Task Force Torch students meet Super Bowl LVI flyover pilots
Joint Forces Training Base hosts educational outreach event
by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman
California National Guard Public Affairs
Feb. 15, 2022
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. – In the days leading up to Super Bowl LVI, a couple hundred Southern California students met members from one of the teams involved in football's biggest game.
This team wasn't their hometown Los Angeles Rams or the visiting Cincinnati Bengals.
It was the team of pilots and maintainers providing the U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight five-aircraft flyover of the National Football League's championship game.
For a two hour time span Feb. 9, students from the three Cal Guard Task Force Torch youth programs based on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, rotated from aircraft to aircraft to meet with Airmen assigned to each of four Air Force demonstration teams participating in the flyover.
The event kicked off with more than 120 cadets in Sunburst Youth Challenge Academy's Class 29 visiting the installation's Los Alamitos Army Airfield. The teens, ages 16-18, are living and going to high school on the base while earning a year's worth of credits in half the time.
They were followed by fifth graders from 116th Street and 93rd Street elementary schools in Los Angeles, who were on the base for a final day of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math curriculum at DoD STARBASE Los Alamitos.
“We normally have to travel to different schools to meet different audiences in terms of age and demographics, so it’s really nice to have everybody here in one place and be able to talk to them in the same time span,” said Maj. Joshua Gunderson, commander and pilot of the U.S. Air Force F-22 Demonstration Team stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Virginia.
“It’s always fun to hear the interest and the joy in their questions when they’re asking us,” Gunderson said. “It’s always awesome.”
The meet and greet rounded out with 60 scholars from the California Job Challenge program. The career technical education training program is an optional follow-on academy for graduates of Sunburst and other National Guard Youth Challenge Programs. At Job Challenge, students earn trade and service industry certificates, college credits, or a high school diploma.
"When we have this type of event for our kids, it's for them to come out here and see what they can do," said California State Guard Sgt. Jose Ramos, who leads community outreach efforts for Job Challenge.
"A lot of our kids have been told, ‘you’re not going to amount to anything,'" Ramos said. "We’re not that way. We want to make sure to empower them. They can do more than they think they can."
"We want to expose them to everything, as much as we can, so they have a pathway they can follow," Ramos said gesturing to the Airmen. "Look what he’s doing now. That could be you."
U.S. Air Force Maj. Joshua Gunderson, commander and pilot of the F-22 Demonstration Team, talks with scholars from California Job Challenge Class 6 during an educational outreach event, Feb. 9, at Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, California. Gunderson was one of the pilots to fly over Super Bowl LVI in nearby Inglewood four days later. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman)
U.S. Air Force Maj. Joshua Gunderson, commander and pilot of the F-22 Demonstration Team, talks with scholars from California Job Challenge Class 6 during an educational outreach event, Feb. 9, at Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos, California. Gunderson was one of the pilots to fly over Super Bowl LVI in nearby Inglewood four days later. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman)
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgts. Jordan Brown-Stobbe and Kyle Matern talk with fifth graders from Los Angeles elementary schools, Feb. 9, on the flightline of Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. The students were on base for their final day of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math curriculum at DoD STARBASE Los Alamitos. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joaquin Vasquez-Duran)
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgts. Jordan Brown-Stobbe and Kyle Matern talk with fifth graders from Los Angeles elementary schools, Feb. 9, on the flightline of Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. The students were on base for their final day of hands-on science, technology, engineering and math curriculum at DoD STARBASE Los Alamitos. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joaquin Vasquez-Duran)
U.S. Air Force Capt. Nicholas Helmer, a pilot with the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, shows his helmet to cadets from Sunburst Youth Challenge Academy's Class 29 and talks to them about flying, Feb. 9, during an educational outreach event on Los Alamitos Army Airfield at Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman)
U.S. Air Force Capt. Nicholas Helmer, a pilot with the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, shows his helmet to cadets from Sunburst Youth Challenge Academy's Class 29 and talks to them about flying, Feb. 9, during an educational outreach event on Los Alamitos Army Airfield at Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Crystal Housman)
Scholars from California Job Challenge Class 6 talk to U.S. Air Force Maj. Garret Schmitz, commander and pilot of the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, Feb. 9 at Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joaquin Vasquez-Duran)
Scholars from California Job Challenge Class 6 talk to U.S. Air Force Maj. Garret Schmitz, commander and pilot of the F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, Feb. 9 at Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joaquin Vasquez-Duran)
A platoon of female scholars from California Job Challenge Class 6 talk to maintainers from the U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, Feb. 9 at Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joaquin Vasquez-Duran)
A platoon of female scholars from California Job Challenge Class 6 talk to maintainers from the U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper Demonstration Team, Feb. 9 at Los Alamitos Army Airfield on Joint Forces Training Base, Los Alamitos. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Joaquin Vasquez-Duran)
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