37. Blue Angels Ride Along: Lead Balloon Becomes the First Podcast to Fly with the US Navy Blue Angels

For the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, media relations is not a job that just happens on the ground.  Each year, dozens of media reps, influencers and VIPs are invited to take a ride in the back seat of one of the squadron's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. And, in order to help tell the story of the Blue Angels public affairs team, Lead Balloon was invited to be the first podcast to take one of those rides. CLICK HERE if you prefer to watch a video podcast documentary version of this episode. In this episode, Dusty is paired up with Lt. Commander Griffin Stangel, #7 Blue Angels pilot and air show narrator, who is tasked with giving media reps the ride of a lifetime, while at the same time serving as an on-the-record spokesman for the unit. He not only flies the plane, but fields questions and hits talking points with a smile on his face—all while enduring the extreme physical punishment of high-G aviation. The jet rides are a critical part of the Blue Angels media relations strategy, Stangel notes, because, "We can talk about it all day, but unless you're up here experiencing it, you won't truly know what these pilots are putting themselves through."  Stangel also flies members of the Blue Angels public affairs team to capture photos and videos of the squadron in action. As we learned in the last episode, it's a remarkable ordeal to operate a camera in the middle of "the most intense roller coaster" ride in the world. This time, we visit the team at their Pensacola headquarters, and we'll take you through a day-in-the-life as a member of the Blue Angels public affairs team: early morning pre-flight briefing, special breathing techniques to avoid "G-Force Induced Loss-of-Consciousness," strapping in to the fighter jet, and a memorable, adrenaline-soaked flight in an F/A-18 Super Hornet. The Blue Angels are supported by a team of more than 150 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel, and we meet a number of them, including: #7 Pilot and Narrator, Lt. Commander Griffin Stangel Public Affairs Chief MCC Michael Russell #7 Crew Chief AD2 Cam Tuzon AE2 Dale Pascua Public Affairs Specialist MC2 Cody Hendrix Special thanks as well to Blue Angels Public Affairs Officer Lt. Chelsea Dietlin and Public Affairs Chief MCC Paul Archer for helping coordinate Lead Balloon's embed with the squadron, as well as Jim Schlueter, Paul Guse and Dave Oates. Make sure to check out the epic video version of this podcast! Subscribe to the Podcamp Media e-newsletter for more behind-the-scenes footage. Special music for this episode was performed and recorded by Ty Christian and Brian Koenig of the metal act Lords of the Trident, which is touring this fall in the U.S., Canada and Japan. Additional music by the Revolution, Tiger Gang and Dr. Delight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices