Photo By Senior Airman Alexis Redin | Festival attendees pose for a photo in a U.S. Marine Corps. UH-1Y Venom static display...... read more read more
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KADENA AIR BASE – Kadena Air Base opened the gates once again for America Fest, March 22-23, 2025.
The festival gave local community members the opportunity to meet and interact with U.S. service members, and share their part in Kadena’s mission. Attendees were able to see advanced static aircraft up close and experience American culture, all while enjoying live entertainment and food.
“The reward of all the long nights coordinating this event was seeing the locals engage with the assets,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Monroe Dauwalder, 33rd Rescue Squadron flight commander. “I hope they left with a better understanding of who we are at Kadena and that the people in the jets are just real people that do their best to ensure safety and security in the Pacific theater.”
The event showcased various static aircraft displays from U.S. military branches and the Japan Air Self Defense Force. The static aircraft included both fixed wing and rotary aircraft such as the U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II, JASDF F-15J, and the U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey. Support personnel for the static display aircraft explained their roles in defending and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The 18th Wing closed one of two runways for the event, keeping one running to allow for daily operations to continue throughout the event. While America Fest was not an air show, guests had the opportunity to observe various aircraft take off and land for daily training.
“I think it's really impactful that the guests got to see that we are capable of putting on this awesome event while maintaining our day-to-day operations,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Cara Leaf, 18th Force Support Squadron director of operations. “They got to see how much we prioritize the mission.”
Kadena hosted roughly 71,000 guests for the two-day event, with some coming from as far as mainland Japan.
“To get this plan to fruition, there had to be a lot of compromise with the local community,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Christopher Chua, 18th Operational Support Squadron assistant director of operations and America Fest team lead. “The Okinawa Police Department showed up to help with security for the event, so we made space for them to have a booth in the STEM hangar as a way to thank them. That’s what this is all about - bilateral cooperation.”
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2025 01:15 |
| Story ID: | 493748 |
| Location: | KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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