We chose to live in O'Fallon, IL, because it was a nice suburb that provided good access to the city for me and my work, but was also located outside of town where Ryan could easily get on the road to visit manufacturers in rural Illinois. Interestingly enough, though, our town is right next to Scott Air Force Base, so many of our neighbors around here are either on active military duty or are retired military. Scott AFB is growing at rapid pace because it's become the hub for what's called "joint mobility"; all the branches of the military take care of logistical operations around the world, from this base. So, if a shipment of goods crosses the desert in Afghanistan, or a brigade of troops travel from Germany to Iraq, the coordination happens here. As Scott AFB grows, so does our suburb. It's based on the edge of St. Louis, surrounded by farm land on one side, that is slowly getting developed. It feels good to live in a place where we're getting new restaurants, shops, etc.
Air ShowEach year, Scott hosts an air show on base, which is one of the big ways that it reaches out to its neighboring community. Since neither Ryan nor I have military clearance, we had never been on base in the three years since we moved here. We've always been out of town for the air show. We finally decided this was the year. The event had multiple large planes on the ground, many of which you could walk through.
ThunderbirdsThe highlight of the show is a demonstration by the F-16 Thunderbirds. Unfortunately, because of Lilly's nap time, we couldn't stay at the base until 2:45 when they were going to perform, but the great part is, when you live as close as we do to the base, you get a show anyhow! On Thursday, Friday we had F-16 screaming overhead as they practiced. (Apparently the neighbors across the way got off the house they were roofing, just in case!) I was in the Target parking lot when I saw 6 jets fly in formation overhead. On Saturday, a fighter jet went right overhead, just several hundred feet above us, as it banked for its turnabout. These jets are flying faster than sound but let me tell you... when that sound hits you, it's LOUD! You can't but feel a rush when you see something that big and loud going that fast over your head!
Although there was a plane that looked like Air Force One, it wasn't. However, it's still actively used to fly generals and the First Lady around the country, although it's based there at Scott. Needless to say, we were unfortunately not allowed to walk through this plane!
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