:45,772 --> 00:36:49,476
it'll be just one of those things
that you... that you work through.

597
00:36:49,476 --> 00:36:51,440
[Boss] Yeah, there you are.

598
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:52,445
All right, Remy.

599
00:36:55,949 --> 00:36:58,785
There's not much flying tours left
for a guy like me.

600
00:36:58,785 --> 00:37:01,521
The mission was really what...
what I went back to.

601
00:37:03,456 --> 00:37:07,727
People's dreams, uh, dreams they never
thought they could possibly achieve,

602
00:37:07,727 --> 00:37:11,531
can come true, and that's the mentality
we want in the Blue Angels.

603
00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:18,872
What I never realized--

604
00:37:18,872 --> 00:37:22,242
and I've been on great teams before--
what I didn't realize is how attached

605
00:37:22,242 --> 00:37:23,543
I'd be to this team.

606
00:37:23,543 --> 00:37:25,879
[grunts] Bye-bye, Remy.

607
00:37:25,879 --> 00:37:28,148
[wistful music continues]

608
00:37:37,724 --> 00:37:39,859
There isn't a family
like a Blue Angel family.

609
00:37:39,859 --> 00:37:41,194
And I'll miss that.

610
00:37:41,194 --> 00:37:44,297
I'll miss that and...
and all that goes along with it.

611
00:37:46,660 --> 00:37:48,501
[Chomps] Everything here is about
being a member of the team.

612
00:37:48,501 --> 00:37:50,570
[♪ Fatboy Slim: "Praise You"]

613
00:37:50,570 --> 00:37:54,974
[Boss] It takes all 141 personnel
on our command doing their job,

614
00:37:54,974 --> 00:37:57,277
putting forth that maximum effort.

615
00:37:59,446 --> 00:38:00,914
[Chomps] It's constant.

616
00:38:00,914 --> 00:38:03,850
It's 18 hours a day
with the same people every day.

617
00:38:03,850 --> 00:38:06,860
So every single person in here--
every pilot,

618
00:38:06,860 --> 00:38:08,421
every officer, every teammate,
every enlisted maintainer--

619
00:38:08,421 --> 00:38:10,890
whatever position we have
on this team is family.

620
00:38:10,890 --> 00:38:13,293
♪ Through the hard times and the good...

621
00:38:13,293 --> 00:38:15,729
- [man] What's up? Mic check.
- [group] Hey!

622
00:38:15,729 --> 00:38:17,530
[James Hernandez] Like I said,
give it 100%.

623
00:38:17,530 --> 00:38:20,166
This is the time that I need y'all.
I'm glad to be here.

624
00:38:20,166 --> 00:38:22,168
[group] Whoo!

625
00:38:31,111 --> 00:38:33,380
♪ I have to praise you ♪

626
00:38:35,348 --> 00:38:36,583
♪ I have to praise you...

627
00:38:36,583 --> 00:38:39,486
Chief Mass Communication Specialist
Paul Archer.

628
00:38:40,587 --> 00:38:43,560
[Oyindamola Michael] My name
is Oyindamola Michael.

629
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:44,958
I am the number six crew chief.

630
00:38:44,958 --> 00:38:47,193
[Push Pop] My name is
Lieutenant Griffin Stangel.

631
00:38:47,193 --> 00:38:48,828
Uh, call sign "Push Pop."

632
00:38:48,828 --> 00:38:51,431
Lieutenant Brian Abe. Uh, I go by Mo here.

633
00:38:51,431 --> 00:38:53,500
Lieutenant Paul Kruger, call sign "Suppo."

634
00:38:53,500 --> 00:38:55,680
I'm Lieutenant Henry Cedeño

635
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:56,670
from Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico.

636
00:38:56,670 --> 00:38:58,938
♪ I have to praise you...

637
00:39:02,142 --> 00:39:04,444
[Push Pop] So, my role on the team
as Blue Angel number seven

638
00:39:04,444 --> 00:39:05,945
is I'm the narrator.

639
00:39:05,945 --> 00:39:07,447
♪ I have to praise you...

640
00:39:07,447 --> 00:39:10,830
My goal is to interact
with a crowd of tens of thousands,

641
00:39:10,830 --> 00:39:12,252
sometimes hundreds of thousands of people.

642
00:39:14,921 --> 00:39:17,223
[Cody Hendrix] I'm a mass
communication specialist.

643
00:39:17,223 --> 00:39:18,525
We're aerial photographers, right?

644
00:39:18,525 --> 00:39:20,600
We get to go up and fly in the jet

645
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:22,796
and take all the pretty Blue Angel photos.

646
00:39:22,796 --> 00:39:24,230
[camera shutter clicking]

647
00:39:27,500 --> 00:39:29,869
[Boss] I've got a female
front man right now.

648
00:39:29,869 --> 00:39:31,871
That's only happened,
I think, maybe once before.

649
00:39:31,871 --> 00:39:33,239
You know, running the entire crew.

650
00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:35,542
- [Keri "Front Ma'am" Kalmus] What's up,
guys?
- [group] Hey!

651
00:39:35,542 --> 00:39:37,777
[Front Ma'am] All right, all hands
tomorrow is gonna be 0800.

652
00:39:37,777 --> 00:39:39,979
I got a lot of information
to put out, so pay attention.

653
00:39:39,979 --> 00:39:41,147
I need two volunteers.

654
00:39:41,147 --> 00:39:42,849
From '99 to 2000,

655
00:39:42,849 --> 00:39:45,185
Karen Marini was
the last female front man.

656
00:39:45,185 --> 00:39:46,619
They called her Frontchik.

657
00:39:46,619 --> 00:39:47,987
Now I go by Front Ma'am.

658
00:39:47,987 --> 00:39:50,623
And then my bravo is a front man.

659
00:39:50,623 --> 00:39:53,827
Hot seat, Front Ma'am.
Flight walk complete. We have ATAF...

660
00:39:53,827 --> 00:39:57,300
Essentially, I'm walking
every single jet on the line,

661
00:39:57,300 --> 00:39:59,599
along with our crew chiefs.

662
00:39:59,599 --> 00:40:03,670
[Kevin "219" Hill] We have 12 crew chiefs,
and it's two crew chiefs per pilot.

663
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:10,276
I'm the number one crew chief,
Boss Kesselring's crew chief.

664
00:40:10,276 --> 00:40:12,450
We go in the cockpit,
just check everything

665
00:40:12,450 --> 00:40:13,980
that the pilot would check
before they take off.

666
00:40:13,980 --> 00:40:17,517
Flight controls, you know,
the displays, everything.

667
00:40:17,517 --> 00:40:20,453
[Front Ma'am] And then I'm just
double-verifying, triple-verifying

668
00:40:20,453 --> 00:40:23,156
everything's good for that pilot to get
in the cockpit and go out and fly.

669
00:40:23,156 --> 00:40:24,391
[Front Ma'am hollers]

670
00:40:24,391 --> 00:40:27,327
As a pilot, I never
pre-flighted an airplane.

671
00:40:27,327 --> 00:40:30,897
I had so much trust in my crew chief.

672
00:40:30,897 --> 00:40:34,834
[Boss] All I do is get
in my aircraft and strap in.

673
00:40:34,834 --> 00:40:37,337
He'd tell me it's good to go,
and it's good to go.

674
00:40:37,337 --> 00:40:40,974
[219] When the jet's good to go,
we do a signature handshake.

675
00:40:40,974 --> 00:40:43,810
- We do it and go, "Whoo!"
- [both] Whoo!

676
00:40:43,810 --> 00:40:46,312
♪ Praise you like I should ♪

677
00:40:46,312 --> 00:40:48,982
♪ I have to praise you ♪

678
00:40:48,982 --> 00:40:50,684
[Boss] Uh, prepare to take off.

679
00:40:57,524 --> 00:41:00,160
[Chomps] When I was four years old,
my dad took me to an air show

680
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,620
in Fort Worth, Texas,

681
00:41:02,620 --> 00:41:05,650
and I got to watch the Blue Angels fly
for the very first time.

682
00:41:05,650 --> 00:41:07,330
I thought that they were awesome.

683
00:41:07,330 --> 00:41:08,868
To the point where I, like,
ran away from my parents

684
00:41:08,868 --> 00:41:10,770
to go try to find the jets,
wherever they were parked.

685
00:41:10,770 --> 00:41:12,339
And they had to come up
over the loudspeaker:

686
00:41:12,339 --> 00:41:13,907
"If you've lost a little
four-year-old son,

687
00:41:13,907 --> 00:41:15,709
can you come to the announcer booth

688
00:41:15,709 --> 00:41:18,411
and we'll give your son
back to you" type of thing.

689
00:41:18,411 --> 00:41:22,182
I found 'em. I fell in love
with aviation at four years old.

690
00:41:23,283 --> 00:41:26,286
[indistinct radio chatter]

691
00:41:26,286 --> 00:41:28,588
I wanted to do something like that.

692
00:41:28,588 --> 00:41:30,990
Right when Cheese's jet
kind of drifted deep,

693
00:41:30,990 --> 00:41:34,694
your jet looked like it just twitched
and kind of almost did the same thing.

694
00:41:34,694 --> 00:41:36,696
So we just need to focus on that set
down the line, especially...

695
00:41:36,696 --> 00:41:38,398
[Boss] Chomps is a big softie.

696
00:41:38,398 --> 00:41:40,600
He just understands the stakes at play.

697
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:43,503
I mean, he's the guy
that has the best vantage point

698
00:41:43,503 --> 00:41:47,140
of the entire formation
every second, every day.

699
00:41:48,742 --> 00:41:53,613
That's a heavy weight, and Boss kind of
owns that as the commanding officer.

700
00:41:53,613 --> 00:41:55,415
But there are things I just can't see.

701
00:41:56,483 --> 00:41:58,251
And back there, we had some depth...

702
00:41:58,251 --> 00:42:02,255
[Jamammy] Chomps is, uh,
our lone Marine Corps pilot.

703
00:42:02,255 --> 00:42:04,157
We make fun of him,
call him General Zastoupil,

704
00:42:04,157 --> 00:42:06,659
because he kind of gives off that persona

705
00:42:06,659 --> 00:42:09,129
when he... when he goes
and talks to people.

706
00:42:09,129 --> 00:42:11,310
[Chomps] All right, so big take away
is now gonna be reducing

707
00:42:11,310 --> 00:42:13,533
the overreaction for the flat there.

708
00:42:14,401 --> 00:42:15,668
[Chewy] Yeah, I was trying not to hit him.

709
00:42:15,668 --> 00:42:19,773
[Chomps] I know, but that's a huge, huge
dump on the nose.

710
00:42:19,773 --> 00:42:23,760
That's correct. It's also the closest
I've ever been to a jet.

711
00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:25,645
- [Chomps] So...
- I can freeze it and hold it, but...

712
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:28,948
There's gotta be some sort of compromise.

713
00:42:28,948 --> 00:42:32,850
Like you just have to keep driving more
to just kinda get away,

714
00:42:32,850 --> 00:42:35,155
but not that huge just dumping
of the nose away from the formation.

715
00:42:35,155 --> 00:42:36,823
Looked pretty gross up there.

716
00:42:36,823 --> 00:42:39,192
Uh, Delta Roll will be a focus
into tomorrow as well.

717
00:42:39,192 --> 00:42:41,270
Bearing lines, matching of the rate.

718
00:42:42,562 --> 00:42:45,432
There's one Marine option
in the Blue Angels

719
00:42:45,432 --> 00:42:47,600
at any given time, so we can only have one

720
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:51,370
jet demonstration pilot
on any particular year.

721
00:42:51,370 --> 00:42:52,505
So this year is my final year.

722
00:42:54,274 --> 00:42:57,877
My job is to try to bring everyone
together on the same page

723
00:42:57,877 --> 00:43:00,747
so there's never any, like,
lingering questions between the elements.

724
00:43:00,747 --> 00:43:03,283
And so that's why it kind of rests
on the number four spot,

725
00:43:03,283 --> 00:43:06,186
always a second-year guy,
to do the debrief.

726
00:43:09,589 --> 00:43:11,358
[laughter, indistinct chatter]

727
00:43:11,358 --> 00:43:13,460
We're gonna be on the road
quite a bit coming up.

728
00:43:13,460 --> 00:43:16,730
Quite a... quite a bit.
And it's a lot of time away from family.

729
00:43:16,730 --> 00:43:21,334
That's something that we also don't get
that much of, is time with our families.

730
00:43:22,435 --> 00:43:26,139
So, when we come here,
we try to spend as much time as we can.

731
00:43:26,139 --> 00:43:28,241
And when I walked out
of the house this morning,

732
00:43:28,241 --> 00:43:30,310
I had one daughter attached
to my left leg, saying,

733
00:43:30,310 --> 00:43:32,579
"Daddy, don't go.
Just stay here this weekend."

734
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:38,840
And my little son is just literally,
like, rock climbing up my right leg

735
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:40,653
as I'm walking to the truck this morning.

736
00:43:42,322 --> 00:43:45,492
[tense, dramatic music playing]

737
00:43:55,368 --> 00:43:57,300
[engines roaring]

738
00:44:00,607 --> 00:44:03,476
It is so cool to see
the reactions of the public.

739
00:44:03,476 --> 00:44:07,947
They think, you know, oh, you're a
rock star with this high-paced lifestyle.

740
00:44:07,947 --> 00:44:10,650
Yeah? Uh, a lot of practice.

741
00:44:10,650 --> 00:44:13,520
[Doc] And then in the evenings,
we attend commits

742
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:16,122
where we'll go to a local outreach event.

743
00:44:16,122 --> 00:44:19,250
- [applause]
- The pilots will go to schools.

744
00:44:19,250 --> 00:44:23,797
So, our mission is to showcase
the teamwork and professionalism

745
00:44:23,797 --> 00:44:25,865
of the United States Navy
and Marine Corps.

746
00:44:25,865 --> 00:44:29,869
[Doc] I was with Boss
at the Blue Angel Foundation.

747
00:44:29,869 --> 00:44:32,105
- Thanks so much for coming out today.
- Awesome to meet you.

748
00:44:32,105 --> 00:44:33,440
[Gil Rud] The Blue Angel Foundation

749
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,810
is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization

750
00:44:36,810 --> 00:44:40,800
to help wounded veterans,

751
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,149
and Freedom Station is part of that.

752
00:44:43,149 --> 00:44:47,200
[Doc] It was truly special to spend
some time with those wounded warriors.

753
00:44:48,421 --> 00:44:51,624
We also get to go to the hospitals.

754
00:44:51,624 --> 00:44:54,794
I'm Monica.
I am the doctor for the Blue Angels.

755
00:44:54,794 --> 00:44:57,163
We get to interact with each child

756
00:44:57,163 --> 00:44:59,399
and just spend a little time with them.

757
00:45:03,737 --> 00:45:05,872
- [Boss] All right!
- [applause]

758
00:45:08,608 --> 00:45:13,980
The first time you put this suit on,
you feel kind of like an imposter.

759
00:45:13,980 --> 00:45:16,983
And I remember that
every time I wear the uniform.

760
00:45:18,184 --> 00:45:19,986
I think a good feeling to have is

761
00:45:19,986 --> 00:45:22,622
you should never feel
too comfortable in this suit.

762
00:45:24,657 --> 00:45:27,600
You're representing
a whole bunch of folks.

763
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:29,129
You're not just representing yourself.

764
00:45:29,129 --> 00:45:31,197
[wistful music playing]

765
00:45:35,735 --> 00:45:40,140
For me, that's... that's looking
at the 28 faces on the wall every day.

766
00:45:43,243 --> 00:45:46,713
The 28 men that we've lost in this job.

767
00:45:49,816 --> 00:45:51,451
[reporter] Breaking news tonight:

768
00:45:51,451 --> 00:45:54,287
A Blue Angels jet went down
in Smyrna, Tennessee,

769
00:45:54,287 --> 00:45:55,955
which is just outside of Nashville.

770
00:45:55,955 --> 00:45:58,725
[Bubb] We were right there
when it happened.

771
00:45:58,725 --> 00:46:01,127
Several of the guys, you know,
saw it happening in real time.

772
00:46:03,897 --> 00:46:06,733
[reporter 2] Captain Jeff Kuss
was killed when he went down in Smyrna

773
00:46:06,733 --> 00:46:10,700
practicing at the Great American Air Show.

774
00:46:11,237 --> 00:46:16,760
[Bubb] He was just one of the most upbeat
and professional guys you've ever met.

775
00:46:17,210 --> 00:46:21,114
I mean, you get into this mindset
on this team

776
00:46:21,114 --> 00:46:23,917
that every day is gonna be the exact same.

777
00:46:23,917 --> 00:46:26,820
Right? We get into the routine,
and the routine is kind of set.

778
00:46:28,188 --> 00:46:30,123
And then, when a massive event
like that happens,

779
00:46:30,123 --> 00:46:33,893
everybody's just like,
"What are we gonna do right now?"

780
00:46:39,699 --> 00:46:42,268
It's a different type of flying.

781
00:46:42,268 --> 00:46:44,704
Those maneuvers are low
and fast to the ground.

782
00:46:44,704 --> 00:46:47,474
Right?
There's very little room for mistakes.

783
00:46:54,214 --> 00:46:56,783
[Boss] We owe it to them
to think about their memory.

784
00:46:58,418 --> 00:47:00,820
And I ask myself every day, "Who am I?"

785
00:47:10,363 --> 00:47:13,166
Who am I, right, to sit here?

786
00:47:15,100 --> 00:47:17,404
Tough to have an ego
when you look at those guys up there

787
00:47:17,404 --> 00:47:18,905
and go, "Okay, who am I?"

788
00:47:23,643 --> 00:47:25,879
It's a humbling experience.
It's still humbling.

789
00:47:25,879 --> 00:47:27,947
[indistinct radio chatter]

790
00:47:33,486 --> 00:47:38,158
I'm in my last year,
and I'm turning it over.

791
00:47:38,158 --> 00:47:41,961
It's a unique process,
picking my replacement.

792
00:47:41,961 --> 00:47:44,300
♪ ♪

793
00:47:55,410 --> 00:47:58,440
There's only a handful of people
who ever experience this.

794
00:48:00,947 --> 00:48:03,683
The boss application--
there is no other time that you can apply

795
00:48:03,683 --> 00:48:05,251
for the Blue Angels, right?

796
00:48:05,251 --> 00:48:07,587
So it's a very final thing.

797
00:48:08,588 --> 00:48:12,125
They've flown down here
from all corners of the world.

798
00:48:13,193 --> 00:48:14,994
And this is some life-changing news.

799
00:48:14,994 --> 00:48:16,463
Maybe a lifelong dream.

800
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:22,869
[Wooldridge] For me, back in the '90s,

801
00:48:22,869 --> 00:48:26,373
I was just an average
squadron commanding officer.

802
00:48:26,373 --> 00:48:28,641
You know, they would never pick me.

803
00:48:28,641 --> 00:48:30,877
Why even try?

804
00:48:30,877 --> 00:48:33,279
So I was relaxed and honest.

805
00:48:33,279 --> 00:48:35,749
You know, "I'm just gonna be me."

806
00:48:35,749 --> 00:48:39,652
And I was shocked when they pulled me out,

807
00:48:39,652 --> 00:48:42,322
outside the room, said, "You're the guy."

808
00:48:42,322 --> 00:48:44,524
[chuckling] Oh, boy. Whew.

809
00:48:44,524 --> 00:48:46,693
[clears throat]

810
00:48:46,693 --> 00:48:48,280
[sniffles]

811
00:48:53,767 --> 00:48:55,935
[inhales deeply, clears throat]

812
00:48:55,935 --> 00:48:58,772
And that was a life changer.
I was real surprised.

813
00:49:03,410 --> 00:49:07,147
[Boss] It's a tough decision.
I mean, these folks are all Olympians.

814
00:49:08,248 --> 00:49:11,170
These folks work their entire life.

815
00:49:11,170 --> 00:49:14,688
You've heard of the gold medalist,
maybe the silver or even the bronze,

816
00:49:14,688 --> 00:49:19,590
but someone comes in fourth
and no one knows their name.

817
00:49:22,662 --> 00:49:25,732
[man inside room] First off, thank you,
everyone. Very, very well done.

818
00:49:25,732 --> 00:49:27,333
- Please hold your heads high.
- [candidates chattering]

819
00:49:27,333 --> 00:49:29,350
- Very well done. Very well done.
- [candidates] Thank you.

820
00:49:29,350 --> 00:49:30,337
Very well done.

821
00:49:30,337 --> 00:49:31,871
- Okay.
- [Boss] We'll come on out here.

822
00:49:31,871 --> 00:49:33,106
Awesome.

823
00:49:34,808 --> 00:49:36,309
[whispers] All right.

824
00:49:37,610 --> 00:49:39,579
[man] You won't start getting
your PAO training right away,

825
00:49:39,579 --> 00:49:42,150
but you'll be expected to say
a few things, uh, to the press.

826
00:49:42,150 --> 00:49:44,984
Right, your-your most important thing
to do right now is

827
00:49:44,984 --> 00:49:46,319
- you're gonna call your wife.
- Mm-hmm.

828
00:49:46,319 --> 00:49:47,921
Give her a call-- make it a quick one--

829
00:49:47,921 --> 00:49:49,689
- and call your... call your mom and dad.
- Yeah. Yeah.

830
00:49:49,689 --> 00:49:52,158
Okay, then let me know.
Just give them a couple of minutes...

831
00:49:52,158 --> 00:49:54,194
That was, uh,
extremely emotional, for sure.

832
00:49:54,194 --> 00:49:56,830
Uh, surprising to start,
and then a... and then a...

833
00:49:56,830 --> 00:49:58,665
just a flood of different emotions.

834
00:49:59,899 --> 00:50:02,702
My name's Commander Alex Armatas.
Call sign is "Scribe."

835
00:50:02,702 --> 00:50:06,539
I grew up in Central New York, and, uh,
very young I knew I wanted to fly.

836
00:50:06,539 --> 00:50:07,941
Press conference one.

837
00:50:07,941 --> 00:50:09,909
[Scribe] I've been in the Navy
for quite a while now.

838
00:50:09,909 --> 00:50:12,450
A little over 20 years.

839
00:50:13,460 --> 00:50:14,914
I kind of prepared myself
to not be the one,

840
00:50:14,914 --> 00:50:17,183
so now I'm very quickly
having to come to terms

841
00:50:17,183 --> 00:50:19,853
with the fact that this will be, uh...
this will be my role next, and, uh...

842
00:50:19,853 --> 00:50:21,521
and I need to get ready for that, so...

843
00:50:21,521 --> 00:50:23,957
[Boss] So, what do you think?
Shock? Shock and awe?

844
00:50:23,957 --> 00:50:26,590
- Yeah, big-time.
- Yeah. Yeah, me, too.

845
00:50:26,590 --> 00:50:27,861
I think, uh...

846
00:50:27,861 --> 00:50:30,663
- Job's gonna be different than you think.
- [chuckles] Yeah?

847
00:50:30,663 --> 00:50:33,500
[Boss] It's gonna be challenging
in aspects you don't know.

848
00:50:33,500 --> 00:50:35,350
- I wouldn't trade it for the world.
- Yeah.

849
00:50:35,350 --> 00:50:36,770
[Boss] It's been fantastic.

850
00:50:38,171 --> 00:50:40,206
- [applause]
- [indistinct chatter]

851
00:50:40,206 --> 00:50:41,708
I appreciate it. Thank you.

852
00:50:41,708 --> 00:50:43,610
[Scribe clears throat]

853
00:50:44,944 --> 00:50:46,379
[Scribe] Uh, good afternoon, everyone.

854
00:50:46,379 --> 00:50:48,140
As mentioned, my name's
Commander Alex Armatas.

855
00:50:48,140 --> 00:50:49,916
Uh, it is an absolute honor to be here.

856
00:50:49,916 --> 00:50:53,153
It's, uh, very humbling, very emotional,
as Captain Kesselring mentioned.

857
00:50:53,153 --> 00:50:54,754
Admiral, thank you as well, sir.

858
00:50:54,754 --> 00:50:56,489
Uh, and, uh, just...

859
00:50:56,489 --> 00:50:58,158
[Boss] Even though
he's a very skilled leader

860
00:50:58,158 --> 00:50:59,626
and very skilled aviator,

861
00:50:59,626 --> 00:51:02,495
he's gonna go through that same crucible,
that same learning curve.

862
00:51:02,495 --> 00:51:05,432
As I look back, oh, boy.

863
00:51:05,432 --> 00:51:07,400
There's just... he doesn't know
what he doesn't know yet.

864
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:08,501
[applause]

865
00:51:08,501 --> 00:51:10,337
- Does this get easier with time? This--
- Yeah.

866
00:51:10,337 --> 00:51:11,571
Does it get easier? I hope so.

867
00:51:11,571 --> 00:51:13,273
- How you doing? Outstanding job. Yeah.
- Thanks, Admiral. I appreciate it.

868
00:51:13,273 --> 00:51:14,974
- Outstanding.
- Yeah, this is, uh...

869
00:51:14,974 --> 00:51:17,310
I hope it gets easier the more you do it.

870
00:51:19,379 --> 00:51:23,650
[Wooldridge] The Blue Angels were
the brainchild of Admiral Chester Nimitz.

871
00:51:23,650 --> 00:51:25,585
In 1946,

872
00:51:25,585 --> 00:51:27,954
Admiral Nimitz said,
"We've got to make sure

873
00:51:27,954 --> 00:51:30,824
the American public doesn't forget
about Navy planes."

874
00:51:34,494 --> 00:51:38,998
He pulled a fellow that had
five aerial victories during the war,

875
00:51:38,998 --> 00:51:42,569
a young 26-year-old lieutenant commander
named Butch Voris.

876
00:51:43,670 --> 00:51:47,974
And so, Butch grabbed
about four of his best friends, they...

877
00:51:47,974 --> 00:51:51,978
created a team, created a few maneuvers

878
00:51:51,978 --> 00:51:54,614
and took it right to the American public.

879
00:51:54,614 --> 00:51:56,916
[engine chugging]

880
00:51:59,919 --> 00:52:01,921
[excited chatter]

881
00:52:01,921 --> 00:52:04,657
[upbeat music playing]

882
00:52:10,230 --> 00:52:12,980
[announcer] The Blue Angels fly

883
00:52:12,980 --> 00:52:16,603
the McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk II,
a single-seat light attack jet,

884
00:52:16,603 --> 00:52:20,874
versions of which have been operational
in the fleet since 1956.

885
00:52:20,874 --> 00:52:22,942
♪ ♪

886
00:52:27,947 --> 00:52:29,683
[engines roaring]

887
00:52:31,317 --> 00:52:33,687
[crowd whooping]

888
00:52:35,488 --> 00:52:39,359
[Wooldridge] Over the years, the team has
gone through many different airplanes--

889
00:52:39,359 --> 00:52:43,663
propeller-driven airplanes,
and then into the jet era.

890
00:52:46,399 --> 00:52:47,434
[pilot] Ready?

891
00:52:47,434 --> 00:52:49,402
Hit it.

892
00:52:49,402 --> 00:52:50,737
[pilot 2] Take it in!

893
00:52:50,737 --> 00:52:52,372
[Wooldridge] We didn't see it as a risk.

894
00:52:52,372 --> 00:52:55,709
We saw taking this job
as a Blue Angel as a privilege.

895
00:52:57,444 --> 00:52:59,446
[straining]

896
00:53:00,714 --> 00:53:03,149
[engines roaring]

897
00:53:03,149 --> 00:53:05,251
[majestic music playing]

898
00:53:21,901 --> 00:53:23,903
[indistinct radio chatter]

899
00:53:27,707 --> 00:53:31,644
[Wooldridge] It's so highly sought-after
to be part of the Blue Angels.

900
00:53:32,746 --> 00:53:37,450
And it's a...
it's a very distinct privilege

901
00:53:37,450 --> 00:53:39,619
to be selected to the Blues.

902
00:53:41,254 --> 00:53:43,690
And we got to pick our own.
How about that?

903
00:53:43,690 --> 00:53:46,793
Nobody from above was saying,
"You're gonna take this person,

904
00:53:46,793 --> 00:53:50,630
teach him how to fly,
teach him how to be a Blue Angel."

905
00:53:50,630 --> 00:53:53,366
Which was really unusual in the military.

906
00:53:53,366 --> 00:53:55,435
[quiet chatter]

907
00:54:00,974 --> 00:54:02,208
[man] All right.

908
00:54:02,208 --> 00:54:05,378
[Whiskers] This day is gonna be
very busy, very tight on timelines.

909
00:54:05,378 --> 00:54:08,140
If you're next, be on deck
outside the room.

910
00:54:08,140 --> 00:54:10,517
Everybody else can relax in here,
do your thing.

911
00:54:10,517 --> 00:54:11,685
[woman] Thanks.

912
00:54:11,685 --> 00:54:13,853
[Boss] There's the robust
interview process.

913
00:54:13,853 --> 00:54:17,524
We get medical. We take a look
at the backgrounds and all that.

914
00:54:17,524 --> 00:54:19,993
But really, what it comes down to
is three things:

915
00:54:19,993 --> 00:54:21,828
talent, passion and personality.

916
00:54:21,828 --> 00:54:24,640
Questions for me? Awesome.

917
00:54:24,640 --> 00:54:26,666
- You stand right here.
- Oh.

918
00:54:26,666 --> 00:54:30,904
[Whiskers] My first introduction
to aviation was when my dad took

919
00:54:30,904 --> 00:54:32,839
my family to Tuskegee,

920
00:54:32,839 --> 00:54:37,877
where we got to ride in a small,
single-engine aircraft.

921
00:54:37,877 --> 00:54:41,915
Up until that point, I wanted to be
a train conductor and a police officer.

922
00:54:41,915 --> 00:54:44,117
But after that flight,
I wanted to be a pilot.

923
00:54:47,854 --> 00:54:49,756
The interview matters.

924
00:54:49,756 --> 00:54:53,293
We are picking the best-fit person
for this job.

925
00:54:53,293 --> 00:54:55,610
And by "best-fit," I mean,

926
00:54:55,610 --> 00:54:56,229
that's hugely important.

927
00:54:56,229 --> 00:54:58,164
We're spending a lot of time
with each other.

928
00:54:58,164 --> 00:55:02,235
We know each other so well.

929
00:55:02,235 --> 00:55:04,437
[Boss] They're certainly
a bit on the nervous side.

930
00:55:04,437 --> 00:55:05,672
Got the nerves going.

931
00:55:05,672 --> 00:55:08,274
You see their excitement.
You see the desire.

932
00:55:08,274 --> 00:55:10,610
They're so close
they can darn near taste it.

933
00:55:10,610 --> 00:55:13,613
[intriguing music playing]

934
00:55:19,986 --> 00:55:21,988
[Chomps] We try to learn
everything about that individual

935
00:55:21,988 --> 00:55:24,570
before they get here
so that when they do get here

936
00:55:24,570 --> 00:55:26,590
we know exactly what
their personality is going to be

937
00:55:26,590 --> 00:55:28,695
and where they're going to fit in
in their part of this team.

938
00:55:33,533 --> 00:55:35,368
[Whiskers] We'll start
during the interview process,

939
00:55:35,368 --> 00:55:39,906
you know, dig a little deeper,
but it literally is

940
00:55:39,906 --> 00:55:42,475
a unanimous decision
amongst 17 people in the room

941
00:55:42,475 --> 00:55:47,313
that requires hours of deliberation
and discussion to reach that consensus.

942
00:55:48,782 --> 00:55:50,450
[Chewy] Obviously,
you're gonna pick the people

943
00:55:50,450 --> 00:55:52,318
you think will be the absolute best.

944
00:55:52,318 --> 00:55:54,287
Sometimes that takes five minutes.

945
00:55:54,287 --> 00:55:56,790
Sometimes that takes four hours.
You never know.

946
00:55:58,391 --> 00:56:00,393
[Chomps] These are all
very personal conversations

947
00:56:00,393 --> 00:56:03,329
with personal details
about this individual's life

948
00:56:03,329 --> 00:56:06,660
that the general public
doesn't need to ever know.

949
00:56:06,660 --> 00:56:08,201
And it's certain things
that we'll talk about in there,

950
00:56:08,201 --> 00:56:11,371
and at the end of the night,
we all slap the table and say,

951
00:56:11,371 --> 00:56:13,573
"What happened here stays here."

952
00:56:13,573 --> 00:56:15,809
And then it's never
to be talked about again.

953
00:56:16,810 --> 00:56:19,479
'Cause at the end of the day, guess what--
those are your new people.

954
00:56:23,850 --> 00:56:25,785
There has to be a unanimous decision.

955
00:56:25,785 --> 00:56:28,488
But if we don't pick the right people
to carry on that legacy,

956
00:56:28,488 --> 00:56:30,190
then what we've done is just a failure.

957
00:56:32,158 --> 00:56:34,894
[Cheese] If you're a finalist, you're
kind of waiting on pins and needles.

958
00:56:34,894 --> 00:56:35,995
[camera shutter clicks]

959
00:56:35,995 --> 00:56:38,640
Saturday after
the Pensacola Beach Air Show,

960
00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:39,733
you call in, they tell you whether or not,

961
00:56:39,733 --> 00:56:42,102
you know, either "Welcome to the team,"
or, you know,

962
00:56:42,102 --> 00:56:43,603
"Hey, sorry. Try again next year."

963
00:56:46,406 --> 00:56:48,708
For me, took me three tries.

964
00:56:48,708 --> 00:56:50,910
I got... you know,
I got lucky along the way.

965
00:56:50,910 --> 00:56:54,381
Did a couple deployments,
and then I ended up here on the team.

966
00:56:57,183 --> 00:57:00,787
That was... that was a huge,
huge success... [chuckles]

967
00:57:00,787 --> 00:57:01,855
...in my book.

968
00:57:02,956 --> 00:57:04,357
[Boss] Let's go.

969
00:57:07,127 --> 00:57:09,129
You know, we owe it to all those folks,

970
00:57:09,129 --> 00:57:13,767
the majority of folks who have rushed
the team that didn't make it.

971
00:57:13,767 --> 00:57:16,690
Some miss out by just one vote.

972
00:57:17,504 --> 00:57:22,776
We are four months, 16 shows away
from the end of the season,

973
00:57:22,776 --> 00:57:24,944
so make sure you appreciate it
while you're here.

974
00:57:27,470 --> 00:57:29,649
- [engine buzzing]
- [crowd cheering]

975
00:57:38,558 --> 00:57:41,394
[triumphant music playing]

976
00:57:51,705 --> 00:57:54,908
[Jamammy] This city definitely has
a special place for us.

977
00:57:56,710 --> 00:58:02,248
These people who have been coming
to these shows, you know, since the '60s,

978
00:58:02,248 --> 00:58:05,785
they still welcome us as if we're family.

979
00:58:17,464 --> 00:58:19,499
We're moments in time on this team.

980
00:58:20,767 --> 00:58:23,336
I've been watching
the Blue Angels since 1982.

981
00:58:23,336 --> 00:58:24,904
It's my 40th summer.

982
00:58:24,904 --> 00:58:26,773
I've been around them my entire life.

983
00:58:26,773 --> 00:58:28,308
Twenty-plus.

984
00:58:28,308 --> 00:58:32,212
The adrenaline, the rush,
and honestly, like, seeing it in person

985
00:58:32,212 --> 00:58:34,247
just makes it that much more real.

986
00:58:38,284 --> 00:58:41,121
Okay, winds are two-zero-zero-eight.
We own the airspace.

987
00:58:41,121 --> 00:58:43,656
- Have a good one.
- [engines whooshing]

988
00:58:43,656 --> 00:58:45,191
[Boss] We're cleared for takeoff.

989
00:58:56,836 --> 00:58:58,338
[indistinct radio chatter]

990
00:59:01,408 --> 00:59:03,209
[majestic music playing]

991
00:59:03,209 --> 00:59:04,878
[indistinct radio chatter]

992
00:59:07,747 --> 00:59:10,850
[engines whooshing]

993
00:59:17,557 --> 00:59:20,193
[Push Pop over speakers] In relatively
slow speed flight, they will give you

994
00:59:20,193 --> 00:59:23,630
an opportunity to get a close look
at the precision flying

995
00:59:23,630 --> 00:59:26,660
that produces the 18-inch
wingtip-to-canopy separation

996
00:59:26,660 --> 00:59:28,101
between these four aircraft.

997
00:59:28,101 --> 00:59:31,171
From the right, the Blue Angel Diamond.

998
00:59:35,575 --> 00:59:37,944
[Cheese] Looking at it,
the start of the season,

999
00:59:37,944 --> 00:59:41,140
you know, I'd think, "Man, there's no way
I'm gonna get this close to a jet."

1000
00:59:43,116 --> 00:59:45,485
Especially for the Diamond 360,
which is what we consider

1001
00:59:45,485 --> 00:59:47,420
one of our hardest maneuvers.

1002
00:59:47,420 --> 00:59:49,522
[man over radio] They're at 360.

1003
00:59:54,961 --> 00:59:57,664
[Cheese] We just bumped it
into Blue Gold set.

1004
00:59:58,732 --> 01:00:02,736
Scott-- Jamammy-- he's currently
up under, you know, Boss's wing.

1005
01:00:03,737 --> 01:00:06,406
Now, me on the other side,
because of parallax,

1006
01:00:06,406 --> 01:00:08,108
I'm not actually sliding myself
up underneath.

1007
01:00:08,108 --> 01:00:11,578
What I'm actually doing is I'm sliding
outboard and forward.

1008
01:00:14,214 --> 01:00:15,949
You have Frank underneath my wing

1009
01:00:15,949 --> 01:00:18,451
doing almost the exact same thing
that Scott is doing,

1010
01:00:18,451 --> 01:00:20,653
just a little bit more aft.

1011
01:00:21,654 --> 01:00:23,289
It's kind of getting
not so much comfortable,

1012
01:00:23,289 --> 01:00:25,658
but it's getting familiar, uh,
to the point where it's like,

1013
01:00:25,658 --> 01:00:27,193
"Man, we're actually really doing this."

1014
01:00:27,193 --> 01:00:29,729
You know, this is...
this is the aspect of the Blue Angels

1015
01:00:29,729 --> 01:00:33,166
that no other demonstration team
really reaches.

1016
01:00:33,166 --> 01:00:35,235
[dramatic music playing]

1017
01:00:40,807 --> 01:00:43,209
But the Yankee set
at the start of the season

1018
01:00:43,209 --> 01:00:45,612
is something you really want to get

1019
01:00:45,612 --> 01:00:49,482
and you don't completely know
if maybe you'll actually get there, but...

1020
01:00:49,482 --> 01:00:51,317
There's teams that have done this
in the past,

1021
01:00:51,317 --> 01:00:52,919
and then there's teams that haven't.

1022
01:00:54,621 --> 01:00:58,240
Now that we're starting to get
in that regime of flight,

1023
01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:00,126
will we get there?

1024
01:01:00,126 --> 01:01:01,561
Hopefully, yes.

1025
01:01:01,561 --> 01:01:03,663
[majestic music playing]

1026
01:01:17,711 --> 01:01:19,713
♪ ♪

1027
01:01:29,856 --> 01:01:31,991
[explosive whooshing]

1028
01:01:31,991 --> 01:01:35,610
[energetic music playing]

1029
01:01:54,781 --> 01:01:57,617
Of course, the crowd favorite
is the Sneak.

1030
01:02:05,692 --> 01:02:07,527
[Jamammy] The Diamond
will execute their maneuver,

1031
01:02:07,527 --> 01:02:10,630
showcasing the precision flying,
uh, that is required

1032
01:02:10,630 --> 01:02:12,980
of all Navy and Marine Corps pilots.

1033
01:02:12,980 --> 01:02:16,690
And then as we're setting up for our
next maneuver, we get the solos in there,

1034
01:02:16,690 --> 01:02:18,938
who just pull on the stick a lot
and provide the filler.

1035
01:02:18,938 --> 01:02:21,410
[explosive whooshing]

1036
01:02:24,878 --> 01:02:27,800
♪ ♪

1037
01:02:34,621 --> 01:02:35,922
[Chewy] The Diamond's
favorite maneuvers are when

1038
01:02:35,922 --> 01:02:37,223
they get to break apart from Boss,

1039
01:02:37,223 --> 01:02:39,726
act like a solo,
and then once that's over,

1040
01:02:39,726 --> 01:02:41,828
they're back to being the Diamond.

1041
01:02:41,828 --> 01:02:44,300
I mean, the Diamond, everybody knows
they're-they're the better pilots here.

1042
01:02:44,300 --> 01:02:45,231
Every... Literally everybody knows.

1043
01:02:45,231 --> 01:02:48,334
You know that you actually have to think
about those around you,

1044
01:02:48,334 --> 01:02:49,769
like, be a team player.

1045
01:02:49,769 --> 01:02:51,710
They just don't get that yet.

1046
01:02:51,710 --> 01:02:53,106
So, maybe one day,
they'll understand that, but...

1047
01:02:53,106 --> 01:02:54,274
[Whiskers] Fun and excitement.

1048
01:02:54,274 --> 01:02:56,876
Definitely, the solos use a lot more
than Diamond.

1049
01:02:56,876 --> 01:02:58,812
They're all flying off of Boss, so...

1050
01:02:58,812 --> 01:03:01,514
Healthy competition--
that's exactly what it is.

1051
01:03:01,514 --> 01:03:03,616
[engine roaring]

1052
01:03:18,310 --> 01:03:21,000
[Amanda "Stalin" Lee] After I left
Pensacola for finalist week,

1053
01:03:21,000 --> 01:03:22,869
it was just me and my husband
at the house.

1054
01:03:22,869 --> 01:03:25,380
We were kind of waiting
and anticipating this phone call.

1055
01:03:26,206 --> 01:03:29,109
I was the very first person
to call in, uh, so I called in

1056
01:03:29,109 --> 01:03:31,745
and, uh, they kind of joked around
with me and they said,

1057
01:03:31,745 --> 01:03:34,414
"Hey, you have the wrong number.
Try calling this number back."

1058
01:03:34,414 --> 01:03:37,317
So I am in panic mode immediately.
[laughs]

1059
01:03:37,317 --> 01:03:39,586
We tend to mess with them a little bit...
[clears throat]

1060
01:03:39,586 --> 01:03:41,421
when they, uh...
when they call in for the selectees, so...

1061
01:03:41,421 --> 01:03:42,589
[laughs]

1062
01:03:42,589 --> 01:03:44,891
We have a five-minute window to call in,

1063
01:03:44,891 --> 01:03:46,493
so I'm-I'm going through my messages,

1064
01:03:46,493 --> 01:03:49,290
making sure I have the right...
the right number.

1065
01:03:49,290 --> 01:03:51,131
I call back. They're like,
"Still the wrong number."

1066
01:03:51,131 --> 01:03:55,168
We're listening in as Cody has got some
rock music playing in the background.

1067
01:03:55,168 --> 01:03:56,903
I get a call from Boss.

1068
01:03:56,903 --> 01:04:00,400
- He's like...
- Amanda, weren't you supposed
to call in a couple minutes ago?

1069
01:04:00,400 --> 01:04:02,475
I-I was like, "I have done
something terribly wrong.

1070
01:04:02,475 --> 01:04:04,277
[laughing] I'm in trouble."

1071
01:04:04,277 --> 01:04:06,579
He's like, "Hey, next year, when you...
when you're on the team,

1072
01:04:06,579 --> 01:04:08,448
maybe we'll get your timeline
a little bit better."

1073
01:04:08,448 --> 01:04:10,583
And then everybody said,
"Welcome to the team."

1074
01:04:10,583 --> 01:04:12,952
But they had me super frazzled.

1075
01:04:12,952 --> 01:04:15,488
[reporter] A history-making day
for the legendary Blue Angels.

1076
01:04:15,488 --> 01:04:18,458
The Navy's elite flight squadron
has selected its first

1077
01:04:18,458 --> 01:04:21,294
female fighter jet demonstration pilot,

1078
01:04:21,294 --> 01:04:24,230
Lieutenant Amanda Lee from Minnesota.

1079
01:04:24,230 --> 01:04:27,600
She is soon going to be flying high
with the Blue Angels.

1080
01:04:27,600 --> 01:04:31,404
She will need to complete an intensive
five-month training program

1081
01:04:31,404 --> 01:04:34,474
with other new members of the team
beginning in September.

1082
01:04:36,810 --> 01:04:39,713
[Amanda] I enlisted in the Navy in 2007.

1083
01:04:39,713 --> 01:04:42,649
I ended up enlisting as
an aviation electronics technician,

1084
01:04:42,649 --> 01:04:44,584
and I started working on the F-18.

1085
01:04:45,652 --> 01:04:48,621
I get to my first squadron,
and my division chief said,

1086
01:04:48,621 --> 01:04:51,791
"You don't belong here. I don't feel like
you're challenged enough."

1087
01:04:51,791 --> 01:04:53,693
And the only thing I knew in the Navy

1088
01:04:53,693 --> 01:04:55,862
was aviation, so I was like,
"Let's try to fly."

1089
01:04:55,862 --> 01:04:58,998
Once you wear this crest,
it's a life-changing journey

1090
01:04:58,998 --> 01:05:02,702
and you have an opportunity to represent
those over 800,000 active duty reserve

1091
01:05:02,702 --> 01:05:05,380
and civilian support personnel
by wearing it.

1092
01:05:05,380 --> 01:05:09,420
[Amanda] Having the whole team there
greeting you, really excited for you,

1093
01:05:09,420 --> 01:05:10,944
it was absolutely an unforgettable day.

1094
01:05:10,944 --> 01:05:14,314
So remember today is the day
that you became a Blue Angel.

1095
01:05:14,314 --> 01:05:16,182
Look around at your teammates.

1096
01:05:16,182 --> 01:05:18,752
Commit this special bond to memory.

1097
01:05:18,752 --> 01:05:21,454
Once a Blue Angel, always a Blue Angel.

1098
01:05:25,191 --> 01:05:26,993
Welcome to the team.

1099
01:05:26,993 --> 01:05:29,696
- [applause]
- [triumphant music playing]

1100
01:05:32,198 --> 01:05:35,735
I think the media likes
to make a big deal out of firsts,

1101
01:05:35,735 --> 01:05:39,172
but, you know, I always feel
we give short shrift

1102
01:05:39,172 --> 01:05:41,941
to why they actually made it, right?

1103
01:05:43,777 --> 01:05:47,914
We have a fantastic officer
and a fantastic pilot.

1104
01:05:48,982 --> 01:05:51,184
The end of the day,
when you're flying 12 inches apart,

1105
01:05:51,184 --> 01:05:52,686
what really matters

1106
01:05:52,686 --> 01:05:53,953
is that you can trust 'em.

1107
01:05:53,953 --> 01:05:56,220
[atmospheric music playing]

1108
01:06:17,544 --> 01:06:19,813
[Cheese] I think the progression
with the team is going really well,

1109
01:06:19,813 --> 01:06:22,849
and I'm really, really excited to see
when we can bring this in

1110
01:06:22,849 --> 01:06:24,851
and how tight we can actually
get that formation.

1111
01:06:26,119 --> 01:06:28,121
[dramatic music playing]

1112
01:06:36,896 --> 01:06:40,660
[Boss] In terms of being a newbie
on the Blue Angels,

1113
01:06:40,660 --> 01:06:42,680
it feels like an eternity.

1114
01:06:42,680 --> 01:06:46,390
We are entering a phase of the season
where a new team is selected

1115
01:06:46,390 --> 01:06:48,775
and it's the official "you are no longer
a newbie on the team."

1116
01:06:48,775 --> 01:06:51,978
[cheering]

1117
01:06:51,978 --> 01:06:54,647
You finally kind of know
what you're doing.

1118
01:06:57,350 --> 01:06:59,850
[engines whooshing]

1119
01:06:59,850 --> 01:07:01,755
[energetic music playing]

1120
01:07:16,836 --> 01:07:18,838
[engines roaring]

1121
01:07:25,578 --> 01:07:27,447
Rip it.

1122
01:07:29,916 --> 01:07:32,852
It's kind of fun watching
the folks who just learned.

1123
01:07:33,953 --> 01:07:39,325
It's cool seeing Cheese go from
not knowing anything but fleet flying

1124
01:07:39,325 --> 01:07:44,631
to feeling 110% confident.

1125
01:07:44,631 --> 01:07:47,434
But he has another enormous role
that he's got to learn.

1126
01:07:48,535 --> 01:07:50,203
[Jamammy] Cheese next year in the two jet

1127
01:07:50,203 --> 01:07:52,380
is gonna have
the incredible responsibility

1128
01:07:52,380 --> 01:07:53,973
of training a new boss.

1129
01:08:04,517 --> 01:08:06,653
[Doc] Good morning, Mike. How are you?

1130
01:08:06,653 --> 01:08:08,210
- [Mike] Thanks. Good. And yourself?
- Hi.

1131
01:08:08,210 --> 01:08:09,622
- Doc, nice to see you again.
- Good to be back.

1132
01:08:09,622 --> 01:08:10,957
- Hi. Mike.
- Alex Armatas.

1133
01:08:10,957 --> 01:08:16,629
[Doc] We are in San Antonio, Texas,
at the Wyle KBR centrifuge center.

1134
01:08:16,629 --> 01:08:18,198
[Mike] You guys ready for this?

1135
01:08:19,366 --> 01:08:22,869
[Doc] This is the first day
for the incoming pilots

1136
01:08:22,869 --> 01:08:25,705
to be on the job as Blue Angels.

1137
01:08:27,140 --> 01:08:31,111
This is a g tolerance
improvement training program,

1138
01:08:31,111 --> 01:08:34,247
and it is a very demanding
and rigorous program.

1139
01:08:34,247 --> 01:08:38,351
[Boss] People who've been flying F-18s
for 20 years go to the centrifuge

1140
01:08:38,351 --> 01:08:39,986
if they get selected.

1141
01:08:39,986 --> 01:08:44,124
And it can be challenging at times and
sometimes have to learn new techniques

1142
01:08:44,124 --> 01:08:46,126
to make sure they can perform
at the highest levels

1143
01:08:46,126 --> 01:08:48,294
before they can be on the team.

1144
01:08:49,796 --> 01:08:51,498
[Doc] When you increase g-forces,

1145
01:08:51,498 --> 01:08:55,502
gravity is gonna pull
the blood in your head down to your feet,

1146
01:08:55,502 --> 01:08:57,437
so you're gonna pass out.

1147
01:08:57,437 --> 01:08:59,105
Go ahead and put your g-suits on.

1148
01:08:59,105 --> 01:09:01,241
I want to check them just to make sure.

1149
01:09:01,241 --> 01:09:04,878
[Doc] The first day,
incoming aviators wear their g-suits,

1150
01:09:04,878 --> 01:09:06,413
which they're used to wearing
out in the fleet.

1151
01:09:06,413 --> 01:09:09,149
[Mike] Go ahead and climb on in
and sit down as best

1152
01:09:09,149 --> 01:09:11,251
or as easy as possible.

1153
01:09:11,251 --> 01:09:15,880
[Doc] A g-suit is something
that we strap on, and they will inflate

1154
01:09:15,880 --> 01:09:17,624
and deflate, depending on
the amount of g's you're pulling,

1155
01:09:17,624 --> 01:09:20,460
to help you sustain g's
so you don't have to strain as hard.

1156
01:09:20,460 --> 01:09:22,195
[man] Harness.

1157
01:09:22,195 --> 01:09:24,164
[Mike over radio] Harness locked.
Zippers are up.

1158
01:09:24,164 --> 01:09:27,901
[man over radio] G-suit pressure
one-five-five.

1159
01:09:27,901 --> 01:09:29,369
[Mike] There it is.

1160
01:09:33,573 --> 01:09:36,242
[buzzer blares]

1161
01:09:38,244 --> 01:09:40,246
Okay, we're just gonna
get you up to idle speed.

1162
01:09:40,246 --> 01:09:42,782
In three, two, one. Engage.

1163
01:09:42,782 --> 01:09:45,819
[tense music playing]

1164
01:09:48,321 --> 01:09:51,391
[Mike] All right, should feel like you're
going straight up in a rocket right now.

1165
01:09:51,391 --> 01:09:52,792
Yeah.

1166
01:09:52,792 --> 01:09:54,394
[Mike] Pull back.

1167
01:09:55,962 --> 01:09:57,964
[man] Up top. Breathe.

1168
01:09:57,964 --> 01:09:59,699
Bring those knees in.
Dig with those heels.

1169
01:09:59,699 --> 01:10:01,668
Breathe. Drop the shoulders.

1170
01:10:01,668 --> 01:10:03,536
Plank the abs. Down to five and a half.

1171
01:10:03,536 --> 01:10:04,938
Keep it going.

1172
01:10:04,938 --> 01:10:07,140
[Mike] Squeeze that butt.
Get those abs tight.

1173
01:10:07,140 --> 01:10:08,274
Keep them tight.

1174
01:10:08,274 --> 01:10:09,909
You're letting these g's control you.

1175
01:10:09,909 --> 01:10:11,911
Come on. I want you to control them.

1176
01:10:11,911 --> 01:10:14,470
[buzzer blares]

1177
01:10:15,115 --> 01:10:16,449
You're on top. Breathe.

1178
01:10:16,449 --> 01:10:18,351
Squeeze the knees. Squeeze that butt.

1179
01:10:18,351 --> 01:10:20,820
Breathe. Keep those abs tight.
Keep them tight.

1180
01:10:20,820 --> 01:10:23,560
[man] Work. Bring those knees in.
Squeeze that butt!

1181
01:10:23,560 --> 01:10:24,524
Come on, breathe.

1182
01:10:24,524 --> 01:10:26,292
[Mike] Come on, dig the heels.
You got this.

1183
01:10:26,292 --> 01:10:28,695
Keep squeezing. Come on.

1184
01:10:28,695 --> 01:10:31,331
Squeeze the knees. Nicely done.

1185
01:10:31,331 --> 01:10:33,330
[man] I got to tell you, Alex, that may be

1186
01:10:33,330 --> 01:10:36,503
the best I've ever seen
anybody do on their first ride.

1187
01:10:36,503 --> 01:10:38,838
I'm sure. I'm not just blowing smoke, man.

1188
01:10:38,838 --> 01:10:41,207
I don't say that to people.
That was awesome.

1189
01:10:44,277 --> 01:10:46,746
[Doc] Today, there are no g-suits.

1190
01:10:47,914 --> 01:10:50,250
And the reason we require that is because

1191
01:10:50,250 --> 01:10:53,453
we do not fly with g-suits
in the Blue Angels.

1192
01:10:53,453 --> 01:10:55,355
[rumbling]

1193
01:10:55,355 --> 01:10:57,457
- [Mike] Welcome back.
- Yeah.

1194
01:10:57,457 --> 01:10:59,250
[Cheese] The g-suit fills up with air,

1195
01:10:59,250 --> 01:11:02,228
so the way we fulcrum
with our-our arm on our leg,

1196
01:11:02,228 --> 01:11:05,231
if that were to inflate,
it would move our arm

1197
01:11:05,231 --> 01:11:07,734
and inherently just move the aircraft,
so we don't do that.

1198
01:11:07,734 --> 01:11:11,237
[man] Okay, we're gonna
start the profile now.

1199
01:11:11,237 --> 01:11:14,474
We have five profiles
that every Blue Angel aviator

1200
01:11:14,474 --> 01:11:17,777
will go through in the centrifuge
which represent

1201
01:11:17,777 --> 01:11:19,746
what they experience
when flying in the jet.

1202
01:11:20,814 --> 01:11:22,816
[engines whooshing]

1203
01:11:27,987 --> 01:11:31,157
And those are the high-g profiles,
and one of which is

1204
01:11:31,157 --> 01:11:34,160
the PUB, the Pitch-Up Break,
which is our very last maneuver,

1205
01:11:34,160 --> 01:11:37,163
where the pilots will pull
seven and a half g's

1206
01:11:37,163 --> 01:11:39,399
to break around the airfield
before landing.

1207
01:11:41,340 --> 01:11:44,771
[chuckling] But it's critical that
they stay awake during that maneuver.

1208
01:11:46,706 --> 01:11:49,209
So we've taken that demonstration profile

1209
01:11:49,209 --> 01:11:51,611
and simulated it in the centrifuge

1210
01:11:51,611 --> 01:11:54,800
so that we can train to it
before getting into the jet.

1211
01:11:54,800 --> 01:11:55,415
All right, I have controls.

1212
01:11:55,415 --> 01:11:57,117
[man] Going to seven g's, five seconds.

1213
01:11:57,117 --> 01:11:59,185
[tense music playing]

1214
01:12:01,254 --> 01:12:03,356
[man] Okay, legs tight. Breath.

1215
01:12:04,391 --> 01:12:05,558
On top. Breathe.

1216
01:12:05,558 --> 01:12:07,727
Dig with the heels. Plank the abs.

1217
01:12:07,727 --> 01:12:10,230
Breathe. We're-we're down
to five and a half. Keep it going.

1218
01:12:10,230 --> 01:12:13,660
Stay with the strain. Come on.

1219
01:12:13,660 --> 01:12:15,602
-Stay with it. Stay with it. Stay with it.
- [Scribe groaning]

1220
01:12:19,572 --> 01:12:22,442
[man] It gets people
when it drops off like that.

1221
01:12:23,543 --> 01:12:26,446
[Wooldridge] It's the weirdest thing
to have a g-induced loss of consciousness.

1222
01:12:26,446 --> 01:12:29,249
You don't even know
where you are or what you are.

1223
01:12:29,249 --> 01:12:34,187
I mean, it's just like
your whole conscious self is gone.

1224
01:12:34,187 --> 01:12:36,523
[man] Alex, you okay?

1225
01:12:36,523 --> 01:12:38,525
- Yeah.
- All right.

1226
01:12:38,525 --> 01:12:42,996
[Doc] I called Boss about this and said,
"Hey, Boss, the new boss just passed out."

1227
01:12:42,996 --> 01:12:44,464
And he said, "Good.

1228
01:12:44,464 --> 01:12:47,567
Good, because that's a wake-up call
that he needs."

1229
01:12:47,567 --> 01:12:50,937
You know, "Let's get to work.
This is not gonna be easy."

1230
01:12:54,574 --> 01:12:57,210
[Mike] You're on top. Breathe.

1231
01:12:57,210 --> 01:12:59,879
Come on, dig the heels.
You got this. Keep squeezing.

1232
01:12:59,879 --> 01:13:01,681
Breathe. Squeeze those knees.
Get that butt tight.

1233
01:13:01,681 --> 01:13:03,249
Yes. Abs tight. Hold them tight.

1234
01:13:03,249 --> 01:13:04,517
Come on, legs.

1235
01:13:04,517 --> 01:13:07,253
One, two. Breathe. You got this.
And you're coming down.

1236
01:13:07,253 --> 01:13:08,588
You're coming all the way home.

1237
01:13:08,588 --> 01:13:10,357
Keep the strain. Legs, butt, heels.

1238
01:13:10,357 --> 01:13:12,580
Oh, you're coming down.

1239
01:13:14,861 --> 01:13:16,629
Yep, there we go.

1240
01:13:19,766 --> 01:13:21,201
I got you, Amanda.

1241
01:13:21,201 --> 01:13:23,703
Go ahead and put your head back. Amanda?

1242
01:13:23,703 --> 01:13:26,639
[Amanda] I had never g-LOC'd before.

1243
01:13:26,639 --> 01:13:29,709
And whatever your mind goes through
at that point, you know,

1244
01:13:29,709 --> 01:13:31,644
who knows, but I was in outer space.

1245
01:13:31,644 --> 01:13:34,614
[Mike] Take a breath. [clears throat]

1246
01:13:34,614 --> 01:13:40,200
It's, like, a... an eye-opener
for how inherently dangerous this job is.

1247
01:13:40,200 --> 01:13:42,322
We're just getting everything
back to normal.

1248
01:13:42,322 --> 01:13:43,957
- [Amanda] Okay.
- Head back in the headrest.

1249
01:13:43,957 --> 01:13:45,250
There you go.

1250
01:13:45,250 --> 01:13:46,659
[Scribe] There was certainly
a point today where I was...

1251
01:13:46,659 --> 01:13:49,129
I was frustrated, and it was a...
it was a difficult profile,

1252
01:13:49,129 --> 01:13:52,599
and I just kind of sat down and...
and just-just wanted to...

1253
01:13:52,599 --> 01:13:54,934
just wanted to relax
and do nothing for a few minutes.

1254
01:13:54,934 --> 01:13:56,569
But like most things in this business,

1255
01:13:56,569 --> 01:13:58,605
you-you get over it and you...
and you move on.

1256
01:13:58,605 --> 01:14:01,241
Breath up.

1257
01:14:01,241 --> 01:14:03,309
On top. Breathe. Drop those shoulders.

1258
01:14:03,309 --> 01:14:05,412
Bring the knees in.
Squeeze the butt. Breathe.

1259
01:14:05,412 --> 01:14:08,982
[Doc] A lot of today
is building confidence,

1260
01:14:08,982 --> 01:14:13,153
knowing that you can physically do this.

1261
01:14:13,153 --> 01:14:16,122
[Mike] Breathe. Good.
Terminate, terminate, terminate.

1262
01:14:17,390 --> 01:14:19,559
[Doc] Got to get your mind right,
your body right.

1263
01:14:19,559 --> 01:14:23,363
But without that mind being 100% invested
that you can do this,

1264
01:14:23,363 --> 01:14:24,731
you're not gonna be able to do it.

1265
01:14:24,731 --> 01:14:27,670
[Mike] You're on top. Breathe here.
Squeeze those knees together.

1266
01:14:27,670 --> 01:14:29,836
Squeeze that butt. Keep it tight.
Breathe. Good.

1267
01:14:29,836 --> 01:14:32,706
Breathe. Squeeze those knees.
Get that butt tight. Breathe. Good.

1268
01:14:32,706 --> 01:14:35,410
Come on, now. There you go.
Looking good. You got it.

1269
01:14:35,410 --> 01:14:38,244
One, two, and you're coming down
all the way home.

1270
01:14:38,244 --> 01:14:39,946
- [applause]
- [exhales]

1271
01:14:41,581 --> 01:14:43,516
Nicely done.

1272
01:14:47,454 --> 01:14:49,890
- [Doc] All right.
- [Mike] Hey!

1273
01:14:49,890 --> 01:14:50,323
- [man] Nice job.
- [applause]

1274
01:14:50,323 --> 01:14:54,494
[Doc] That's what this whole training
is about-- to let them know

1275
01:14:54,494 --> 01:14:57,464
we are in the big leagues now
and it's time to step it up.

1276
01:14:57,464 --> 01:14:59,165
Nice job, man.

1277
01:14:59,165 --> 01:15:00,834
[Scribe] We've got a lot to learn.

1278
01:15:00,834 --> 01:15:04,571
Starting next month, we'll start traveling
with the team, and pretty much

1279
01:15:04,571 --> 01:15:07,874
from the moment we start traveling
until the change of command in November,

1280
01:15:07,874 --> 01:15:11,444
we are joined at the hip
with whoever we're replacing.

1281
01:15:11,444 --> 01:15:13,813
We'll all be doing that
all the way through the fall.

1282
01:15:13,813 --> 01:15:15,810
- Hey, Boss.
- New boss!

1283
01:15:15,810 --> 01:15:16,783
- Hey.
- All right, cheers.

1284
01:15:16,783 --> 01:15:18,852
[cheering]

1285
01:15:18,852 --> 01:15:20,954
[majestic music playing]

1286
01:15:28,995 --> 01:15:31,364
[Scribe] Right now, it's the
khaki newbie phase, as we refer to it.

1287
01:15:31,364 --> 01:15:33,433
It's a good chance for all of us
to kind of feel

1288
01:15:33,433 --> 01:15:35,902
what it's like to be on the road.

1289
01:15:35,902 --> 01:15:39,720
The best way to describe it is "surreal."

1290
01:15:42,108 --> 01:15:43,743
[dramatic music playing]

1291
01:15:43,743 --> 01:15:45,712
[woman over radio] First jumper.

1292
01:15:45,712 --> 01:15:47,981
First jumper. Two jumps away.

1293
01:15:49,820 --> 01:15:51,351
[Thomas "Franz" Zimmerman] Not until
you live it, boy, do you understand

1294
01:15:51,351 --> 01:15:52,986
what it's like to be a Blue Angel.

1295
01:15:55,488 --> 01:15:58,324
[Boss] It's actually a bit comical
at the start because you have a bunch

1296
01:15:58,324 --> 01:16:00,560
of highly trained, skilled folks who...

1297
01:16:00,560 --> 01:16:02,362
don't really know what to do anymore.

1298
01:16:02,362 --> 01:16:05,832
You can... But you can stand just--
yeah, either way.

1299
01:16:05,832 --> 01:16:07,834
You can dance around. Thanks.

1300
01:16:07,834 --> 01:16:12,720
[Amanda] Being a newbie,
there's a very delicate balance.

1301
01:16:12,720 --> 01:16:14,574
You're basically there to be a sponge.

1302
01:16:14,574 --> 01:16:16,209
That's crowd right. Intro to crowd.

1303
01:16:16,209 --> 01:16:19,145
[Franz] We account for
every single minute of the day.

1304
01:16:19,145 --> 01:16:21,247
By the time you get back to the hotel,

1305
01:16:21,247 --> 01:16:24,351
boy, you can't even remember what you ate
for lunch or if you even ate lunch.

1306
01:16:24,351 --> 01:16:26,252
[laughter]

1307
01:16:26,252 --> 01:16:28,922
[Amanda] I wanted to start off
with the narrator spot,

1308
01:16:28,922 --> 01:16:30,990
and then when I found out
that I was gonna be

1309
01:16:30,990 --> 01:16:33,326
in the Diamond, it's just
one of those things where you're like,

1310
01:16:33,326 --> 01:16:34,728
"I'm just happy to be here."

1311
01:16:34,728 --> 01:16:36,796
Um, as we say, "I'm glad to be here."

1312
01:16:36,796 --> 01:16:38,932
[man over radio] Set your flaps.

1313
01:16:38,932 --> 01:16:41,670
[Wooldridge] "Glad to be here."

1314
01:16:41,670 --> 01:16:46,390
The perfect expression of the gratitude
we have from the top down, the bottom up.

1315
01:16:46,390 --> 01:16:48,108
[gentle music playing]

1316
01:16:49,876 --> 01:16:53,580
Whoever is around you, and-and you say,
"I'm just glad to be here."

1317
01:16:54,581 --> 01:16:56,683
It's a reset.

1318
01:16:56,683 --> 01:16:59,753
It lets people know that
no matter what kind of day you had,

1319
01:16:59,753 --> 01:17:02,455
you're glad you are with
the people you're with,

1320
01:17:02,455 --> 01:17:05,959
because they'll understand
and they'll trust you

1321
01:17:05,959 --> 01:17:08,361
because you won't hold anything back.

1322
01:17:08,361 --> 01:17:10,300
And when you have that kind of effort,

1323
01:17:10,300 --> 01:17:12,432
it raises the outcomes
for each and every person.

1324
01:17:14,434 --> 01:17:17,103
"Glad to be here."

1325
01:17:17,103 --> 01:17:18,705
That was foundational.

1326
01:17:18,705 --> 01:17:20,140
[all grunt, laugh]

1327
01:17:20,140 --> 01:17:21,241
All right!

1328
01:17:26,546 --> 01:17:30,160
[Boss] Th-There's a kind of a saying
from deploying sailors

1329
01:17:30,160 --> 01:17:33,319
where the days are long
but the weeks are short.

1330
01:17:34,854 --> 01:17:37,657
Kind of living in the moment.
You're tired a lot of times.

1331
01:17:38,858 --> 01:17:41,961
All of a sudden, you wake up
and it's, you know, September,

1332
01:17:41,961 --> 01:17:43,496
and then it's end of season week.

1333
01:17:43,496 --> 01:17:45,732
[engines roaring]

1334
01:17:45,732 --> 01:17:47,400
Rip it.

1335
01:17:47,400 --> 01:17:49,335
[triumphant music playing]

1336
01:18:07,487 --> 01:18:10,557
You spend the entire 365 previous days

1337
01:18:10,557 --> 01:18:13,226
with your team, getting better
and better and better, and then...

1338
01:18:13,226 --> 01:18:14,327
Let's get rolling.

1339
01:18:14,327 --> 01:18:15,829
Here it is.

1340
01:18:15,829 --> 01:18:17,997
I'll never do this again.

1341
01:18:17,997 --> 01:18:21,534
My replacement has been picked,
and this is our last ride.

1342
01:18:21,534 --> 01:18:23,670
[chuckling] It's definitely
an emotional moment, you know?

1343
01:18:23,670 --> 01:18:25,238
Yeah.

1344
01:18:36,683 --> 01:18:39,953
[Chomps] For the Diamond 360,
we've talked at length over the last...

1345
01:18:39,953 --> 01:18:43,156
I-I would say each one of us
has had hours conversations

1346
01:18:43,156 --> 01:18:47,627
with each other about the Diamond 360,
kind of preparing our fulcrum...

1347
01:18:47,627 --> 01:18:50,296
[Boss] Our goal at the beginning
of the season is

1348
01:18:50,296 --> 01:18:52,320
the tireless pursuit of perfection.

1349
01:18:52,320 --> 01:18:55,735
And I think a lot of it comes down
to just not being satisfied,

1350
01:18:55,735 --> 01:18:57,771
knowing that there's a next level.

1351
01:18:57,771 --> 01:18:59,873
[engines roaring]

1352
01:19:02,750 --> 01:19:04,770
[dramatic music playing]

1353
01:19:05,545 --> 01:19:07,280
There's tension in it. There's, one,

1354
01:19:07,280 --> 01:19:10,160
you got to be safe,
you got to be professional.

1355
01:19:12,180 --> 01:19:14,200
But there's another side to that:

1356
01:19:14,200 --> 01:19:17,991
"Gosh, man, I want to make sure
that we get to the tightest sets."

1357
01:19:20,994 --> 01:19:23,563
The Blue Angel hallmark of precision.

1358
01:19:25,310 --> 01:19:28,680
That tension, it's good,
but you got to keep it in check.

1359
01:19:28,680 --> 01:19:29,936
[Chomps] All right, for the Diamond Roll.

1360
01:19:29,936 --> 01:19:31,938
Hold to deep. Hold to deep...

1361
01:19:31,938 --> 01:19:35,742
[Boss] The way I chose to lead was

1362
01:19:35,742 --> 01:19:37,377
I wanted Chomps to be empowered.

1363
01:19:39,412 --> 01:19:42,315
'Cause I have that much trust in-in Frank.

1364
01:19:46,419 --> 01:19:49,122
During that final week,
Frank came into my office and said,

1365
01:19:49,122 --> 01:19:50,990
"We can do it."

1366
01:19:52,580 --> 01:19:54,494
The Diamond 360 and Yankee set.

1367
01:19:56,229 --> 01:19:59,566
[stirring music playing]

1368
01:19:59,566 --> 01:20:02,769
From the right, the Blue Angel Diamond.

1369
01:20:04,704 --> 01:20:06,106
[indistinct radio chatter]

1370
01:20:11,111 --> 01:20:13,113
♪ ♪

1371
01:20:38,104 --> 01:20:41,740
To be able to do that safely...

1372
01:20:42,575 --> 01:20:47,781
...flying just inches apart,
that's-that's a grand slam.

1373
01:20:47,781 --> 01:20:49,849
That's the Blue Angel magic.

1374
01:21:01,327 --> 01:21:04,197
[woman] Departing team members,
last three ranks, anyone want to talk?

1375
01:21:04,197 --> 01:21:06,366
- Destiny, you crying yet?
- [Destiny] I'm not crying.

1376
01:21:06,366 --> 01:21:08,101
- You good?
- [man] Come on, Kev.

1377
01:21:08,101 --> 01:21:09,936
- [woman] Come on, Kev!
- [man 2] This is it.

1378
01:21:09,936 --> 01:21:13,390
- [encouraging chatter]
- Come on, Kev.

1379
01:21:13,390 --> 01:21:15,608
- Come on, Kev!
- [cheering]

1380
01:21:19,646 --> 01:21:21,648
[rapping indistinctly]

1381
01:21:21,648 --> 01:21:23,783
♪ Put your hands in the air
if you heard me ♪

1382
01:21:23,783 --> 01:21:25,652
- ♪ Wash your hands, wash your feet ♪
- [laughter, encouraging shouts]

1383
01:21:25,652 --> 01:21:27,120
♪ Brush your teeth, wash your back...

1384
01:21:27,120 --> 01:21:29,189
[rap continues indistinctly]

1385
01:21:30,623 --> 01:21:33,460
♪ Put your arms in the air
if you heard me ♪

1386
01:21:33,460 --> 01:21:36,129
♪ Wash your hands, wash your feet,
wash your back, wash your back...

1387
01:21:36,129 --> 01:21:37,831
[rap continues indistinctly]

1388
01:21:37,831 --> 01:21:39,899
[man over radio] Good afternoon, Bert.

1389
01:21:39,899 --> 01:21:42,100
[cheering]

1390
01:21:45,739 --> 01:21:47,974
I've never been in
a command like this before,

1391
01:21:47,974 --> 01:21:52,245
and, uh, you guys treat me like family,
and I really appreciate that.

1392
01:21:52,245 --> 01:21:54,214
Thank you so much. I will miss it.

1393
01:21:54,214 --> 01:21:56,850
- I will miss it.
- [encouraging chatter, applause]

1394
01:21:56,850 --> 01:21:59,185
[♪ The Killers:
"All These Things That I've Done"]

1395
01:21:59,185 --> 01:22:04,457
♪ When there's nowhere else to run ♪

1396
01:22:04,457 --> 01:22:09,290
♪ Is there room for one more son...

1397
01:22:09,290 --> 01:22:11,264
You know, to everyone leaving,
you will be missed.

1398
01:22:11,264 --> 01:22:12,932
We'll talk about it more tonight.

1399
01:22:12,932 --> 01:22:15,902
For the newbies in the back, soak it in.

1400
01:22:15,902 --> 01:22:17,737
Talk to these people
before they leave today.

1401
01:22:17,737 --> 01:22:19,172
[group] Whoo!

1402
01:22:19,172 --> 01:22:20,607
♪ Hold on ♪

1403
01:22:22,776 --> 01:22:24,611
♪ If you can, hold on ♪

1404
01:22:24,611 --> 01:22:26,479
- All right!
- [applause]

1405
01:22:26,479 --> 01:22:28,148
- ♪ Hold on ♪
- Hit it.

1406
01:22:28,148 --> 01:22:31,351
- One more time.
- Three, four, five.

1407
01:22:31,351 --> 01:22:34,200
[chatter continues indistinctly]

1408
01:22:45,832 --> 01:22:47,500
[Boss] Expo is clear to taxi.

1409
01:22:47,500 --> 01:22:49,536
Line up on runway two-five-right.

1410
01:22:51,538 --> 01:22:52,539
Now.

1411
01:22:52,539 --> 01:22:55,742
♪ I wanna stand up, I wanna let go ♪

1412
01:22:55,742 --> 01:22:57,977
- ♪ You know, you know ♪
- [indistinct radio chatter]

1413
01:22:57,977 --> 01:23:00,980
♪ No, you don't, you don't ♪

1414
01:23:00,980 --> 01:23:04,851
♪ I wanna shine on in the hearts of man ♪

1415
01:23:04,851 --> 01:23:08,188
♪ I want a meaning from the back
of my broken hand ♪

1416
01:23:08,188 --> 01:23:10,623
- [Boss speaking indistinctly
in chanting cadence]
- ♪ Another head aches ♪

1417
01:23:10,623 --> 01:23:13,393
♪ Another heart breaks ♪

1418
01:23:13,393 --> 01:23:16,620
♪ I'm so much older than I can take ♪

1419
01:23:16,620 --> 01:23:21,167
♪ And my affection,
well, it comes and goes ♪

1420
01:23:21,167 --> 01:23:24,671
♪ I need direction to perfection,
no, no, no, no ♪

1421
01:23:24,671 --> 01:23:27,730
♪ Help me out, yeah ♪

1422
01:23:27,730 --> 01:23:31,244
♪ You know you gotta help me out, yeah ♪

1423
01:23:31,244 --> 01:23:34,781
♪ Oh, don't you put me
on the back burner ♪

1424
01:23:34,781 --> 01:23:39,119
♪ You know you gotta help me out, yeah ♪

1425
01:23:39,119 --> 01:23:41,855
♪ You're gonna bring yourself down ♪

1426
01:23:41,855 --> 01:23:43,289
♪ Yeah ♪

1427
01:23:43,289 --> 01:23:47,394
♪ You're gonna bring yourself down, yeah ♪

1428
01:23:47,394 --> 01:23:50,530
♪ You're gonna bring yourself down ♪

1429
01:23:50,530 --> 01:23:53,330
[Chewy] I don't think
you remember shows or weekends.

1430
01:23:55,535 --> 01:23:59,539
The level of perfection that we seek,
I see it in moments.

1431
01:24:01,207 --> 01:24:04,310
Every once in a while,
you're in a roll or a rollout,

1432
01:24:04,310 --> 01:24:06,746
the jets just kind of freeze,

1433
01:24:06,746 --> 01:24:09,482
and the world around you
seems to kind of spin, so...

1434
01:24:09,482 --> 01:24:11,618
And those are kind of the moments
that I'll remember

1435
01:24:11,618 --> 01:24:13,520
that kind of stick with me.

1436
01:24:13,520 --> 01:24:16,656
[Push Pop] The four Diamond pilots
are rolling out in trail formation

1437
01:24:16,656 --> 01:24:19,192
for a dynamic separation maneuver.

1438
01:24:19,192 --> 01:24:21,528
The Blue Angel Vertical Break.

1439
01:24:21,528 --> 01:24:22,862
Rip it.

1440
01:24:22,862 --> 01:24:25,732
♪ I got soul, but I'm not a soldier ♪

1441
01:24:25,732 --> 01:24:32,672
♪ I got soul,
but I'm not a soldier ♪

1442
01:24:38,545 --> 01:24:40,547
♪ Yeah ♪

1443
01:24:40,547 --> 01:24:44,451
♪ You know you gotta help me out, yeah ♪

1444
01:24:44,451 --> 01:24:48,455
♪ Oh, don't you put me
on the back burner ♪

1445
01:24:48,455 --> 01:24:52,625
♪ You know you gotta help me out, yeah ♪

1446
01:24:52,625 --> 01:24:54,694
♪ You're gonna bring yourself down ♪

1447
01:24:54,694 --> 01:24:58,865
♪ Yeah, you're gonna bring yourself down ♪

1448
01:24:58,865 --> 01:25:00,567
♪ Yeah ♪

1449
01:25:00,567 --> 01:25:04,537
♪ Oh, don't you put me
on the back burner ♪

1450
01:25:04,537 --> 01:25:07,741
♪ You're gonna bring yourself down ♪

1451
01:25:07,741 --> 01:25:09,876
♪ Yeah, you're gonna
bring yourself down...

1452
01:25:09,876 --> 01:25:14,814
[Doc] I walked away thinking, "This is
exactly what we worked for all year,"

1453
01:25:14,814 --> 01:25:16,850
and it was incredible to see.

1454
01:25:16,850 --> 01:25:18,818
♪ Last call for sin ♪

1455
01:25:18,818 --> 01:25:20,754
- ♪ While everyone's lost ♪
- [indistinct radio chatter]

1456
01:25:20,754 --> 01:25:22,655
♪ The battle is won...

1457
01:25:22,655 --> 01:25:24,624
Great job. Great tour.

1458
01:25:24,624 --> 01:25:26,860
[Chomps] Ah, good deal, Boss.
Welcome back.

1459
01:25:26,860 --> 01:25:28,461
Great.

1460
01:25:28,461 --> 01:25:32,699
[Boss] No kidding-- during the show,
the parking spots are all changed over,

1461
01:25:32,699 --> 01:25:34,200
and that is how the Blue Angels do it.

1462
01:25:34,200 --> 01:25:35,535
♪ Things that I've done ♪

1463
01:25:35,535 --> 01:25:37,504
♪ Time, truth and hearts ♪

1464
01:25:39,239 --> 01:25:42,475
All the old guys' names
have been scraped off.

1465
01:25:42,475 --> 01:25:44,277
♪ If you can, hold on ♪

1466
01:25:44,277 --> 01:25:46,746
You know, when you walk out
of this hangar that final time, that's it.

1467
01:25:46,746 --> 01:25:48,682
- ♪ If you can, hold on ♪
- [indistinct chatter]

1468
01:25:48,682 --> 01:25:50,116
There's no coming back.

1469
01:26:00,326 --> 01:26:03,196
Just started prepping my cadence
for that final walk back,

1470
01:26:03,196 --> 01:26:05,980
when it's that final drop of salute.

1471
01:26:05,980 --> 01:26:07,400
That's right, and left.

1472
01:26:07,400 --> 01:26:09,502
Left, left.

1473
01:26:09,502 --> 01:26:11,771
How long I might wait
for that final drop of salute.

1474
01:26:11,771 --> 01:26:14,541
Left, left.

1475
01:26:14,541 --> 01:26:16,242
Left, right, left.

1476
01:26:16,242 --> 01:26:17,944
- Right, right.
- Hut!

1477
01:26:17,944 --> 01:26:21,314
[Boss] We drop salute,
and we know that the next day,

1478
01:26:21,314 --> 01:26:24,617
personnel are gonna go
all across the world

1479
01:26:24,617 --> 01:26:27,354
to the next tour of duty.

1480
01:26:28,788 --> 01:26:32,692
That's the last moment
that our family's gonna be together.

1481
01:26:32,692 --> 01:26:34,194
You know?

1482
01:26:34,194 --> 01:26:36,496
Uh... yeah.

1483
01:26:36,496 --> 01:26:38,640
[chuckles softly]

1484
01:26:39,165 --> 01:26:40,900
And salute.

1485
01:26:43,336 --> 01:26:44,838
Ready? Two.

1486
01:26:44,838 --> 01:26:47,540
- [wistful music playing]
- [crowd cheering]

1487
01:27:02,188 --> 01:27:04,457
[jovial chatter, laughter]

1488
01:27:09,963 --> 01:27:12,232
[cheering]

1489
01:27:12,232 --> 01:27:14,534
[Chomps] The flying is cool,
but it's not the same

1490
01:27:14,534 --> 01:27:18,204
as being around Jamammy or Cheese
or Chewy or Whiskers or Boss

1491
01:27:18,204 --> 01:27:21,241
or any of the supply officers
to maintainers downstairs.

1492
01:27:21,241 --> 01:27:23,777
It's that one-on-one connection
you have with your crew chiefs--

1493
01:27:23,777 --> 01:27:26,112
Joe and Alan for me--
so that's gonna truly,

1494
01:27:26,112 --> 01:27:28,248
truly be the thing
that I'm gonna miss the most.

1495
01:27:28,248 --> 01:27:30,650
♪ ♪

1496
01:27:41,628 --> 01:27:43,496
[indistinct chatter]

1497
01:27:48,735 --> 01:27:51,370
[Boss] It's all the parts.
It's not just five people.

1498
01:27:51,370 --> 01:27:54,207
It's 141 personnel
that put this thing together.

1499
01:27:54,207 --> 01:27:56,443
[man] Ready? One, two and three.

1500
01:27:56,443 --> 01:27:58,545
- All right!
- [cheering]

1501
01:28:01,414 --> 01:28:03,850
[Jamammy] The people change.
The suits stay the same.

1502
01:28:03,850 --> 01:28:06,519
What this team means stays the same.

1503
01:28:06,519 --> 01:28:09,622
And what this team means to the country
has stayed the same

1504
01:28:09,622 --> 01:28:11,725
and has lasted the test of time.

1505
01:28:13,960 --> 01:28:17,397
And then-- poof, you know?-- it's gone.

1506
01:28:22,202 --> 01:28:25,171
I pinch myself
I get a chance to be part of it.

1507
01:28:25,171 --> 01:28:27,540
[engines whooshing]

1508
01:28:37,917 --> 01:28:40,587
[soft, atmospheric music playing]

1509
01:28:40,587 --> 01:28:43,356
- [insects trilling]
- [coyotes yelping]

1510
01:28:45,250 --> 01:28:48,328
[man] The Blue Angel Creed!

1511
01:28:48,328 --> 01:28:49,963
[group] As a Blue Angel,

1512
01:28:49,963 --> 01:28:55,100
I will dedicate all my efforts to pride,
professionalism and perfection.

1513
01:28:55,100 --> 01:28:57,937
I will strive to honor the crest I earned,

1514
01:28:57,937 --> 01:29:00,140
and I will never forget from where I came.

1515
01:29:00,140 --> 01:29:02,976
Once a Blue Angel, always a Blue Angel.

1516
01:29:03,977 --> 01:29:06,946
[energetic music playing]

1517
01:29:18,391 --> 01:29:20,393
♪ ♪

1518
01:29:43,750 --> 01:29:45,752
♪ ♪

1519
01:30:07,807 --> 01:30:09,809
♪ ♪

1520
01:30:35,100 --> 01:30:37,300
[dramatic music playing]

1521
01:31:07,000 --> 01:31:09,200
♪ ♪

1522
01:31:38,998 --> 01:31:41,000
♪ ♪

1523
01:32:10,997 --> 01:32:12,999
♪ ♪

1524
01:32:15,100 --> 01:32:17,300
- [music fades]
- [radio static droning]

1525
01:32:17,300 --> 01:32:19,720
[Boss over radio] Great job. Great tour.