Special guests treated to tour, air show at Holloman

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Sanjay Allen
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Oct. 23 was a special day for 45 special needs citizens of Alamogordo who got a chance to tour the base and watch an exclusive air show only base personnel were invited to.

The group from Zia Therapy and Otero County Special Olympics began their tour at the Holloman Fire Department where they were treated to tours of fire engines, living quarters, the day room and kitchen. They also had the pleasure of meeting Sparky, the fire department's mascot.

Denise, one of the members of the group, was so excited to see Sparky, she couldn't wait to see him again. She said she really hoped to see Sparky again later in the tour. Unfortunately, he wasn't out and about for the rest of the day.

Even without Sparky, the day was still filled with excitement. They left the fire department for the flight line to be greeted by a couple maintainers and a few pilots.

The visitors were invited to touch it, see it and learn all about the F-22A, but not even the mighty F-22A Raptor could sway enough votes to be recognized as the favorite stop. None of them could name a single favorite part of the tour. They all liked everything.

"There was really no special thing that they could narrow it down," said Tech. Sgt. Anthony Bradway, 49th Materiel Maintenance Group, and tour coordinator. "They just liked the whole thing. They thought it was really neat."

The Open House Committee asked Sergeant Bradway to put on the tour for the special guests because he already has a very close tie to them.

"My original motivation was with my son because he has special needs and it has been quite a few years (I've been) working with Zia," he said.

Sergeant Bradway's involvement made it possible for 45 special guests of Holloman to have a great day topped off by lunch on the flight line and an exclusive air show.

"They're all special needs folks and they're just not used to seeing what the outside world is really like," he said. "And I'm just trying to give them a chance to see that."

All the group members said they enjoyed the day with the Air Force and look forward to getting another opportunity to visit the base.