Air Force Appreciation Night at Petco Park with the San Diego Padres

On the night of September 8, 2010 the San Diego Padres and USAA sponsored a celebration of the Air Force at Petco Park in San Diego.  Over 30 local members with families from the San Diego Chapter of the Air Force Association attended with free tickets provided by the Padres and USAA.


The recognition of the Air Force is part of the Padres military celebration series during the season where they recognize and sponsor tickets for military families so they can come and enjoy the game.  Air Force Appreciation Night began with a swearing in of new cadets to AFROTC Detachment 75 from San Diego State University.  The swearing in was followed by a K-9 demonstration from the team at Luke AFB.  The Padres graciously paid for the travel and hotel expenses of our personnel from Luke so they could attend the game and provide the demo to the crowd who appreciated the training and capabilities of the working dog with his partner, Sergeant Justin Kitts.

Cadets from Det 75 then sang the national anthem with a stirring rendition of the national anthem followed with great timing by a low flying C-17 from the reserve squadron at March AFB, California.  The flyover was an awesome demonstration of the size and flight capabilities our our primary airlift aircraft.

The first pitch was thrown by the Det 75 Commander, Colonel Martin Wojtysiak who threw a nice ball (or was it a strike?) to home plate.

We all had a great time and wish to thank the Padres and USAA for a wonderful night out.  It was a great chance for us to gather and share experiences while watching a great ball game which the Padres won 4-0 against our arch rival LA Dodgers.

Hope we can do this again next year and that more of you will be able to join us!


For more photos of our time at Petco Park, visit our photo gallery by clicking here.