ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Airmen from the 97th Air Mobility Wing competed in the base’s first-ever Lip Sync Battle, Jan. 29, 2021, at Club Altus.
97th AMW’s Diversity and Inclusion Team planned and held the Lip Sync Battle to bring together Airmen for a night of entertainment in a safe environment.
“We wanted to do something that allowed everybody to come together and just have a good time with a focus on diversity and inclusion,” said the event’s organizer, Senior Master Sgt. Byron Ball, 97th Training Squadron first sergeant. The past year has been difficult according to Ball, but he believes putting on more events like this can slowly bring people back together.
“There’s not a lot of things to do outside of Altus during this pandemic, so we depend on each other a lot,” said Ball. “This event just allows us to forget all the craziness and have some fun.”
There were 13 performers at the event and they drew a crowd of more than 50 attendees.
The judges were Col. Matthew Leard, 97th AMW commander, and his wife Charise, Col. Jason Pavelschak, 97th AMW vice commander, and his wife Colleen, Chief Master Sgt. Randy Kay, 97th AMW command chief, and his wife Jenny Blaser-Kay, Dr. Chad Wiginton, 97th AMW honorary commander, and his wife Ericka.
Senior Airman Aaron Canady, 97th Logistics Readiness Squadron training support NCO in charge, won the competition with his lip-synced version of “Hey Ya!” by Outkast.
“I'm just really happy that I was able to participate and there was a massive amount of people that were here,” said Canady. “I just love showing a lot of personality and I enjoy making people laugh and having a good time.”
Airman 1st Class Alonza Barnes and Airman 1st Class Jaheim Ware, 97th LRS individual protection equipment specialists, won best group performance with their version of “Finesse” by Bruno Mars featuring Cardi B.
“I am very happy that I got to represent my squadron at the very first diversity and inclusion event for 2021,” said Barnes. “I had a really great time.”