FARMINGTON — The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce will present the U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at the Mt. Blue Campus. The concert is free and open to the public; however, tickets are required.

Contact the chamber office at 615 Wilton Road; [email protected]; or 778-4215 for tickets. Tickets are also available at the Wilson Lake Inn and are available by contacting Shannon Smith at 778-4726.

The band has a history of enhancing esprit de corps in the Air Force. It was one of the original Army Air Corps bands, created by order of the Secretary of War on Oct. 1, 1941, and assigned to Barksdale Field, La. In June 1946, after a short stay at Brooks Field, Texas, the band arrived at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., its current home.

Members bring music to the mid-Atlantic in live concerts and to the nation in televised events.

In recent years, the mission of Air Force bands has become an expeditionary one. The Blue Aces were among the first groups to tour Southwest Asia and the Horn of Africa to support coalition and joint forces.

The USAF Heritage of America Band has earned numerous honors: eight Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, five Air Force Organizational Excellence Awards, four Col. George S. Howard Citations of Musical Excellence for Military Concert Band, North Carolina’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine, and state and municipal proclamations.