AP--Fort Worth Bowl now the Armed Forces Bowl

[Baby Arm!]

(AP) FORT WORTH, Texas The Fort Worth Bowl has a new name and a new sponsor.

Bowl president Tom Starr today announced the game will now be known as the Armed Forces Bowl -- to honor our nation's men and women in uniform.

As part of the name change, the bowl announced Bell Helicopter as its new title sponsor.

The bowl, going into its fourth year and played on T-C-U's campus, didn't have a title sponsor last year when Kansas beat Houston.

This year's game is December 23rd and will match Conference U-S-A against the Mountain West.

Starr hopes thousands of military personnel will attend the game.

Bowl festivities will include a fan area featuring military hardware, a flyover, induction ceremonies on the field and a military band and honor guard.

Military veterans will receive ticket discounts.

Active duty personnel will be given complimentary tickets.

Edited August 25, 2006 by Baby Arm!

[Harry]

Pretty darn smart idea if you ask me.

[rhaprez03-04]

Maybe Air Force can make it.

[letsgiveacheer]

There's only one problem: there are no major military installations nearby. Sheppard in Wichita Falls would be the closest since Bergstrom closed as an active duty base.

Nice thing to do, however.

[greenjoe]

What about the Joint Reserve base (the old Carswell Field). It's almost across the street.

Good idea. The name change makes for a great opportunity for TV exposure as well as increased attendance.

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[letsgiveacheer]

Sorry, I meant to say Carswell. Yes, that base is the only one, but as a reserve base, has just a small percentage of the population of major active duty bases. There are about 3000 active duty personnel there. I would have no idea about the number of reservists. For example, many army installations have 30K.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Sorry, I meant to say Carswell. Yes, that base is the only one, but as a reserve base, has just a small percentage of the population of major active duty bases. There are about 3000 active duty personnel there. I would have no idea about the number of reservists. For example, many army installations have 30K.

←

---Abilene has Dyess Air Base which has a lot of B-1s and is very active. It is not as active as during the cold war though when it had B-52's constantly flying with nukes ready to go on a moments notice.

---Fort Hood is not extremely far away either and is huge (Americas largest army base?) and contains the largest armoured units in the USA. It constantly make news because of Iraq. I am sure Bell provides dozens if not 100's of choppers to them.

---I am not sure where they are coming from but the area around Brownwood/Ballenger/Brady constantly has fighter pilots practicing dog-fighting. Once in a while one crashes in the area. Also in Brownwood is the head-quarters of the 36th division which is now the Texas National Guard and is partially deployed in Iraq plus it was the first American Army division to hit the European coast during WWII. They invaded Italy at Solero (south of Naples) about 10 months before Normandy. Another Texas division that invaded shortly afterward contained Audie Murphy from the North Texas area..

---All of these are within 150 miles of FORT Worth which no longer has a fort or sizable military base..

[Cowtown]

I will tell you from experience, when TCU plays Army at the AC there are around 10 - 15K soldiers in attendance. It is quite a show, they get to march into the stadium.

I think it is a great idea as well.