The United States Air Force Band of the Golden West is stationed in the San Francisco Bay area at Travis Air Force Base, California. The only active duty Air Force band west of the Rockies. In addition to performing for civilian communities throughout the states of California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada, the band supports 13 Air Force Bases, 8 Air Force Reserve Wings, and 6 recruiting squadrons in over 250 annual performances for 1.5 million listeners.
When you think of “American power,” what comes to mind? The “BRRRTT” of an A-10 Thunderbolt II, razing enemy hideouts beneath it? What about a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft offloading pallets of supplies and munitions to ground forces? For many infantry, it could look like a battalion of Soldiers with M4s clearing a battlefield of insurgents. But the Air Force band? What’s so “powerful” about them?