Model airplanes and Frisbees flew over the Parade Ground yesterday kicking off the fierce competition, the Battle of the Blues.
Air Force ROTC upper and lower class cadets competed against each other, as they do every year, in a variety of events including flag football, ultimate Frisbee and a tug-of-war.
GMC Adviser Eddie Gaston ran the competition this year. The geography sophomore said Battle of the Blues is a little more than just tradition.
“It’s an annual sports competition between upper class seniors and the lower class cadets,” Gaston said. “It’s an opportunity for the two groups to play sports, compete, socialize, and it raises morale.”
Operations Group Commander Eric Mehrtens, a political science senior, trained the underclass cadets for the field. The flag football and model air plane competitions were the events he said he looked forward to the most before the “battle” ensued.
“The Battle of the Blues promotes camaraderie and motivation for cadets in the wing,” Mehrtens said.
A feature of this year’s competition was the model airplane competition, developed by Detachment 310 Wing Commander Rachel Sherburne, a mass communication senior.
“This year, in honor of 100 years of flight, we are having a model airplane competition,” Sherburne said. “We thought it would remind people of our achievements over the last century.”
Different planes included a football with wings wrapped in tin foil, a Frisbee and miniature models with wide wing spans.
Another purpose of the “battle” is to raise money for the Air Force Aid Society.
“The two groups compete to see who can raise the most money, and then that money goes to the charity,” Gaston said.
The Air Force Aid Charity is the official charity of the U.S. Air Force. It “promotes the Air Force mission by helping to relieve distress of Air Force members and their families and assisting them to finance their education,” according to the charity’s Web site.
This year’s senior class has won the Battle of the Blues for the past three years. They were the only class that won as freshmen in eight years, Sherburne said.
The Professional Officer Corps [the upperclassmen] defeated the General Military Corps [underclassmen] winning the tug of war, ultimate Frisbee contest and the money war. The final score was 144 to 172.
Compatriot Games
November 14, 2003