Peanut Festival Fly By meet and greet
October 27, 2008
What a neat event. We got a note about this today and it sounds really exciting for anyone, young or old who likes planes, especially planes that you don’t see at the Dothan Regional Airport every day. You can meet some home-grown Marines who will be flying F/A-18C Hornets into town.
This information is from Capt. Jason Alderson:
This Friday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m., Major Paul Blair and Capt. Jason Alderson will arrive in a section of United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets at Dothan Regional Airport in support of the National Peanut Festival Parade. Blair and Alderson will have their F/A-18C Hornets set up for display at the airport.
Everyone is invited to come see the aircraft and meet the Marine Corps Officers who will be performing a fly by during the National Peanut Festival Parade on Saturday. Major Blair and Capt. Alderson will answer questions about the F/A-18 Hornets and the United States Marine Corps. They will not leave Dothan Regional until the last question is answered.
They will also be paying tribute to the continued support of the Wiregrass area citizens to the military. The United States Marine Corps is proud to have this chance to say thanks to the Wiregrass area with a Hornet fly by of the National Peanut Festival Parade this Saturday. Following the moment of silence, Blair and Alderson will conduct a second fly by to honor and pay tribute to all of the past and present military members of the Wiregrass.
Both Major Blair and Capt Alderson are currently serving in VMFA-312, a Marine Corps Fighter Attack squadron, located at MCAS Beaufort, SC. VMFA-312 flies the F/A-18C, the single seat version of the illustrious Boeing aircraft. The F/A-18C is currently the most capable and potent aircraft in Marine Corps Aviation.
Both Major Paul Blair and Captain Jason Alderson graduated from area high schools Major Paul Blair grew up in Dothan with his parents, Dan and Angie Blair. After graduating from Dothan High School in 1990, Paul enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Major Paul Blair is currently serving as the Executive Officer of VMFA-312 and has amassed more than 1,400 military flight hours and five deployments in his eighteen years of military service. His career has been an array of the core missions within the Marine Corps from life as a fire team leader in the infantry to combat as a Forward Air Controller in Irag to his current job of employing the Hornet against global terrorism.
Capt.Jason Alderson also grew up in the Wiregrass area near the Chattahoochee River in Columbia with his parents, Richard and Pam Alderson. After graduating from Houston County High School in 1995, Alderson attended the United States Naval Academy. After accepting his commission from the Naval Academy in 1999, Alderson initially flew the S-3B Viking for the United States Navy. After two deployments and more than 300 carrier arrested landings, Alderson moved to the United States Marine Corps. Captain Alderson is the Quality Assurance Officer of VMFA-312 and has more than 1,700 military flight hours and three deployments in his nine years of military service.
Both Major Blair and Captain Alderson will be deploying to Iraq in 2009.
Pictured are Capt. Jason Alderson, left, and Major Paul Blair.
Contributed photo
