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Air Force Week underway in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Air Force Week in Los Angeles kicked off Friday with an opening ceremony, expo and aircraft flyover at the Hollywood & Highland Center in the heart of Hollywood.

On hand for the event were Gen. Bob Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, actor Rick Schroder, numerous airmen from California bases and hundreds of school children waving American flags.

“This is an obviously an important place for the U.S. Air Force,” Kehler said of southern California, where numerous military bases and defense contractors are located. “It gives us an opportunity to interact with the people of Los Angeles, and most importantly this Air Force Week and all the others we have across the country give us the chance to interact with the people that we serve.”

The highlights of the event for the audience — particularly the school children — were a performance by the Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team from Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., and a fly-by of several Air Force aircraft.

The aircraft included an F-22 from the 411th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; two F-16s from the 144th Fighter Squadron at Fresno Air National Guard Base, Calif.; a B-1 from the 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards; a B-52 from the 23rd Bomb Squadron at Minot Air Force Base, N.D.; and a U-2 from the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, Calif.

Schroder, star of TV programs such as “24” and “NYPD Blue” and numerous films, said he became a flight enthusiast and private pilot after taking a flight in an Air Force T-37 when he was a teenager.

“It was awesome,” he said. “It changes your perspective of what man is capable of creating. You get in a machine like that, and it’s just so impressive.”

Councilman Rosendahl pointed to the economic impact the Air Force has on the city and the state.

“The jobs and the multiplier effect for the economy [is] roughly 200,000 civilian jobs and over $1 billion to our businesses,” he said. “We are nothing but grateful in this down economy to see the stimulus package that comes from the Air Force being in California.”

Air Force Week events take place all over the Los Angeles area Nov. 14-21. They include screenings of Air Force-themed films such as “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” and “Apollo 13”; interactive exhibits such as an F-22 simulator; and the Wings Over Long Beach at Long Beach Airport with aircraft displays and exhibitions Nov. 15-16.

For event information, visit http://www.airforceweek.com/.