Local Events

2nd Annual ODA-595 Horse Soldiers Reunion 2023

On October 21, 2023, the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2nd Annual ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds.

Below is a replay video of the event. If you have a Smart TV, search for and install the VidFlow app to watch this video on your big screen TV. This video player also also you to select chapter points to specific speakers and presentations.

(if you’re interested in checking out the Inaugural Reunion video from 2022, click here)


Eleven of the original 12 members of ODA 595 were in attendance for this inaugural reunion event.

Captain Mark Nutsch – Detachment Commander

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bob Pennington – Assistant Detachment Commander

Master Sergeant Paul Evans – Team and Operations Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Andy Marchal – Intelligence Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Steve Kofron.  – Weapons Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Mike Elmore – Weapons Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Chad Jacklet– Engineer Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Pete Walther – Engineer Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Steve Bleigh—Medical Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Vince Makela – Communications Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Will Summers– Communications Sergeant

Staff Sergeant USAF Steve E. Tomat – Tactical Air Control Party (TACP)


Ted Corcoran, CEO of the FWB Chamber, was Master of Ceremony. “This event is not merely an occasion. Ti’s a profound journey, a homage and a celebration of American tenacity and unity. Dive into history. Honor both Air Force and Army legends.”

The National Anthem was presented by Voices of Northwest Florida from Northwest Florida State College, Niceville, Florida

The Invocation was provided by Chaplain (Capt) Steven Richardson, USAF, from Hurlburt Field, Florida

The first guest speaker was Captain Joseph Mulholland, 7th Special Forces Group, Eglin AFB, Florida, who presented a statement from his father, Lt Gen John Mulholland (retired), a former Associate Director for Military Affairs at the CIA.

The second guest speaker was Col Kurt Buller, USAF (retired), a former Special Tactics Officer, who provided an insight into the operations in Afghanistan after 911.

The third guest speaker was Col Alison Black, USAF, Commander, 1st Special Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, Florida, also know as the voice of the Angel of Death during the initial operations in Afghanistan.

The featured guest speaker was Lt General Marshall Brad Webb, USAF (retired), former Commander, USAF Special Operations Command

The final presentation was provided by Lt Col Rich Cole, USAF (retired), Former USAF Pilot, Son of Dolittle Raiders’ Lt Col Dick Cole. He provided some background and noted the similarities between the mission of ODA 595 and the Dolittle Raiders, as well as recognize several key personal from both operations who are no longer with us today.


In 2022, special commemorative canteen cup were created by the Bohlin Company and presented to each member of ODA 595 in honor and recognition of their heroic actions in America’s first response against the Taliban after the 911 attack.


A representative from each event sponsor was given the honor to present the personalized cup to each member of the ODA 595 Horse Soldier team.

If you are interested in learning more about ODA 595 as well as other stories about America’s 1st response to the 911 attacks, check out these sources:

First Casualty by Toby Harnden
First Casualty by Toby Harnden


Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton


Swords of Lightning – Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America’s Response to 911

12 Strong – The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers


Inaugural Dragon Boat Festival & Races 2023

Here’s a highlights video of the aerial coverage of the Inaugural Dragon Boat Festival & Races at The Gulf restaurant on Okaloosa Island in Fort Walton Beach, Florida on Sept 10, 2023. This was a charity event benefiting Bring Hope Now, a peer to peer suicide prevention program for schools and military.

To learn more, donate and/or volunteer, go to www.BringHopeNow.com

68th Krewe of Bowlegs Coronation Pageant

 

The 68th Krewe of Billy Bowlegs Coronation Pageant as Captain Billy Bowlegs 67th, his Queen and his Honor Guard bid farewell and welcome the 68th Captain & Krewe. The coronation took place at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center on June 10, 2023 at 6:30pm.

Catch up with last year’s coronation here

67th Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival – May 18-22, 2023

 

Billy Bowlegs Pirate Festival is an event that takes place the 3rd weekend in May in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It kicks off with a Children’s Meet & Greet on Thursday night. On Friday evening, the Krewe of Bowlegs sail up to The Landing park and attempts to negotiate a surrender of the city with the Mayor, who puts up a good fight, and they promise to return the following day The city celebrates its victory with a fireworks show. On Saturday, Capitan Billy Bowlegs returns with the entire Krewe of Bowlegs to capture the city and then pass out booty (beads) to the crowd. After a day of rest from the pillaging, Capt Billy & his krewe sails off on the Blackhawk ship float during the Torchlight Parade on Eglin Parkway on Monday evening.

This is the replay of the parade on May 22, 2023.

Inaugural ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion 2022

On October 22, 2022, the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce hosted the Inaugural ODA 595 Horse Soldiers Reunion at the Northwest Florida Fairgrounds.  Ted Corcoran, CEO of the FWB Chamber, was Master of Ceremony.

Below is a replay video of the event. If you have a Smart TV, search for and install the VidFlow app to watch this video on your big screen TV. This video player also also you to select chapter points to specific speakers and presentations.


Ten of the original 12 members of ODA 595 were in attendance for this inaugural reunion event.

Captain Mark Nutsch – Detachment Commander

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bob Pennington – Assistant Detachment Commander

Master Sergeant Paul Evans – Team and Operations Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Andy Marchal – Intelligence Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Steve Kofron.  – Weapons Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Mike Elmore – Weapons Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Chad Jacklet– Engineer Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Steve Bleigh—Medical Sergeant

Sergeant First Class Vince Makela – Communications Sergeant

Staff Sergeant Will Summers– Communications Sergeant

Not in Attendance:

  • Staff Sergeant USAF Steve E. Tomat – Tactical Air Control Party (TACP)
  • Staff Sergeant USAF Joseph Matt Lienhard– Air Force Special Operations Combat Controller from Special Tactics Squadron

Several prominent guest speakers included Florida House District #4 representative Patt Maney, former CIA Directorate of Operations officer Alex Hernandez, former USAF Chief of Staff for a Theater Special, retired Col Glenn Thomas, and the son of Doolittle Raiders Col Dick Cole, Richard Cole.

   

A special commemorative canteen cup was created by the Bohlin Company and presented to each member of ODA 595 in honor and recognition of their heroic actions in America’s first response against the Taliban after the 911 attack.


This event was made possible through the support of several local community sponsors.

If you are interested in learning more about ODA 595 as well as other stories about America’s 1st response to the 911 attacks, check out these sources:

First Casualty by Toby Harnden
First Casualty by Toby Harnden


Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton


Swords of Lightning – Green Beret Horse Soldiers and America’s Response to 911

12 Strong – The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers


2022 Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade

The 2022 City of Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade was on December 5, 2022. Sponsored by Eglin Federal Credit Union. The weather was perfect and the crowd was the largest attendance in history. Enjoy

Produced by Emerald Coast TV

Niceville Police “K9 Officer Blue” Memorial Service – August 26, 2022

Watch the HD Replay of the “End of Watch” ceremony for K9 Officer Blue, scheduled for August 26, 2022 at the Northwest Florida State College’s Mattie Kelly Arts Center at 10am CST.

Northwest Florida State College
Mattie Kelly Arts Center
100 E College Blvd, Building 100
Niceville, FL 32578

67th Krewe of Bowlegs Coronation – June 2022

WATCH the replay of the 67th Krewe of Bowlegs Coronation at the Mattie Kelly Arts Center at Northwest Florida State College on June 11, 2022.


Check out the Billy Bowlegs Torchlight Parade 2022 video.

Check out the 66th Krewe of Bowlegs Coronation 2021 video.

66th Annual Billy Bowlegs Torchlight Parade – May 2022

The 66th Billy Bowlegs Torchlight Parade took place on May 16, 2022, on Eglin Parkway in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Hosted by the FWB Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Step One Automotive Group.

Bowlegs Parade 2022 Chapter Points

00:34 – Welcome Introduction
01:42 – Police Dept of Ft Walton Beach
03:22 – Mayor & City Council
05:40 – Run With It
06:19 – SOCKs
07:38 – Bridgeway Center, Inc.
08:13 – Carolyn N. Ketchel
08:42 – Neal Orthodontics
09:50 – World Class Pageantry
11:48 – I’am Kleen Sweep
13:33 – Okaloosa Republicans
20:48 – Okaloosa Donuts
21:35 – Step One Automotive
27:20 – The Island Resort
29:35 – Cumulus Broadcasting
31:44 – Miss Okaloosa County
32:42 – Nick’s Property Maintenance LLC
33:11 – Top Shelf Athletics
33:35 – Panhandle United Roller Derby
37:13 – Emerald Coast Permanent Make-Up
37:37 – T-Mobile
38:17 – AJ’s
39:25 – Fort Walton Beach Buccaneers
40:09 – Emerald Coast Harley-Davidson
40:44 – Krewe of Karibbean
41:36 – Krewe of Columbus
43:14 – Omni Broadcastng
43:51 – Krewe De Yak
44:22 – Navarre Krewe of Jesters
44:56 – Krewe of Airship Pirates
46:01 – Xtreme H2O Sports
46:40 – USAF Recruiting – Mary Esther
47:04 – Hot Head Burritos
47:34 – Krewe of Bowlegs -Children of the Court
48:11 – Krewe of Dominique York
49:32 – Krewe of Bowlegs – Captian Brocade
50:15 – Springtime Tallahassee
51:10 – Krewe of Bowlegs – Queen’s Pride
51:44 – Mayokis of Pensacola
52:53 – Krewe of Bowlegs – Past Capt Billys
53:35 – Matthew E. Turpin
53:52 – FWB Fire Dept
54:37 – Saint Paul’s Vulcan Krewe
55:52 – Captain Billy & Queen
56:20 – 66th Krewe of Bowlegs
57:47 – Closing

Produced by Emerald Coast TV.com

Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade 2021

This is an edited HD replay of December 6, 2021, Fort Walton Beach Christmas Parade, which was filmed on Eglin Pkwy in front of FNBT Bank.

Rain showers a few hours before the start of the parade had caused all of the local school bands to cancel their performances, but the rain cleared up and help off during the parade. This parade video was originally live-streamed on the City of Fort Walton Beach, FL’s Facebook page.

Produced by RJ Murdock with Emerald Coast TV

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