US Air Force Pipe Band

[Barb T]

OK - this is proud momma time. Our daughter is now a piper with the US Air Force Pipe Band. She still has her regular job as a research physicist at the Air Force Research Labs, but she does temporary duty assignments with the USAF Pipe Band.

So....today they played at the Capitol in Washington for St. Patrick's Day. Not your average St. Pat's Day gig, though. They piped the President up the steps of the Capitol Building, and then piped him back down again after an event inside the Capitol. Carolyn was Pipe Sergeant, and she is the piper at the very top of the steps in the pic below:



Security personnel cleared the entire area, but we were close enough to be able to hear them play, and Dave took the photo above with a telephoto lens.

The Band also played at the White House tonight for a dinner for the President of Ireland. President Obama and the First Lady shook the hands of every member of the band and thanked them for their service. Carolyn says that they are all still shaking!

Here's another pic taken a few days ago:



For those of you pipers out there, the pipes are unbelievably gorgeous - Naills with engraved gold-plated ferrules and slides. Wow.

Just as a kiltmaking, XMarks kind of side note, the piping community is so small that several of the pipers in the band actually know my book and know of me as a kiltmaker.