Thousands of people flocked to Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston on Saturday for a chance to see the historic post and meet today’s military. It was the first time since 2018 the military opened the normally closed installation during Fiesta to showcase its mission, the historic Quadrangle and the museums on the post.
“We wanted to take the time to open up our installation to be able to bring the community here and show a little bit more about what the military is about,” said Brig. Gen. Russell Driggers, commander of Joint Base San Antonio and the 502nd Air Base Wing. “We want to bring the community to us.”
Service members dotted the expansive MacArthur Field, explaining to visitors what it was like to fly a helicopter, drive a 2-ton truck, become a medic and more. The lines were longest at the helicopters and food trucks that surrounded the parade grounds, normally reserved for physical training and military ceremonies.
Recruiters pitched opportunities to join the military in uniform or as a federal civilian, with civil engineers drawing a large crowd wanting hard-hat-shaped foam balls.
“JBSA is definitely hiring,” said Lt. Col. Gina McKeen, chief of public affairs for the air base wing. “We’re always looking for child care providers, civilian law enforcement and civilian firefighters.”
Jennifer Barlow brought about 30 middle schoolers who participate in San Antonio Independent School District’s Leadership Officer Training Corps at Lowell Middle School. She said the program is like Junior ROTC and teaches students discipline, respect, morals and ethics.
“We are a military-based program, but none of these kids have families who are active duty, so we wanted to expose the kids to something they wouldn’t normally get to see,” the Air Force veteran said.
Daniel and Mary Guerra drove from Austin to attend the open house on their first visit to the San Antonio installation. Their great-granddaughter is a soldier assigned to JBSA-Fort Sam and one of four grandchildren and great-grandchildren serving in the military.
After watching the security forces show how military working dogs can subdue a violent or fleeing suspect, Mary Guerra said, “The dogs are very obedient. I’ve never seen them so vicious. I didn’t think they would really bite.”
While the organizers’ focus might have been welcoming people who can’t access the installation, many of the participants were military families.
Genesis Murphy, whose husband is a combat medic at the installation, came with her children.
“I really don’t come here unless he brings us,” she said. “We’re pretty busy all the time, so it was a good opportunity to show the kids that there’s more to it than ‘Oh, it’s just the Army’ and see everything that they can do and other gadgets.”
McKeen said military teams began planning for the Fiesta event about four months ago. An initial attendance estimate was between 5,000 and 7,000, McKeen said Sunday.
Jason Reddic came for the food trucks and the music, which included the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps from Washington, D.C., performing in Colonial-era uniforms, the Fort Sam’s Own Army Band, U.S. Air Force Band of the West and country artist Frankie Ballard.
“On a scale of one to 10, I would recommend it to a friend,” Reddic said.
