Two Gunfighters selected for 2007 Tops in Blue

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Erin Tindell
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  Two Airmen here had early holiday cheer when they received news of their selection for the 2007 Tops in Blue team on Nov. 16.

Tech. Sgt. Stacy Dack and Senior Airman Benjamin Taylor will entertain more than 250,000 military members and their families as vocalists on the Air Force's premier entertainment team. They start their yearlong TDY in mid-January.

Reminiscent of popular singing reality shows, the two Gunfighters sent in application tapes and were then selected to travel to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to compete against more than 75 other Airmen for a spot on the team.

Tops in Blue hopefuls participated in vocal training, choreography, freestyle dancing and even rap sessions. At one point of the competition, the Airmen had to perform a song of their choosing with a live band.

"I had just bought [singer] Fergie's album and ended up singing, 'Big Girls Don't Cry," said Sergeant Dack, an Airman Leadership School instructor with the 366th Mission Support Squadron. "Everyone enjoyed the performance and some even went out and bought the album. I think Fergie owes me $1,000 in sales," she joked.

The Airmen also participated in "specialty auditions" where they had to improvisation, or act out random situations in an entertaining way.

"I had to pretend I was a runner in an Olympics game," said Airman Taylor, a 366th Civil Engineer Squadron HVAC technician. "I had to run in slow motion and jump over fake hurdles."

But it didn't stop there.

"I was also a sexy bear," Airman Taylor said about one of his improvisations. "But, I really ended up being more like a cat."

While Airman Taylor had tried out for Tops in Blue twice before, Sergeant Dack was selected after her first try.

"Seeing them perform was like, 'wow,'" she said. "I knew I wanted to go to places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea to sing for the troops there."

Several years after seeing her first performance at Kunsan Air Base, Korea, the sergeant was finally at a place in her career where she could commit to the audition process.

After the Lackland trial-period, Sergeant Dack, Airman Taylor and the other finalists returned to their bases in early November, not yet knowing if they would be one of 30 to make the team.

On Nov. 16, Col. Anthony Rock, 366th Fighter Wing commander, visited Sergeant Dack's office to tell her the good news.

"The first thing I did was jump up and down and squealed like a little girl," she said. "Then I promptly returned back to parade rest, because, you know, the wing commander was in my office."

Airman Taylor found out at a squadron call when his commander, Lt. Col. Tim Wood, called him to the front and told him. Ever since the news broke around the 366th CES, co-workers try to "force me to sing for them," he said.

Both Gunfighters will now study several songs they'll be performing. They were also told to sing five to six hours a day, even while running, said Sergeant Dack.

The intense training will help the performers prepare for the 2007 schedule that will be themed around the Air Force's 60th birthday, which occurs in September.

"Tops in Blue will be one of the primary groups to help promote the 60th Anniversary and their programming will be devoted to that," said Bob Stork, Air Force entertainment operations manager. "We're expecting them to do more special events."

The 2007 schedule isn't set yet, but Sergeant Dack said Airmen at Mountain Home AFB can expect a great show.

"I'm gonna make the Gunfighters proud," she said.