New crop of Blue Angels start training in San Antonio [Video]

SAN ANTONIO — A new class of Blue Angels kicked off their intensive training at a historic complex in San Antonio.

The latest crop of recruits, chosen in early July, gathered at the KBR Aerospace Environment Protection Lab at Brooks, formerly the Brooks Air Force Base, for their first event together.  

Following a debrief, the recruits were sent to “the pit” where a 61-year-old centrifuge dwells. This centrifuge has adorned the moniker “the beast” by KBR employees. 

Gabriel Gonzalez, a Centrifuge-based Flight Environment Training Instructor explained that “the beast” simulates high G-forces similar to what the recruits will experience up in the sky. 

Gonzalez has helped train more than 16,000 United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aviators and said the success is because of the skill and talent of the entire staff at KBR’s lab. 

…