Altus Air Force Base News

 

'Transformers' movie features Altus Airmen

  • Published
  • By Kevin Chandler
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  As local residents crowd the movie theaters to see "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" they might notice some familiar faces. A group of Altus Airmen not only provided consultation to the movie's production team, but also showed off their talents on the silver screen.

Capt. Judd Baker, 58th Airlift Squadron, was one of the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft commanders during filming at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. and Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. According to Captain Baker, a mission that started as ordinary quickly grew into something much greater.

"Initially we were just there to kind of babysit the airplanes but then, before you know it, the director starting getting us involved in some of the scenes," he said.

Aircraft and Airmen from the 97 AMW figure prominently in the combat scenes of the film. Even when the aircraft and the aircrews are not on screen, the experience and expertise of Altus Airmen guided the action.

"Every time they would have something going on with the C-17s, it was, 'Would this be real? Would this be how you would do it? Is this how you say that or was this what you call that?'" And whatever we said, it was, 'Yep, change that in the script. That's what we'll say,'" explained Captain Baker.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Worthy, a loadmaster with the 58 AS, said the experience of being on a Hollywood set was far different from his usual duty day.

"It's something I never thought I would get to do," he said. "Here (at Altus) we fly the line, train the guys so they can go out and do the real world missions - it's a unique experience to get the call and go do something other than train."

Although military members and movie crews lead very different lives, the two groups had no trouble forming friendships during filming.

"When we weren't shooting all the people in the production set wanted to come up and it was like being at an air show," said Maj. Tim Foster, the second C-17 aircraft commander.

The Airmen also met stars Tyrese Gibson and Josh Duhamel.

"They were great," said Major Foster, "they'd hang out with us and they'd go out to eat with us."

Thanks to the generosity of the studio, the Airmen involved in filming the summer blockbuster shared the movie with 500 others at the base theater here during a free screening of the film. As expected, the film garnered rave reviews.

"I would rate this 10 out of 10," said Senior Airman Andrew Bubacz. "I've been a huge Transformers fan since I was a kid so this is big for me."

Col. David Allvin, 97 AMW commander, was also impressed with what he saw.

"You are asked to do these support roles and you think, well, most of it will end up on the cutting room floor," he said. "You don't really know if you're going to have a part in it but one of our aircrew members actually has a speaking part that made it into the movie!"

Perhaps the most excited viewers were the children who saw their dads on the big screen with some very big counterparts.

When asked about his children's reaction, Major Foster smiled.

"They said, 'Hey, daddy was in a movie and got to meet Optimus Prime,'...I think that's fun," he explained.