Armed Forces Bowl Features

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Nears Sellout

Fort Worth, Texas, December 21, 2007 - With the title partner renewing its agreement for another two years and the Pac-10 Conference providing a school for the first-time, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl is nearing a sellout for the fifth annual game at the 44,008-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium.

“I think Bell Helicopter’s renewal along with a school from the Pac-10 challenging one of the nation’s most improved teams this season has sparked the interest for college football fans in this area and throughout the nation,” said Tom Starr, Executive Director of Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. “We have sold over 42,000 tickets for the game and hope to announce a sell out before the game.”

With a new date after playing the past four year on December 23, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl game features the U. S. Air Force Academy and the University of California, Berkeley. The intercollegiate post-season football game will be played here December 31 at Amon G. Carter Stadium with ESPN and ESPN Radio airing the contest “live” starting at 11:30 a.m. (CST).

Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. Company, renewed its option to be the title partner of the Armed Forces Bowl for two more years as the announcement was made by Richard Millman, the company’s president and chief executive office, during the 2007 Team Announcement Party December 6 at the Bell Helicopter Customer Center at Alliance Airport North.

Formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl during its first three years, the ESPN-owned and operated Armed Forces Bowl initially signed Bell Helicopter as the game's title partner in August 2006. The initial agreement was for two years with Bell Helicopter now picking up the two-year option to title partner the game through the 2009 post-season.

With Patriotic overtones featuring the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy, the 2007 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will include an Armed Forces Adventure area showcasing military hardware; flyovers; a demonstration by one of the top military skydiving teams; induction ceremonies on the field; a military band and honor guard; and the presentation of a “Great American Patriot Award” to Pete Geren, the Secretary of the Army.

With the setup for the Armed Forces Adventure being December 29 in a parking lot just north of Amon G. Carter Stadium, the area will be open to the public from 1-6 p.m., December 30 and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on December 31. A pep rally for Air Force and Cal will be held from 4-6 p.m. December 30 at the stadium followed by the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl fireworks show.

“The Armed Forces Adventure will be remarkable and will be enhanced this year by the pep rally and fireworks show,” said Starr. “We are thrilled with our match up this year featuring Air Force’s first bowl appearance in five years with new coach Troy Calhoun. Also, Jeff Tedford has now led Cal to five-straight bowl games and the Bears were ranked as high as No. 2 in the country this year.”

GEREN TO RECEIVE GREAT AMERICAN PATRIOT AWARD
PRESENTED BY MA3 LLC

Fort Worth, Texas, December 17, 2007 - Fort Worth resident Preston "Pete" Geren has been named the 2007 recipient of the Great American Patriot Award presented by MA3 LLC, according to Jim Breen, the chairman of the Military Affairs Committee of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

"For the past three decades, Secretary Geren has been involved with Armed Forces-related activities as a U. S. Congressman and Department of Defense employee," said Breen, "In honoring him, we recognize his leadership and congratulate him on his service to our country."

In selecting a Great American Patriot Award winner, the Military Affairs Committee of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl considers the following criteria:

Is of high moral fiber and good character;
Has spent his or her career serving the common good of the United States;
Has gone beyond the call of duty to serve and protect his or her country;
Has proven dedication and loyalty in upholding the Constitution and the laws of the nation; and
Has worked tirelessly to make the U.S. a better and safer place for all its citizens.

Secretary Geren will be honored here at the half-time of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl game December 31 between the United States Air Force Academy and the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to the 11:30 a.m. (CST) kickoff at Amon G. Carter Stadium, Secretary Geren will conduct the coin toss between the Falcons and Golden Bears along with leading an induction ceremony for new recruits.

Gordon England, the Deputy Secretary of Defense for the United States, received the first Great American Patriot Award presented by MA3 LLC at the half-time of the 2006 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl where the University of Utah scored a 25-13 win over the University of Tulsa.

Following his nomination by President George W. Bush and confirmation by the United States Senate, Geren became the 20th Secretary of the Army July 16, 2007. His statutory responsibilities are for all matters relating to the United States Army: manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications, and financial management.

Secretary Geren had been serving as the 28th Under Secretary of the Army, a post he held since February 21, 2006. He was named as the Acting Secretary of the Army March 9, 2007. After joining the Department of Defense in September of 2001 to serve as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense with responsibilities in the areas of inter-agency initiatives, legislative affairs and special projects. Secretary Geren served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force from July to November 2005.

From 1989 until his retirement in 1997, Secretary Geren was a member of the U.S. Congress, representing the Twelfth Congressional District of Texas for four terms. He served on the Armed Services, Science & Technology and the Public Works and Transportation Committee during his tenure in the Congress.

Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Secretary Geren was an attorney and businessman in Fort Worth. The 55-year old Geren attended Georgia Tech from 1970-73 where he was a starting center on the football team. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas in 1974 and his law degree from University of Texas Law School in 1978.

Bell Helicopter Renews Armed Forces Bowl Title Partnership

Fort Worth, Texas, December 7, 2007 - Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. Company, has renewed its option to be the title partner of the Armed Forces Bowl for two more years as the announcement was made by Richard Millman, president and chief executive officer of Bell Helicopter, during the 2007 Team Announcement Party featuring the coaches from the U.S. Air Force Academy and the University of California, Berkeley.

Formerly known as the Fort Worth Bowl during its first three years, the ESPN-owned and operated Armed Forces Bowl initially signed Bell Helicopter as the game's title partner in August 2006. The initial agreement was for two years with Bell Helicopter now picking up the two-year option to title partner the game through the 2009 post-season.

"We are extremely pleased that Bell Helicopter has elected to extend its title partnership," said Tom Starr, Executive Director of Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. "Our goal from day one is to make this bowl game in Fort Worth unique. With our name change to the Armed Forces Bowl making the game more national in scope, Bell Helicopter's partnership as an internationally known company helps us complete our mission of honoring all five branches of the United States military.

Thursday's Team Announcement Party was a kickoff for the 2007 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl at the Bell Helicopter Customer Center at Alliance Airport North. Millman greeted the guests with the surprise renewal announcement and welcomed the competing coaches from Air Force (Troy Calhoun) and Cal (Jeff Tedford).

"Bell's renewal for two more years helps us get an early start on preparation for next year's game," Starr added. "We received our holiday present early this year and we are very grateful to Mr. Millman and his staff in working hard to complete the agreement to announce Bell Helicopter's renewal prior to this year's game. Although we still have to stage our game this year with two quality teams competing, Bell's renewal will benefit us tremendously as we prepare for the 2008 and 2009 games."

After staging the first four bowl games on December 23, the 2007 contest will be played here December 31 at Amon G. Carter Stadium. With the intercollegiate post-season football game being aired “live” on ESPN and the Armed Forces Network, the Air Force-Cal game will kickoff at 11:30 a.m. (CST).

With Patriotic overtones featuring the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy, the 2007 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will include a fanfest area showcasing military hardware; flyovers; a demonstration by one of the top military skydiving teams; induction ceremonies on the field; a military band and honor guard; and the presentation of a “Great American Patriot Award.”

Ticket prices for the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl are $40 for sideline seats and $15 for endzone tickets. Military veterans receive half off any $40 seat and active duty personnel get in free via the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl corporate military ticket underwriting program. A portion of local ticket sales will go to designated military charities. Tickets for this year’s game can be obtained by calling the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl office at 817/810-0012 or by going online to www.ArmedForcesBowl.com.

Bell Helicopter is an industry-leading producer of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical lift aircraft and the pioneer of the revolutionary tilt rotor aircraft. Globally recognized for world-class customer service, innovation and superior quality, Bell's global workforce serves customers flying Bell aircraft in more than 120 countries.

Textron Inc. is a $10 billion multi-industry company operating in 33 countries with approximately 37,000 employees in continuing operations. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others.

CALIFORNIA ACCEPTS BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL BID

Fort Worth, Tex., December 2, 2007 - The University of California has accepted a bid to play in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl as the Bears will oppose the United States Air Force Academy in the fifth annual post-season intercollegiate football game here December 31 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, an ESPN Regional Television (ERT) owned-and-operated event, will be aired at 11:30 a.m. (CST) on ESPN, live from Amon G. Carter Stadium. The previous four Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl games have been played on December 23 with the University of Utah defeating the University of Tulsa 25-13 last year.

"I've been in this business a long time," said Tom Starr, the Executive Director of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, "and I can tell those who plan to attend this year's Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl that they are in for a treat....these two teams are fun to watch! Air Force brings an impressive 9-3 record and its explosive ground game to town while California, ranked number two in the nation at one time this season, counters with a talented team that has been one of the nation's powerhouses over the past several years."

The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will also give Cal a chance for their sixth-straight winning season under Coach Jeff Tedford, who took over the Bear program after the Berkeley school posted their worst record in the 122-year history with a 1-10 record in 2001. Cal is currently 6-6 after starting the 2007 campaign with five-straight wins to be ranked second in the national behind LSU in early October.

After assistant coaching stints in the Canadian Football League at Calgary (1989-1991) and collegiate positions at Fresno State (1992-1997) and Oregon (1998-2001), Tedford replaced has compiled a 46-26 overall record at Cal by winning 30 of 50 Pac-10 games during his six seasons in Berkeley. Tedford has led Cal to four-straight bowls with a 3-1 record, including a 35-28 victory over BYU in the 2005 Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl.

With Air Force featuring the No. 2 rushing offense in the country with 298.5 yards a game, Cal is averaging nearly 400 total yards a game on offense led by quarterback Nate Longshore, running back Justin Forsett, and wide receivers Lavelle Hawkins and DeSean Jackson. Longshore has completed nearly 60 percent of his 376 passes this season with 16 touchdowns and 2,544 yards

Forsett, a Texas high school standout at Arlington Grace Prep, is the 19th leading rusher in the country with 1,406 yards and 13 touchdowns. Hawkins (69 catches, 855 yards) and Jackson (60, 681) form one of the NCAA’s top pass receiving duos as both players have scored five touchdowns each. Both Hawkins (22.1-yard kickoff return average) and Jackson (10.8 punt return average) have each scored this season on returns.

The New Year’s Eve meeting will be the eighth meeting between the two schools with Cal leading 5-2. The Bears won the last meeting with a 56-14 win in the 2004 season opener at Air Force as Cal scored 35 unanswered points in the second half. In that game, current Air Force quarterback Shaun Carney became the first freshman quarterback to start the season opener for the Academy as he compiled 164 total yards and completed nine of 15 passes for 89 yards and a first quarter touchdown.

In 2002, the Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak to Cal by posting a 23-21 win over the Bears in Berkeley as Chance Harridge scored three times in the second-half on runs of six, two and 13 yards to highlight a 124-yard rushing day for the Air Force quarterback. Air Force’s other win in the series was in the first meeting as the Falcons posted a 15-14 win at Berkeley by scoring the deciding points in the final six minutes of the 1961 game.

Like Air Force, Cal will be appearing in its 18th bowl game as the Bears and Falcons have each posted 8-8-1 post-season records. While Air Force is appearing in its first bowl game since 2002, Cal has defeated Virginia Tech (2003 Insight), BYU (2005 Las Vegas) and Texas A&M (2006 Holiday) while losing to Texas Tech (2004 Holiday).

AIR FORCE ACADEMY ACCEPTS BELL HELICOPTER
ARMED FORCES BOWL BID

Fort Worth, Tex., November 26, 2007 - With a military theme as a background, the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will be “flying high” on New Year’s Eve as the Falcons of the United States Air Force Academy have accepted a bid to play here in the fifth annual post-season intercollegiate football game.

“We are thrilled to have the Air Force Academy as the Mountain West Conference’s representative in the 2007 game,” said Tom Starr, the Executive Director of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. “With our military theme, what better way is there to honor the armed forces by having an Academy play in our game. With nine wins and a strong finish to their season, the Falcons will bring an exciting brand of football to Amon G. Carter Stadium on New Year’s Eve.”

With three-straight wins and six victories in their last seven games to end the 2007 season, the Falcons are the first school since the inaugural Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl game in 2003 to enter the Amon G. Carter Stadium game with more than seven regular-season wins as Air Force is currently 9-3 this fall after posting a 55-23 win at home November 18 over San Diego State.

The 9-3 record is Air Force’s first winning season since posting a 7-5 mark in 2003. The Falcons’ six wins in Mountain West Conference play is their most-ever and best league record season since finishing the 1998 season with a 7-1 record in the Western Athletic Conference. With Jim Ollis (163 yards), Chad Hall (151) and Ty Paffett (105) rushing for more than 100 yards in the San Diego State victory, Air Force is now 9-0 when it has a player rush for over 100 yards in a game this season.

Air Force entered the San Diego State game with the fourth-best rushing attack in the country (273.9) to rank among the top 10 in the nation for the 21st-straight season. The Falcons won the national rushing title in 2002 (307.8) when Air Force played in their last post-season game by losing 20-13 to Virginia Tech at the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.

Troy Calhoun also becomes the third first-season coach at the Air Force to lead the Falcons to a post-season bowl game following in the footsteps of Ben Martin (1958) and Fisher DeBerry (1984). A 1989 graduate of the Academy, Calhoun replaced DeBerry last December as only the sixth coach in the 52-season history of Air Force football.

The first Academy graduate to coach the Falcons, Calhoun was an active duty officer in the Air Force (1989-1995) and was the school’s recruiting coordinator and the junior varsity offensive coordinator in 1993-94. An assistant for one season for the NFL’s Houston Texans before taking the Air Force job, Calhoun started at quarterback for the Academy in 1986 and was one of only two freshmen to letter for the 1985 team that finished fifth in the final polls with a 12-1 record that included wins over national powers Notre Dame and Texas.

Appearing in its first post-season game since 2000, the Air Force will be competing in their 17th bowl since the start of their intercollegiate football program in 1956. The Falcons first-ever bowl appearance was following the 1958 season when Air Force and TCU played to a 0-0 tie in the Cotton Bowl.

AT&T ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING INTRODUCES
NEW NAME ON LOCAL DIRECTORY COVERS
Delivery of Fort Worth Books Begins This Week

FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 19, 2007 — New name, same great books.

The new AT&T Advertising & Publishing directories — now called AT&T Real Yellow Pages and AT&T Real White Pages — are headed your way. About 1.6 million copies of each book will serve residences, businesses and government offices in Fort Worth and nearby communities.

Gracing the cover of this year’s Real Yellow Pages edition is a photo of last season’s Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl game played at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Sadium. “We are honored to be selected for the cover of the new AT&T Real Yellow Pages and believe it delivers a great visual message on how Bell Helicopter and Fort Worth pay tribute each year to our country’s military men and women in uniform,” said Tom Starr, executive director, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. On the Real White Pages cover is a picture of downtown Fort Worth.

These editions are among the first of the company’s directories to carry the new AT&T Real Yellow Pages and White Pages logos. Even with the new name and look, they’re still the same reliable directories you’ve always known.

“We’ve added the word real to our brand to distinguish us from competitive books,” said Louis Ortiz, general sales manager, AT&T. “The real also means we offer the best business information because of our sales force.”

The AT&T Real Yellow Pages book, which dates back 125 years, is the original directory in the area. It’s estimated that Yellow Pages directories serving the Fort Worth area are referenced about 223,000 times each day.

The AT&T Real Yellow Pages directory includes business and government White Pages listings in addition to money-saving coupons and information guides. The edition also contains a Community Living section with area maps, attractions, ZIP codes and other helpful information.

The White Pages directory includes primarily residential listings.

“This means that consumers will now have one single book for all of their business needs and one single book for all of their residential listing needs,” said Ortiz.

For those who let their fingers do the clicking, the AT&T online Yellow Pages is available at YELLOWPAGES.COM. The site offers consumers access to comprehensive local business information, the latest business listings, city guides, maps and driving directions. In addition, YELLOWPAGES.COM advertisers receive exposure on Switchboard, AOL Yellow Pages, Yahoo!® Yellow Pages, Yahoo! Local, AnyWho.com, Areaguides.net and 411.com — all leading Yellow Pages sites.

Additional copies of the traditional print directory can be ordered by calling AT&T Real Yellow Pages at 800-792-2665.
For more information on the print directory or YELLOWPAGES.COM, please call the Fort Worth AT&T Real Yellow Pages sales office at 800-633-7702.

To recycle your old phone books, please call the AT&T Real Yellow Pages Project ReDirectory help line at 800-953-4400 for specific recycling information in your community.

Armed Forces Bowl Kicks Off New Year's Eve
Want to ring in the New Year in style? Watch the 2007 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl as the post-season intercollegiate football game moves to New Year's Eve after four years of playing on the same pre-Christmas date. Last year’s game saw Utah beat Tulsa 25-13 to win its sixth straight bowl, matching the longest active streak.

ArmedForces

2007 Bowl Images