The word came down on Tuesday (September 25). It is official. KEKB's Morning Guy Keyes was selected to fly with the USAF Thunderbirds. Let's find out how he feels about this.

There are no words to describe how I feel about this. I could easily list 100 words to describe what I have been going through since I found this out.

Excitement, nervousness, shock, anticipation and admittedly a little bit of fear are all swirling around me.

It's an absolute honor to be chosen by the USAF Thunderbirds to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. There will be plenty of pictures and, yes, video of my flight from inside the cockpit.

It all started with Julie Shafer, who nominated me and has been a tremendous help in getting all of my paperwork ready, required physical and a ton of other necessary steps in the process. Rick Carmean, who is the Townsquare Media Market Manager here in Grand Junction. On top of his already overflowing plate, he loved this idea and also contributed his own time to help me. Finally, to Crissy Best, MSgt, USAF. She is the Thunderbirds' Superintendent of Public Affairs based out of Nellis Air Force Base. She is the one who sent me the five-page-long set of instructions that I need to follow from now until Friday morning.

The Thunderbirds make their epic return to Grand Junction this weekend (Sept. 30 - Oct. 1) for the 2017 Grand Junction Airshow. Check out all the performers, schedule and ticket information here.

Check out the Thunderbirds website to learn how this unit was formed and the men responsible for beginning this tradition. It was May 25, 1953, when the first official Air Force air demonstration team was created. They were known as the 3600th Air Demonstration Unit based out of Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. The moniker 'Thunderbirds' came about from the Native American influence that was very prevalent in the area around the base in Arizona.

So, this Friday (September 29) I will join the ranks of the blessed and honored people who have gotten to experience this, what I am sure will be, a life-changing endeavor.

Check out some of the other Thunderbird fly a longs that have been posted on YouTube:

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