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Lt. Col. Marc McAllister and Major Mathew Swee, pilots with the 63 Air Refueling Squadron, and Tech Sgt. Sean Brown, boom operator with the 63 ARS, stand in from of a KC-135 Stratotanker on MacDill Air Force Base flightline Jan. 29, 2021. The crew and aircraft participated in a flyover of the 15th Annual Volusia County Military/EMS Expo at University High School, Florida. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tiffany Emery)

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63ARS participates in a military flyover

Published Feb. 2, 2021
927ARW

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (Feb. 1, 2021) – A KC-135 Stratotanker with the 63^rd Air Refueling Squadron based here, participated in a flyover of University High School in Orange City, Florida for the 15^th Annual Volusia County EMS/Military Appreciation Day Expo on January 29, 2021.

Lt. Col. Marc McAllister, squadron commander with the 63^rd ARS, piloted the flyover. He said, “It is important to be involved in military flight demonstrations such as flyovers, because it allows students to see different options and capabilities that the military can offer that they may not have been exposed to before.”

The event included flyovers by a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 63^rd Air Refueling Squadron, MacDill AFB, a C-17 Globmaster with the 732 Airlift Squadron, McGuire AFB, a KC-10 Extender with the 76^th Air Refueling Squadron, McGuire AFB, an HC-130J Combat King II with the 39^th Rescue Squadron, Patrick AFB, and four T-6 Texan IIs with Shepard Air Force Base.

Not only did the event allow 2700 students the opportunity to see military aircraft flyover, there were also recruiters from the Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy that were on the school grounds to answer questions from interested students.

Sam Irvin, the airshow coordinator to Air Force Reserve Command flight crews and retired commander of the 732^nd Airlift Squadron, Maguire AFB, N.J. said, “I was impressed with the excitement crews had to be involved in this event. This is for the kids and it is nice to see the willingness to participate.”

In addition to aircraft flyovers, there were helicopters stationed on the school grounds from the Florida National Guard, regional medical centers, and local counties.

Due to the current pandemic, events and procedures at the event had been altered from previous years. Irvin said, “students were divided into groups, which were spaced out through the day to ensure social distancing.”

McAllister added that he also saw flyovers at a young age, which solidified his interest in being a pilot. He hopes that the day’s events will inspire students just as it did for him.