Two 459th ARW reservists selected for 2009 Tops In Blue tour

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Ashley Crawford
  • 459th ARW Public Affairs Office
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. --  Two reservists from the 459th Air Refueling Wing and 31 world-wide Air Force contestants have been selected to join the ranks of previous performers as the 2009 Tops In Blue crew.

An ongoing tradition that has been a part of the Air Force since 1953, Senior Airman Vicki Howard, an aeromedical evacuation technician with the 459th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron , and Staff Sgt. Wendell Boone, air transportation technician with the 69th Aerial Port Squadron were selected at the Worldwide Talent Search Jan. 11 through 19, said Master Sgt. Derrick Wright, 459th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron executive management director. "Four-hundred audition tapes were sent in; 80 were selected and went to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for tryouts."

Sergeant Wright supported the competition as an alpha team leader to assist the competitors with vocal training, education of stage presence and other useful techniques.

"This is my 21st year being involved with the program and to have two Airmen selected from the same base is rare, but furthermore, to have both selected from the same wing... it's never happened," Sergeant Wright said.

Sergeant Boone, performing in the male-vocalist category, was among other category winners to receive a "Wilco" award for placing second; first place recipients receive a "Roger" award.

Sergeant Boone, who has been singing since childhood, described placing in the competition as confirmation that anything is possible with hard work and determination.

The contest consisted of a 10-day course to include entertainment training, singing, acting and dance, Airman Howard said. "Even if you can't act, or don't think you can get comfortable with being uncomfortable, confidence comes when you realize you're doing something you have never done before and are actually good at it."

"The process is absolutely amazing to get where I am now... the rehearsals, cramming, and tapping into areas that I didn't even know were there," said Airman Howard. "The competition in Texas was just the beginning."

The pair reports to Lackland AFB, Texas, March 21 to begin two months of "music boot camp," Sergeant Wright said.

"They will be working 16 to 18-hour days with only a couple full days off, it's going to be a lot of hard work," he said. "These two are highly motivated and driven people who know what they want and were not only determined enough to get it, but also see it through."