Published: July 15, 2008 10:49 am         

Blue Angels help us to focus

Greetings from the NAS Pensacola, Fla. My wife and I drove 796.4 miles last Thursday to visit our eldest daughter’s family, and as luck would have it, it’s Blue Angel weekend.

Our son-in-law is in his 17th year of service with the Marines and holds the rank of master gunnery sergeant. His current assignment will keep our kids in the Pensacola area and the Blue Angels flying over their home for the next four years.

Formed in 1946, the Blue Angels are the oldest military aerial demonstration team. Because of our son-in-law’s connections, we got to witness the tune-up on Friday, along with 150,000 others who had connections equal to ours.

The Blue Angels fly with six F/A-18 Hornets (a seventh is used as a backup — it was inserted into the show halfway through the demonstration without notice). Blue Angels 1 through 4 fly in the traditional “Diamond” and Blue Angels 5 and 6 are known as the “Opposing Solos.” Five of the pilots are Navy pilots, and Blue Angel 4 is reserved for a Marine Corps pilot.

There’s another jet connected to the Blue Angels and it’s a C-130T Hercules, affectionately known as “Fat Albert Airlines” (our son-in-law flew in the Fat Albert). The C-130 aircraft is used to transport the 45 maintenance and support personnel with the specialized equipment needed to complete a successful air show. Of the 35 passengers in the air today, five of them lost their lunch.

Several of the Blue Angels flew directly overhead, weaving in and out of the condos that line Pensacola Beach, and we could see the pilots’ heads as they manned their jets’ controls. Several of the maneuvers call for the “Diamond” formation to fly unbelievably close together, a mere 18 inches of separation from wingtip-to-canopy! A fearless disposition, a steady hand on the stick and a focused mind are an absolute necessity.

While 149,997 flying enthusiasts watched the Blue Angels, three persons found something else to do: Our grandchildren built a series of short-term sandcastles and an elderly gentleman behind us succumbed to the heat and humidity and missed the entire show. Sadly, he arrived in the early morning hours and by the 2 p.m. start, his ability to concentrate wavered.

Before Israel crossed the Jordan, Moses told them to focus on God. “Don't let down your guard lest someone gets sidetracked” (Deuteronomy. 29:14, The Message).

You may recall the nursery rhyme about the cat that went to London to see the queen but became distracted. When asked where she had been, the cat said: “I’ve been to London to visit the Queen.” When asked what she did there, the cat replied: “I chased a mouse right under the chair.”

Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary. Most of us have good intentions but we lack the ability to focus on the task at hand. When that happens, we become a nursery rhyme, or an illustration for a newspaper column.

Tony Thomas is a church pastor, a high school basketball coach and author of “A Smidgeon of Religion.” He can be reached through the newspaper at ptnews@pharostribune.com