CUE WAGNER’S “RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES.” Hot air balloons are about to descend on Shreveport-Bossier City. The Red River Balloon Rally, along with the 2016 U.S. Hot Air Balloon Championship, will take place July 14 – July 20, throughout the metro area, with festivities to be held on the campus of LSUS.

Maj. Jared J. Maline, ground boss of the 2016 show and operations flight commander of the Second Civil Engineer Squadron, described the enormous amount of effort and coordination required to produce the event. “It can definitely be a hectic kind of effort,” he said.