Facing the responsibility of fronting a big band for the first time was indeed a challenge for Johnny, but he had the advantage of having a nucleus of experienced musicians, an excellent book, and the arranging talent of Tommy Newsom, whose musical stamp is apparent in the sounds of the First Herd. Johnny's first objective was to update the band's style. Johnny introduced a more modern flavor to the dance charts. He also added jazz-flavored arrangements by Newsom, bass trombonist George West, and others. Sammy Nestico continued to contribute charts as well, including some outstanding vocal accompaniments.

Personnel-wise, the reconstituted Airmen of Note was a mixed bag. Johnny had brought his rhythm section and lead alto over from the Crew Chiefs. There were a couple of new hires, but most of the personnel were holdovers from the Nestico band. By the summer of 1956, however, enlistments started to expire, and other musicians received new assignments. The next nine months were to see a big turnover in personnel, as the band evolved into what would become the Second Herd, a horse of an entirely different color.

Throughout this period, the brass section leads were the same as under Nestico. One of the few changes in the brass section was the elimination of the french horn part. The lead alto part was covered first by Paul Chafin, and after his enlistment expired by Mel Owen. Featured jazz soloists

Alto Sax Paul Chafin Mel Owen (--57) Jimmy Craig (56) Jim Staten (56--) Tenor Sax Tommy Newsom (--55) Rufus Long (55-56) Bob Snyder (56) Gary Scott (56--) Charlie Almeida (56-57) Baritone Sax John Bowling Piano Joe Nerren (55-56) Al Pothier (56-57) Bass Ken Fricker (55-56) Don Dempsey (56) Drums Jack Franklin (55-56) Bobby Test (56)	Trumpet Kenny Eshelman Andy Peele Ken Grasley (--56) Bobby Zottola Ray Stone (56--) Trombone John Shuman Ray Winslow (--57) Greg Phillips George West (55--) Vocalist Duff Thomas Judy Hickman (56)

were Bobby Zottola on trumpet, Tommy Newsom and later Gary Scott on tenor, Ray Winslow and George West on trombone, Joe Nerren on piano, and Bobby Test on drums.

One of the carryovers was vocalist Tommy Tomlinson, who about this time changed his name to Duff Thomas. Duff would be an Airmen of Note fixture on into the days of the Third Herd. In early 1956 Johnny auditioned for a female vocalist. Judy Carroll (Hickman) was selected and sang with the band for a time. Although a WAF, she was never assigned full-time to either the Airmen of Note or the Air Force Band. Another vocal innovation was the Crew Chiefs quartet, which was made up of Tomlinson and musicians Mel Owen, Ray Winslow, and Bobby Zottola.

Johnny's accordion didn't fit into the Airmen of Note's style, but he sometimes played a solo on concert jobs to give the brass section a chance to rest their chops.

The rejuvenated Airmen of Note debuted on December 13, 1955 and was soon back into a heavy schedule of local dance jobs and tours of bases in the field. In the spring of 1956, the band had the opportunity to participate in a public relations stage show featuring the Hurricane Hunters of the Air Weather Service. Project Barnstorm played fourteen major cities up and down the east coast and demonstrated the band's capabilities in a concert format. In a way, it was a forerunner of the concert tours that were to be such an important part of the Airmen of Note's mission in years to come.

In August of 1956, the band played the Air Force Association in New Orleans, where General Jimmy Stewart took the baton and led the Airmen of Note through the Glenn Miller Medley. Perhaps the most memorable part of that job was the trip home, when the planes were caught in a storm. One got lost and had to make an emergency landing. The other was shaken about so much that a couple of the men had to be sent to the infirmary for patching up once they got back to Bolling.

Another memorable experience was the band's second European tour, which took place in the last two months of 1956. This tour concentrated primarily on troop entertainment and included jobs at bases in Germany, France, and England. Where proper advanced notice had been given, large crowds of enthusiastic GI's were on hand to enjoy the Note's musical offerings. At other bases the word apparently hadn't gotten around, because no one seemed to be expecting them. One of the high points of the tour was a superbly produced half-hour television performance on BBC-TV, which reached an estimated 22 million people in England, Ireland, and Scotland. By the time the band was ready to return to the US, the airlift of Hungarian refugees was in full swing, and it looked like it might be impossible to get a plane for the trip home. After some anxious hours, MATS finally came through, and the band was able to make it home just in time for Christmas.

When Johnny first took over the band, the music of Glenn Miller was experiencing a revival, so he took full advantage of the Airmen of Note's relationship to the Miller AAF Band. On the Reserved for You radio programs the band was called "A modern version of Major Glenn Miller's Air Force Band." The Note's book contained a good number of Miller originals and Miller-styled arrangements of current hits; and Moonlight Serenade was often used as a theme. The Glenn Miller estate had no problems with any of this. In fact Mrs. Glenn Miller and the estate have been very supportive of the Note over the years. However, when the New Glenn Miller Orchestra was formed in 1956, the Miller estate did ask the Air Force to play down the Note's Miller connections in their publicity releases. But neither Mrs. Miller nor the estate had any objections to the band playing the music, and the sounds of Glenn Miller have continued to be a popular part of the Note's repertoire to this day.