LCDR Brandon Hempler to Return to Blue Angels for 2020 Season

The Blue Angels have released the 2020 team information, and the big surprise is that LCDR Brandon Hempler will stay with the team for a fourth consecutive season, his second as Blue Angel #5, the Lead Solo. He will fill the spot that was slated to be filled by LCDR Andre Webb, the 2019 Opposing Solo from Lawton, Oklahoma.

For the last two weeks of the 2019 show season, the Blue Angels performed a five-ship demonstration, with no sight of Blue Angel #6. LCDR Andre Webb missed four public demonstrations both in Valdosta, Georgia and Pensacola, Florida, along with several practice demonstrations, and the Blue Angels Public Affairs team stated it was for “personal reasons.” However, the team stated that they were confident LCDR Webb would return to the team for the 2020 show season.

While the reason is not apparent and has not been publicly announced by the Blue Angels, LCDR Andre Webb will not in fact return to the team for his third and final season. He spent the 2018 season as the team’s narrator and advance pilot before serving in 2019 as Blue Angel #6, the Opposing Solo.

LCDR Brandon Hempler will become one of the few Blue Angels pilots to ever serve four years on the team, with the most recent being CMDR Frank Weisser, who returned in 2016 as the Opposing Solo after the death of Captain Jeff Kuss. CMDR Weisser finished the 2016 season as Blue Angel #6, and then transitioned to Blue Angel #5 in 2017. His initial stint with the Blue Angels began in 2008 as the advance pilot and narrator, and he later served as the Opposing Solo and Lead Solo in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Weisser still is involved with the Blue Angels to this day, currently working with Captain Ryan Bernacchi as part of an expert team overseeing the Blue Angels’ transition to the F/A-18E Super Hornet.

The 2020 Blue Angels have already began preparing for the 2020 show season, flying several times a week over the Gulf of Mexico under the command of the new Boss, CMDR Brian C. Kesselring. After the new year, the team will pack up and head west to their winter training home, Naval Air Facility El Centro, California. Updates to the Blue Angels’ 2020 show season as well as a preliminary 2021 show schedule will be announced Tuesday, December 10, so be sure to stay tuned to our website and social media for the latest updates!