You don’t have to be in Tuscaloosa, the state of Alabama, or even America, for that matter, to be among fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide. As a matter of fact, if you find yourself in Afghanistan — you know, for a weekend getaway, or something — just look up into the skies and there’s a chance you will see the 100th Fighter Squadron from Montgomery representing for their country, their state, and their beloved university.
The video above shows Lt. Col. Jon Shultz of the Alabama Air Guard proudly displaying the crimson and white as he completes a tanker hit in his F-16.
Lt. Col. Shultz was kind enough to provide Yellowhammer with some background information on the video. He says it better than we ever could, so we’ve just copy and pasted most of his reply from Afghanistan below.
I feel privileged to be able to fly the Alabama colors while deployed over here. Our squadron, the 100th Fighter Squadron from Montgomery, AL, is deployed to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. We have been here since April and plan to return just before Thanksgiving (exact dates are not released).
My wife and I joined the unit together back in 2006 as we transitioned from the active duty Air Force and moved to Huntsville. Since our unit sits almost exactly between Auburn and Tuscaloosa, we have a pretty good mix of allegiances.
Before sequestration took effect a couple years ago, our unit traditionally provided at least one flyby for each school (usually one at Jordan-Hare and one at Bryant-Denny). I flew my first flyby after I had been at the unit for about a year at the Tulane-Alabama game in 2007. The next year, I led a flyby that included Billy Strickland (of Birmingham, AL) flying in his P-51 followed by a pair of Vipers about 30 seconds later.
In 2010, I flew again, and this time we were able to land at Birmingham and then drive back to the stadium in enough time for the half time show. We were introduced at halftime to tremendous thanks and applause. Our squadron is named after the historic 100th Fighter Squadron ‘Red Tails’ of Tuskegee Airmen fame. Instead of wearing our standard red squadron pride shirt, I had pre-planned to wear a crimson ‘BAMA’ shirt. While standing in the end zone for our 15 seconds of fame, I unzipped the chest of my flightsuit to reveal my Alabama colors.
Since we are deployed this year, our squadron will not be able to support any of the games. I figured this video might be used as a replacement ‘fly by’ if it finds the right hands.
The flag flown was donated by Lyle Walker of Tallahasee, FL along with 60 shirts (sixty!!) to be distributed to the many Bama fans in our unit. After we coordinate for a group picture, I’ll be sending the flag back used in this video back to him with a certificate indicating our thanks for his generous donations, which have made a dramatic impact to our morale in preparation for SEC football season.
The video was taken at 26,000 feet just south of Ghazni, Afghanistan.
Roll Tide!
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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