Military Liaison & Coordination
One point of contact for every military asset at your event
One point of contact for every military asset at your event
Jet teams. Parachute teams. Color guards, mounted units and military bands. Getting any of them onto your event site runs through a process most producers meet exactly once.
Aerial Assets
Anything that flies, anything that jumps.
Demonstration teams
Our reputation is built on knowing how these squadrons actually operate. The schedules, the ground requirements, the cultural expectations that don't appear on any form.
United States — U.S. Navy Blue Angels, USAF Thunderbirds, and all other ACC and PACAF demonstration teams
Canada — Canadian Forces Snowbirds
United Kingdom — Royal Air Force Red Arrows and Red Falcons
Japan — JASDF Blue Impulse and JMSDF White Arrows
Civilian — The Patriots and Breitling Jet Teams, plus single-ship demonstrations
Parachute Demonstration teams
Different timeline than a jet team, different weather minimums, and a set of ground requirements that surprises almost everyone the first time.
U.S. Army Golden Knights
USSOCOM Para-Commandos
The U.S. Navy Leap Frogs
RAF Falcons
Ceremonial and Ground Assets
Color guards and honor guards from every branch.
The USMC Mounted Color Guard. The 3d Marine Aircraft Wing Band. Troop formations, static displays and equipment exhibits.
From the outside, a color guard at a hotel ballroom and a jet team over an airfield look like the same request.
They aren't. Different form, different chain, different lead time, which is why events routinely secure one and lose the other.
Why would you need a Liaison?
The military decides whether to take part in your event. You can't buy a flyover from the Navy, and you can't hire a color guard the way you'd hire a caterer. No request is ever a sure thing. What you can control is submitting a request that's complete, accurate, and on time. That's the work we do.
Aircraft and ceremonial units are requested separately, through different approval processes, on different timelines. An event that wants a flyover and a color guard is really making two requests. That's why events working on their own so often get one and lose the other.
The deadlines come earlier than most people expect. The best-known jet teams are requested years ahead of an event. Almost everything else needs months, not weeks. And requests are judged, not just processed: most that fail, fail on a small requirement nobody warned the event about.
Note: military funeral honors are requested through a separate process, not DD Form 2535. If you're looking for a flyover at a memorial or graveside service, that's our memorial flyover program.
Does your event qualify? Military participation has to be at no additional cost to the government, and it can't interfere with operations or training. The Department of Defense won't support an event held to make a business profit. Charging admission doesn't disqualify you outright, but military participation can't be the primary attraction at a gated event. How you describe your event on the form matters more than most producers expect.
How early? Ninety days is the floor. The jet teams run on a two-year cycle; Blue Angels and Thunderbirds requests are due by July 1 of the year two years before your event. Single-ship demonstrations are one year out: July 1 of the year prior. Late or incomplete packages aren't held for review, they're returned.
The form is the easy part. The hard part is the eligibility language. The FAA coordination block that only the Flight Standards District Office with jurisdiction over your site can sign and knowing when you don't need it at all. The recruiter space you're required to provide, and the ambulance that has to be standing by before anyone jumps out of an aircraft. Miss one and the package comes back, usually with a deadline attached that has already passed.
What your event provides. In most cases, the military doesn't charge a fee to participate. In a few situations, it does. And every team comes with its own set of requirements your event is expected to cover. Those differ team to team, and knowing them is part of what you hire us for. We put the full picture in front of you before anything is filed, so it's in your budget from the start instead of discovered on show week.
What We Do
We build the request package and get it right the first time. We chase the approvals the process requires and you can't get yourself. We hold the timeline, and we tell you early when a date isn't going to work.
Once a unit is approved, we coordinate it: arrival and departure, ground support, hospitality, media and appearance schedules.
One point of contact.
Where We've Done It
At the Apple Valley Air Show, we liaise for the U.S. Army Golden Knights and the USMC Mounted Color Guard — one aerial lane, one ceremonial lane, running in parallel, for the same show.
At Mission Pacific Beach Resort in Oceanside, a Marine color guard from Camp Pendleton on the Fourth of July, at a resort with a beach, a crowd and no margin for a late arrival.
And other events.
Common questions
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In most cases the military doesn't charge a fee, though a few situations carry one. Every team also has its own requirements your event is expected to cover, and those differ team to team — knowing them is part of what you hire us for. We put the full cost picture in front of you before anything is filed. Showboss Productions charges a coordination fee for our own work.
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Jet demonstration teams, single-ship demonstrations, parachute teams, color guards and honor guards, mounted units, military bands, troop formations and static displays. Aerial and ceremonial assets move through separate channels, and most events that want one end up wanting both.
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Earlier than you think. The marquee jet teams are requested years in advance, and most other assets need months. If your event has a date, that's the day to start the conversation.
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Yes, and a released season schedule isn't automatically a no. Eligibility depends on the event and on each team's own schedule and training commitments, and approval is never guaranteed. The ground side of a jump is more involved than most producers expect, and we manage that end to end.
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Not automatically. Eligibility turns on how the event is structured and described, and it's worth a conversation before anything is filed.
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Yes — the Red Arrows and Red Falcons, Blue Impulse, the White Arrows, the Snowbirds, alongside U.S. teams and the civilian jet teams.
Let's find out what's possible
When it works, nobody in the crowd knows there was a process at all. They see the colors come forward, and they hear the jets.
That's the whole idea.
Military participation is approved by the Department of Defense, provided at no additional cost to the government, and is never guaranteed. Showboss Productions prepares the request, manages the timeline and coordinates the unit once approval is granted. Showboss Productions is a private company and is not endorsed by, affiliated with, or acting on behalf of the Department of Defense or any military service.