Air Force’s Tops in Blue shows suspended
Air Force cites resources, lackluster support by airmen.
Citing costs and lackluster support among airmen, the Air Force has suspended the next show season of Tops In Blue, a singing and dancing troupe that has entertained airmen and civilians for decades around the world and in the Dayton-Springfield area.
The decision to suspend the 2016 season after surveying airmen and weighing Air Force resources was “a tough one,” Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso, Air Force director of manpower, personnel and services, said in a statement.
While feedback from airmen was “extremely important,” she said “it was just one of many factors considered as we seek to meet our core mission requirements at a time of constrained resources.”
Tops in Blue performed at Wright State University’s Nutter Center in August, one of dozens of stops the troupe made this year.
“It’s a very popular program,” said Jim Brown, Nutter Center executive director. “I think one of the biggest crowds we had was around 1,500 people.”
The group of about 30 airmen performs popular tunes old and new, often playing their own musical instruments. The airmen compete to be selected and leave their home units for a year to join the troupe.
Performing for troops
Jeannette M. Jordan toured Air Force bases around the world as a vocalist with Tops in Blue in its 50th anniversary year in 2003.
The 33-year-old Centerville resident said she’d like to see the singing and dancing troupe survive, but she understands in tight budget times if the Air Force decides the money is needed elsewhere.
Still, the Wright State University student and mother of two with a husband in the Air Force saw the value of the group when she toured for 13 months as an airman first class.
“I think definitely back when I was on tour we, for sure, fulfilled the mission,” the Air Force veteran said. “There was never an empty seat at a show. So from a per-
former’s point of view, if you’re filling seats, there’s a need.
“I would love to see it continue if we’re seeing it as a necessity.”
The group has an annual budget of $2.08 million, according to Air Force figures. Taxpayers contributed $577,000, and revenue brought in through user fees at Air Force clubs, bowling centers and golf courses, among other sources, contributed $1.5 million, according to Michael T. Briggs, an Air Force spokesman. A corporate sponsor contributes $25,000.
Briggs said those costs cover travel, lodging, equipment, maintenance and other requirements of a mobile team, plus the salaries of the staff.
The group, which debuted in 1953, entertains about 200,000 people each year.
For years, the music and dance show has had its critics. A Facebook group dubbed Shut Down Tops in Blue with more than 1,600 “likes” has blasted the musical troupe as a waste of tax dollars. A Facebook post on the site celebrated the demise of the Tops In Blue 2016 season.
Complaint filed with IG
Gavin W. Light, who said he was a former logistics officer with Tops in Blue before he left the Air Force, was critical of what he said was the millions of dollars spent to keep the troupe touring.
“It’s completely ironic that the generals are regularly testifying before Congress these days telling them how broke we are and we don’t have enough bombs to drop on ISIS and yet we have Tops in Blue still touring all around the world,” the former captain said. “... It’s not a drop in the bucket. It’s a lot of money.
“We have to start focusing on these things now because the world isn’t as safe a place and it’s not projected to become one, and when we waste this kind of money on what’s literally American Idol being performed at taxpayer expense and then we make an annual tour out of the winners of the contest, it’s ridiculous.”
Light, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo., contended the costs for the group have not been accounted for fully. As an example, he cited the cost of flying the troupe and its equipment around the world in an Air Force C-17 cargo jet.
The former Air Force officer said he filed a complaint with the Department of Defense Inspector General’s office over hazardous working conditions faced by troupe members and the complaint was substantiated.
Among other things, the complaint alleged a majority of members had to make trips to medical emergency rooms during the time he was with the tour between April 2011 and March 2012.
“I recall one show when six team members were rushed to the emergency room by ambulance due to working in conditions that were unsuitable,” the document said. The compliant did not elaborate on specifics.
Light also wrote to the Inspector General that some drivers on the team were involved in “multiple vehicular incidents.” In one case after Light left the team, he said he was told a driver “rolled a tractor trailer and caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the vehicle and the musical equipment in it.”
“Unfortunately, the driver was placed back on duty immediately, where he wrecked another vehicle the very next day,” Light wrote to investigators. Light attributed some driver incidents to a lack of sleep from working “a grueling schedule.”
Another team member was hospitalized after he suffered an electrical shock “working on electrical equipment he had no business operating,” Light wrote to investigators about another incident he had heard about. Light added: “... from my understanding, no proper safety investigation or paperwork was ever accomplished.”
In its response, a Department of Defense Inspector General document said the “allegations (were) determined substantiated with corrective actions taken, and internal controls created and implemented.”
The document did not detail specifics.
Maj. Melissa Milner, an Air Force spokeswoman, said in an email Friday: “The Air Force position remains the same from what is stated in the IG document.”
Airmen surveyed
A survey of 4,674 Air Force personnel showed that half agreed they would attend a Tops In Blue show, the Air Force said.
About 25 percent of airmen have seen a Tops in Blue performance within the past five years, but those 25-34-years old were the least likely to have a positive opinion about the performances, the Air Force said. That age group represents a third of all airmen. The Air Force also asked leaders at major commands and bases for feedback, and reported 41 percent recommended divesting from the group. Another 19 percent said they wanted to keep Tops in Blue and about 17 percent suggested a “modified program.”
Cassie B. Barlow, a retired Air Force colonel and former base commander at Wright-Patterson, said she’s a fan of Tops In Blue, but understands and applauds the Air Force decision “in a fiscally constrained environment” to review the costs of the entertainment troupe “to ensure the best use of every taxpayer dollar.”
In her prior role as Wright-Patterson commander, Barlow spoke to welcome the audience to a Tops In Blue show at the Nutter Center.
“... I hope that the results of the review show that the money spent is worth the return on investment for morale and quality of life for Airmen around the world,” she wrote in an email. “I am a big fan of Tops in Blue! I love their work as well as their innovative spirit. I have been in many remote locations where Tops in Blue Performances were very important to the morale of Airmen as well as to spreading the Air Force message around the world.”
The Air Force will explore hiring musical, sports-related and other professional acts to entertain deployed troops or those serving at home stations. Those reviewing the program also will consider changing the Tops in Blue outreach to “include messages and teaching moments for Airmen that talk to the real challenges associated with military life,” the Air Force said in a statement.
From now through Dec. 27, the troupe’s website says the group is “entertaining troops away from their families during the holidays.”