Page 4 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt 1-29-16

Jan. 29, 2016 SPOTLIGHT Thunderbolt
http://www.luke.af.mil
4 www.aerotechnews.com/lukeafb

Airman finds joy in singing

Story and photo by
Airman 1st Class
RIDGE SHAN

56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Senior Airman Adriana Van Wyk, 56th ACC Awards honor Arizona’s
Equipment Maintenance Squadron non-
“At first I thought, ‘It’s just singing,’” destructive inspection technician, poses top in-house attorneys
said Senior Airman Adriana Van Wyk, 56th IRUDSRUWUDLW-DQDW/XNH$LU)RUFH
Equipment Maintenance Squadron nonde- Base. Van Wyk is a national anthem Jan. 14, before a sold-out crowd at The Camby/Autograph Collection Hotel (formerly
structive inspection technician and Luke singer for Luke Air Force Base and has the Ritz-Carlton), Az Business magazine recognized the important and vital role
Air Force Base national anthem singer. sung at numerous events including an that in-house counsel plays in the success of a business with the Arizona Corporate
Arizona Cardinals game. Counsel Awards.
As she walked onto the field of the Uni-
versity of Phoenix stadium Nov. 9, 2014, Cardinals game, the distracting environ- The 56th Fighter Wing Legal Office received the following award:
during the pregame segment of the Na- ment of the stadium quickly broke her out of
tional Football League matchup between the trance-like state she normally inhabits. In-House Legal Department of the Year
the Arizona Cardinals and the St. Louis Giant screens flashing graphic illustrations,
Rams, she knew immediately it wasn’t just her name, out-of-sync lyrics, feedback from The 56th FW Legal Office provides a wide variety of legal service to the more than
going to be singing anymore. the sound system, and the booming echo of 5,500 Airmen who serve at Luke Air Force Base in the West Valley. The top legal ad-
her own voice traveling on a delayed course visor is Lt. Col. Joel England, a graduate of the Air Force Academy in 1995 and the
Thousands of fans, some of whom were in in circles around the stadium was confusing. University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in 2002. He oversees a legal
front row seats no more than 20 feet behind office of 12 attorneys, 10 paralegals and three civilians. The team provides legal ad-
her, were screaming as she stepped toward Barely able to hear herself in real-time, vice to the wing’s commander, Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, and his staff, as well as the base
a platform in the middle of an end zone to she had to concentrate on her own tempo population. They also assist military retirees and their dependents who have served
begin the national anthem. Singing was and ignore the overwhelming collection of in any of the five branches of the armed services.
nothing new to her, but this was an audience noises circulating around her. Fortunately,
unlike any she had ever performed before.
See SINGING, Page 6
“That was probably one of the most high
anxiety moments of my life,” Van Wyk said.

Included among the crowd were several
high-profile officers and military command-
ers, like Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, 56th Fighter
Wing commander.

“The commander coined me just before I
sang, and he whispered to me, ‘Don’t forget
the words.’ I thought, ‘General, you’re not
helping!’” Van Wyk said with a laugh.

For her, singing is normally a relatively
natural instinct, with little on-the-fly strat-
egy involved.

“I don’t think when I sing,” Van Wyk said.
She describes how the act typically clears
her head, how she just funnels into the song
and the flow of the words, and her focus
narrows solely into the delivery of her voice.
As she began the national anthem at the

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