Two Airmen hit road with Tops in Blue
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --
With less than a month before departure, two Royal Air Force Lakenheath Airmen prepare for a ten-month tour with the world-traveling performing group, Tops in Blue.
Born at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Tech. Sgt. David Young has been serving in the Air Force for 18 years and currently monitors the wing's Status of Resource and Training Systems at the RAF Lakenheath command post. Only a few weeks ago Young was notified he would quickly be packing his bags again.
While Young just unpacked from a deployment, he is out to fulfill a different type of mission this time; a mission solely to make people laugh.
"I was always the class clown," Young said. "I've always enjoyed entertainment and making people laugh, but never thought it could turn into a career."
Young quickly found his knack for stand-up comedy when he was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and performed his first stand-up performance.
"I did five minutes of stand-up and performed a parody song," Young said. "It went so well, I won the competition."
Young has been performing around England and on local RAF bases for the past two years.
"If I see something on T.V. or in a news article that's funny, I will write down a blurb and something funny about it," Young said. "It will get to the point where I have enough material and can build a set or joke. You are always building and changing."
He is hoping to gain stage time and familiarity while performing constantly in order to stay sharp in his skill.
"Because I do this as a hobby and part-time job outside of the Air Force, I am only able to perform four to six times a month here," Young said. "With Tops in Blue, I will be performing two years worth of shows crammed into seven months."
RAF Lakenheath's other Tops in Blue troop, is Tech. Sgt. Alonzo Deon, assigned to the 748th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Deon works in electronic warfare and is currently the unit's deployment manager.
"I started playing trumpet in 7th grade, and by 8th grade I began playing in my high school band," Deon said.
Deon continued to develop his skill and passion for music throughout his college years.
"I used to write and produce music for quite a few different people and wanted to further my knowledge in education in music," Deon stated.
Deon has been in the Air Force for 13 years. He has been playing his trumpet in church and plays in a local band at various Air Force functions on RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath.
Deon played a couple tunes over the phone this past October, which served as his interview process for Tops in Blue.
"From this experience, I am hoping to add something special to someone's life and have an impact on someone who listens to me play and grow as a musician," Deon said. "I look forward to serving in this unique way."
Young and Deon will report to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas at the end of March for an intense 60-day, training course where they will learn staging techniques and other additional duties required of them. These duties include building the stages, setting up, and tearing down. Lights and sounds are elements everyone on the team must master as well, as they all have a role as being "roadies" and depend solely on each other to make the show happen.
Once the nine-month tour comes to an end, the two Airmen will return to their families and duty station, to resume their duties and responsibilities during their normal working days serving in the U.S. Air Force.
Born at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Tech. Sgt. David Young has been serving in the Air Force for 18 years and currently monitors the wing's Status of Resource and Training Systems at the RAF Lakenheath command post. Only a few weeks ago Young was notified he would quickly be packing his bags again.
While Young just unpacked from a deployment, he is out to fulfill a different type of mission this time; a mission solely to make people laugh.
"I was always the class clown," Young said. "I've always enjoyed entertainment and making people laugh, but never thought it could turn into a career."
Young quickly found his knack for stand-up comedy when he was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and performed his first stand-up performance.
"I did five minutes of stand-up and performed a parody song," Young said. "It went so well, I won the competition."
Young has been performing around England and on local RAF bases for the past two years.
"If I see something on T.V. or in a news article that's funny, I will write down a blurb and something funny about it," Young said. "It will get to the point where I have enough material and can build a set or joke. You are always building and changing."
He is hoping to gain stage time and familiarity while performing constantly in order to stay sharp in his skill.
"Because I do this as a hobby and part-time job outside of the Air Force, I am only able to perform four to six times a month here," Young said. "With Tops in Blue, I will be performing two years worth of shows crammed into seven months."
RAF Lakenheath's other Tops in Blue troop, is Tech. Sgt. Alonzo Deon, assigned to the 748th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Deon works in electronic warfare and is currently the unit's deployment manager.
"I started playing trumpet in 7th grade, and by 8th grade I began playing in my high school band," Deon said.
Deon continued to develop his skill and passion for music throughout his college years.
"I used to write and produce music for quite a few different people and wanted to further my knowledge in education in music," Deon stated.
Deon has been in the Air Force for 13 years. He has been playing his trumpet in church and plays in a local band at various Air Force functions on RAFs Mildenhall and Lakenheath.
Deon played a couple tunes over the phone this past October, which served as his interview process for Tops in Blue.
"From this experience, I am hoping to add something special to someone's life and have an impact on someone who listens to me play and grow as a musician," Deon said. "I look forward to serving in this unique way."
Young and Deon will report to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas at the end of March for an intense 60-day, training course where they will learn staging techniques and other additional duties required of them. These duties include building the stages, setting up, and tearing down. Lights and sounds are elements everyone on the team must master as well, as they all have a role as being "roadies" and depend solely on each other to make the show happen.
Once the nine-month tour comes to an end, the two Airmen will return to their families and duty station, to resume their duties and responsibilities during their normal working days serving in the U.S. Air Force.
