President Uchtdorf flies with the Blue Angels

Published: Thursday, March 15 2012 2:55 p.m. MDT

The U.S. Navy flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, performs a tactical maneuver high above the crowd at the Tuscaloosa Air Show during Birmingham Navy Week.

Associated Press

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Prior to this weekend's "Thunder Over Utah" air show, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, joined other VIPs in hitching a ride with the United States Navy Blue Angels.

Uchtdorf formerly served as a fighter pilot for West Germany and later worked as a captain of large commercial jets.

"It's a marvelous day for us, because almost to the day 50 years ago I earned my wings in the Air Force," President Uchtdorf said. "This March of 1962, I started my training as a fighter pilot at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona."