It boggles the mind how complex the Air Force can make a simple operation.
The headline of the article: "Super Bowl LV flyover took months of planning, coordination"
(Hint: It didn't have to.)
The Air Force Way
™:
Bring a B-52 in from Minot (North Dakota) when the other two operational units are both at Barksdale (Louisiana), literally right around the corner (of the Gulf) from Tampa.
Bring a B-1 in from Ellsworth (South Dakota) when there is a unit at Robins (Georgia), almost due north and only one state up from Florida.
(The B-2 from Whiteman (Missouri) was necessary, as that's the only unit currently flying the airframe.)
Have KC-135s for in-flight refueling despite the fact the B-1 has a range of well over 3,000 miles, the B-2 has a range of almost 7,000 miles, and the B-52 has a range of over 10,000 miles. Whiteman to MacDill (Tampa) is only about 1,000 miles and the bases they COULD have used the other two aircraft from are a lot closer than that. Why refueling?
The easy way:
Fly a couple aircraft each (one plus a backup) from GA, LA, and MO to MacDill a couple days prior to the Super Bowl. No refueling needed except on the tarmac. Practice a few times over the Gulf. It's not like the pilots have never flown in three ship formations before. DUH! Do the show before the game. Land back at MacDill. Have a beer. Go back to their home bases in a day or two.
What would they have done if they needed an operational aircraft for some type of emergency operation? Would they have said, "Sorry, but we need months of planning and coordination," or would they have just gotten the job done within 24 hours? I know I HAVE personally seen "The Air Force Way
™" in action, back in the day, but seeing it put on display for the world to see is just SO inspiring. Then to have the AF News website crow about it, like it was some fantastic achievement, makes me want to facepalm with a brick.
-Irish