Cardinals Players Get Behind-The-Scenes Look At Military Aviation

Event took place as part of NFL's Salute to Service initiative

Dec 06, 2025 at 11:57 AM

Zach Gershman

azcardinals.com

Tight end Trey McBride gets an up-close-and-personal look at the cockpit during the refueling flight.

The Cardinals were up in the sky on Tuesday morning.

As part of the Salute to Service initiative, the Cardinals joined the Arizona Air National Guard and 161^st Air Refueling Wing to get a behind-the-scenes look at military aviation.

In partnership with the Luke Air Force Base, 25 people went up with F35 jets at about 25,000 feet over Phoenix to watch them refuel 12 F-35s in two hours.

"Today we were able to take up cheerleaders, staff, a few players, and a lot of community supporters that impact the military and the NFL," Col Jessica Hastings of the 161^st Air Refueling Wing said. "Our partnership with the Cardinals is very important to us because it's a way we can market in the community and show our impact and their impact that they have on us."

Representing the Cardinals at the event were tight ends Trey McBride and Elijah Higgins, left guard Evan Brown, linebacker Owen Pappoe, and outside linebacker BJ Ojulari. McBride and Higgins both come from military backgrounds.

McBride's brother and grandfather were in the Navy. In 2024, he took part in the NFL's USO program where he visited the troops in Poland. Higgins went with Vikings running back Aaron Jones to Kuwait this past offseason to spend some time with the service members overseas.

Higgins' father, George, spent 28 years in the Air Force as a senior master sergeant where he served as an electronic countermeasures avionics technician and recruiter.

Both tight ends dedicated their "My Cause My Cleats" towards military awareness.

"The cool thing was how (The 161^st Air Refueling Wing) serve people from all over the country and they go all over to different countries and refuel multiple people," McBride said. "I think that's cool how quick they're able to refuel people and how many people they help.

"We got up in the air and were able to see how the jets come up and one by one, they come in and got some fuel and just to see the boom stick and they were able to refuel those jets was pretty cool and amazing to see how they can do that while flying in the air."

There were multiple groups that experienced the process with the players, including T.A.P.S. (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) families and members of the Pat Tillman Foundation, Cox Charities, Folds of Honor, .

Most of the members of the 161^st Air Refueling Wing are regular Arizonans, hoping to make a difference. While they are making an impact in the air, it helps keep those safe on the ground.

"The Arizona Air National Guard has been around a long time and the 161^st Air Refueling Wing has been around for almost 80 years in the community. Most of our members are in the community," Hastings said. "The community partnership of an Air National Guard member is very important because of the way the guard works being a part-time member organization."

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The Arizona Cardinals host TAPS, the Pat Tillman Foundation, Cox Charities, Folds of Honor, and civics educators on a KC-135 Stratotanker incentive flight featuring in-air refueling at Goldwater Air National Guard Base on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025 in Phoenix, AZ.

Jeremy Chen/Arizona Cardinals