28-05-2025
Thunderbirds arrive in Colorado Springs
(PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo.) — The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds have officially landed at Peterson Space Force Base (SFB) ahead of the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 29.
On Tuesday, local media got an up-close and personal look at the iconic red, white, and blue F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets, as well as a glimpse into the lives of their precision pilots.
When do the Thunderbirds practice?
'We fly twice a day, every day, for almost six days a week, sometimes seven days a week, during our training season,' said Major Jeffrey Downie, call sign 'Simmer.'
Maj. Downie said the preparation for a performance like the one that will be executed on Thursday includes those hours of rigorous training, as well as good rest and mental preparedness. The end result is a stunning display that will leave an impression on anyone who catches a glimpse of the Thunderbirds as they roar overhead.
'Our mission on the Thunderbirds is to recruit, retain, and inspire, and we really like to focus on the inspiration piece, because you can do that for everybody, whether that's somebody that's older in the crowd or someone who's very young,' said Maj. Downie.
For Maj. Downie, that inspiration struck him at a young age, when he would watch the jets fly over Arlington National Cemetery nearby where he grew up.
'You'd always hear the rumble in the house, and my mom and I would drop everything and run outside, and we would watch the jets rip over, and that kind of planted the seed for me,' Maj. Downie said. 'That's when it was solidified in my mind that that's what I was going to do, and I was going to chase that with an unrelenting effort. And it landed me here today, through a lot of hard work.'
Now a pilot for the Air Force Demonstration team, Maj. Downie hopes the memories he's able to help create last a lifetime for the cadets in Falcons Stadium on Thursday, even if he never got to experience it himself.
'It's the culmination of four years of hard work,' said Maj. Downie. 'When I was graduating in 2013, sequestration was going on, and so we didn't actually have the Thunderbirds that year. So for me, this is actually special because I get to be on the other side of it and get to bring that excitement to the cadets… once you start hearing the Thunderbirds start ripping around, that's when it's like, 'alright, graduation is here.''
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