Tops in Blue star returns: Local Airman visits home station with Tops in Blue

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jack Sanders
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Tops in Blue, the Air Force's premier entertainment showcase, performed here Jan. 10 and 11 and brought with them a familiar face.

Airman 1st Class Sheila Smith, 3rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron F-15 crew chief, and vocalist for the Tops in Blue returned to Elmendorf to put on a show for her base at Talkeetna Theater.

Smith was selected to join the Tops in Blue after submitting an audition video in response to a servicewide talent search in early 2009.

From there, the Airman traveled from Alaska to the intense summer heat of Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. to begin training and performances with the Tops in Blue.

Smith met with 1st Lt. Angela Waterworth, officer in charge for the Tops in Blue when she arrived for training.

"She's grown a lot on tour as a performer and as an Airman," said Waterworth. "She's very outgoing, confident and represents the entire scope of the Tops in Blue."

Waterworth said, that because of the meticulous amount of care to detail Smith's career field employs she was selected to be the Tops in Blue's safety representative in addition to being a vocalist. "That's a very important and active job," she said.

In the 10 months Smith has been with the Tops in Blue she has toured Europe, Asia,  Southwest Asia, all across the Pacific and everywhere in-between.

"I saw my sister in Southwest Asia. She's in the Navy," said Smith.

The Tops in Blue aren't just about singing and dancing. The group still undergoes regular Air Force procedures like, open ranks inspection and room inspection, in addition to their practice and performance scheduled, said Smith.

Although, Smith said it is an entirely different experience in some areas.

"It's funny that before, I wasn't supposed to wear makeup to work, and now I'm yelled at if I don't," said Smith.

After nearly a year of traveling, training and performing with the Tops in Blue Smith has returned to demonstrate just how much she's learned on tour. "It was a wonderful feeling to see Elmendorf again," said Smith. "It's so beautiful here ... and cold."

When the show was nearly an end, and the acts were all but finished, the Tops in Blue sang their traditional closing song "God Bless the USA". The crowd roared in approval and the entire audience stood and applauded as the Tops in Blue exited the room.