Dyess, Abilene officials announce plans for 2015 Dyess Big Country Airfest, World's Largest BBQ

by 1st Lt. Nicole Ferrara
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

12/30/2014 - DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Officials from the 7th Bomb Wing and city of Abilene recently announced plans for the 2015 Dyess Big Country Airfest and World's Largest Barbecue to be held at Dyess this spring.

"As we close out these final few days of 2014, we're looking forward to 2015 for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that for the first time in more than three years, Dyess Air Force Base will be able to host an open house and airshow," Col. Michael Bob Starr, 7th Bomb Wing commander, said during a press conference here Dec. 29.

This year's Airfest is an especially big event, because it coincides with the 30th anniversary of the first B-1B delivered to Dyess, and celebrates 60 years since the C-130 was first presented to the Air Force, said Starr.

The two-day open house is scheduled May 2-3, and the base's gates will open both days at 9 a.m. to allow the public to enter free of admission. The airshow will be headlined by the U.S. Air Force's Thunderbirds' air demonstration team, and feature performances by Dyess' B-1B Lancers and C-130J Super Hercules.

There will be several more acts confirmed in the coming months, as the show is intended to demonstrate the full spectrum of Air Force roles and responsibilities.

"The purpose of the airshow is to present America's Airpower," said Starr. "To showcase the core missions of the Air Force, which are the same core missions we were assigned back in 1947: air and space superiority, rapid global mobility, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, command and control, and global strike, which, of course, we provide with the B-1s."

The open house is also expected to represent the strength of the Department of Defense interagency team, by integrating the other U.S. military services into the show through aerial and ground displays.

The event will serve not only to exemplify partnerships within the DoD, but also the partnership that exists between Dyess and the Big Country, said Starr, before introducing Abilene Mayor Norm Archibald, and Jason Smith, Abilene Chamber of Commerce president, during the Dec. 29 press conference.

Smith announced that the upcoming Airfest marks yet another major milestone, as the Abilene Military Affairs Committee is preparing to host the 50th anniversary of the World's Largest Barbecue May 2. The barbecue is a tradition that honors servicemembers in the Big Country by providing a free meal to active-duty, reservists, guardsmen, and civilians currently in the military, as well as their families.

The annual event, which is known to feed upwards of 5,000 military personnel and their families, generally takes place during the third weekend in April. The barbecue was moved to the Abilene Civic Center in the 1970s, but will return to its original location this year, to be held in one of Dyess' hangars.

Archibald expressed excitement for the weekend's events, and plans to attend the open house with his kids and grandchildren.

"We do things big in Texas, and we do big things in Abilene," said Archibald. "When Dyess puts on an event like this, it will be an airshow like you've never seen before."