Wings of Blue to jump into Orange Bowl

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  The Air Force Academy's Wings of Blue parachuting team will jump into the Orange Bowl Wednesday.

Five cadets will parachute onto the 50-yard line, bringing with them the U.S. flag and several other flags. This will be part of the Orange Bowl's pre-game festivities, similar to how the Wings of Blue performs at Air Force Academy home football games.

Cadet 1st Class Ryan French of Jacksonville, Fla., will bring in the U.S. flag. He will be followed by fellow Cadets 1st Class Dane Lannon of Boston; Richard Brennan of Chicago; Michael O'Donnell of Syracuse, New York; and Willis Brown of Zionsville, Ind.

This year's Orange Bowl game pits #14 Clemson against #23 West Virginia, and will be televised on ESPN. Pregame programming begins at 6 p.m. MST.

The Air Force Academy makes more than 20,000 parachute jumps per year, and trains about 700 cadets in basic freefall parachuting annually.

Cadet parachuting at the Academy began in 1963 when interested cadets formed a recreational club. The basic Academy course evolved from that original club into today's program. The objectives of the parachute program are threefold: train cadets in basic free-fall parachuting, represent the Academy at competitions and demonstrations, and provide a leadership laboratory and motivational experience for cadets.

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