{"id":569663,"date":"2026-02-06T04:18:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/569663\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T04:18:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:18:23","slug":"bolles-grad-returns-home-as-thunderbird-prepares-for-historic-air-show-at-nas-jax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/569663\/","title":{"rendered":"Bolles grad returns home as Thunderbird, prepares for historic air show at NAS JAX"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds touched down at Naval Air Station Jacksonville Thursday.<\/p>\n

NAS JAX will host one of the military\u2019s most unique aviation events, featuring both the Thunderbirds and the Navy\u2019s Blue Angels performing at the same show.<\/p>\n

The joint air show, set for October 17-18, 2026, will mark the Thunderbirds\u2019 first-ever performance at NAS Jacksonville, though the team previously performed at Jacksonville Beach in 1969, according to a statement from NAS JAX.<\/p>\n

The visit carried extra significance for one of the pilots. Lt. Col. Tyler Keener, the team\u2019s operations officer, found himself flying over familiar territory. As a graduate of The Bolles School, Keener grew up watching planes cross Jacksonville\u2019s skies.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, this is an incredible homecoming. Never thought I would be able to do this in a jet,\u201d he said shortly after landing. \u201cTalking to Jacksonville approach and then the tower and flying over the airfield that I grew up looking at from across the river is a special moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lt. Col. Tyler Keener, a Bolles grad, lands at NAS Jax with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. (News4JAX)<\/p>\n

Keener moved to Jacksonville when he was five years old after his father, an Air Force pilot, was stationed in the River City.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really special. It\u2019s how I ended up here as a kid. My dad moved here on a Navy exchange as an Air Force pilot and then retired out of the Florida Air National Guard,\u201d Keener said.<\/p>\n

The visit also provided a family reunion. Keener hadn\u2019t seen his wife and children in a month due to the team\u2019s intensive winter training schedule in preparation for their upcoming show season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat goes from March to November and is very busy,\u201d Keener said. \u201cSo to find a moment where I could rejoin with my wife and kids was special especially back home.\u201d<\/p>\n

His kids, each 6 and younger, jumped into his arms as he got out of the jet.<\/p>\n

The Thunderbirds are in town to complete a site survey ahead of their October show.<\/p>\n

Thunderbirds fly in NAS Jax for site survey ahead of October show. (News4JAX)<\/p>\n

Following their Jacksonville visit, the Thunderbirds will head to Daytona, where they\u2019re scheduled to perform a flyover at the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n

For more information about the upcoming air show, visit www.nasjaxairshow.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds touched down at Naval Air Station Jacksonville Thursday. NAS JAX…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":569664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,247855,247854,85973,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-569663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-nas-jax","tag-nas-jax-air-show","tag-thunderbirds","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116021762739273349","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}