The personnel Bob had inherited from Johnny Osiecki were outstanding, and this gave the band a strong foundation. There was some turnover, but he was able to fill the vacancies with people that were at least as good as those that he had lost. The concert tours and the Serenade in Blue program had brought the band to the attention of young musicians. Another big factor was the Vietnam conflict, which created a lot of interest among draft-age musicians in the Air Force music program. Many talented individualistic musicians became available to the Note as a result. But even after the Vietnam War draft had ceased to be a factor, the band's reputation had been established, and there were no problems finding the kind of musicians the band needed.

During this period Don Grossi continued to lead the sax section, and Dave Steinmeyer had become a fixture on lead trombone. Vince Somma, Paul Hubinon, and Dick Montz split the trumpet lead. Besides the carryover soloists from Osiecki's Fourth Herd, Bob could also call on newcomers Ernie Hensley (originally on tenor and later on alto), trombonist Bill Booth, pianist Smith Dobson, drummer Gary Gauger, and bassist Terry Plumeri or Brent McKesson, as well as tenor Gary Scott, who returned to the Note in 1968 after ten years on the Air Force Academy Band. Bob was also an accomplished trumpet player and occasionally took a solo himself.

Bob introduced some new sounds to the repertoire of the Airmen of Note. A second bass trombonist, Ed Green, gave added depth to the brass section, and even more dimension could be added when either Tom Baldwin or Tom Streeter picked up his tuba. Although Scott Waller had been using the flugelhorn as a solo instrument for some time, parts were now being written for flugelhorns in ensemble. Bobby Mann was

Alto Sax Don Grossi (--69) Kim Richmond (--67) Bill McPherson (67) Ernie Hensley (68--) Tenor Sax Barry Weinstein (--67) Jim Towsey Ernie Hensley (67) Gary Scott (68--) Baritone Sax Dave Napier Piano Tom Baldwin (--67) Smith Dobson (67-69) Bass Dick Jones (64-67) Terry Plumeri (67-68) Don Dempsey (68) Brenk McKesson (69--) Drums Charlie McIlroy (--67) Gary Gauger (67--) Guitar Bob Mann	Trumpet Vince Somma (--69) Paul Hubinon (--67) Scott Waller Dick Montz (66-69) Steve Wright (67--) Trombone Dave Steinmeyer Bill Booth (66-69) Gary Ross Ed Green (66-68) Tom Streeter (68--) Staff Arrangers Paul Kelly (--67) Chuck Sayre (--69) Tom Baldwin (67-69) Chris Dedrick (69--)

also an excellent trumpet player, and this gave the band the opportunity to feature (including Bunton's own horn) a six-man flugelhorn choir. In addition, the versatile talent in the sax section lent itself to an alto flute choir, and Dave Napier occasionally added the sound of his bassoon.

Most of the credit for implementing these new sounds, as well as for writing the new charts the band needed to carry out its expanding range of activities, must go to the arranging staff, which during this period included Paul Kelly, Chuck Sayre, and Tom Baldwin. Additional arrangements were contributed by musicians Kim Richmond, Jim Towsey, Bobby Mann, Dave Napier, and leader Bunton.

The 1966 concert tour was such a success that it was repeated in the spring of 1967, and then it became a regular twice-yearly feature. The 1967 spring tour hit California and Nevada. The San Gabriel concert, which featured television star Chris Noel, was televised for broadcast overseas by the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Drummer Shelly Manne and his group appeared with the band at Pasadena. Afterwards, Shelly invited the band to his club, the Manne Hole, where the Note entertained a specially invited group of music business greats, including the entire Count Basie band.

During the remainder of the 1960's, tours covered the southeastern states, the Northeast and New England, the Middle West, the upper Mountain States, and the Southwest. Itineraries were coordinated on a regional basis with the other service bands to make sure that all areas received periodic visits. Much of the success of the tour program belongs to Ray Stone, who transferred from the Note's trumpet section in the fall of 1967 to become road manager when Bob Dunn was promoted to tour director for the Concert Band.

The tours, however, created some interesting problems for the leader. One was the fact that it was impossible to feature on one program all of the individual talent the band had at its disposal. Another was the challenge of putting together a program that would keep both the contemporary jazz-oriented musicians as well as the usually more traditional-minded audiences equally inspired.

To further enhance the Serenade in Blue radio programs, guest artists were invited to record with the Airmen of Note. The first recording session, which was held in September, 1966 at Bolling AFB, featured Carmen McRae. Later sessions were held in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Nashville. Some of the well-known performers that recorded with the Note during the late 1960's included Joe Williams, Jon Hendricks, Matt Monro, George Shearing, June Christy, Sandler and Young, Sue Raney, Dottie West, Shirley Bassey, and the Modernaires. One of the most memorable sessions was a Christmas special, featuring Nancy Wilson and the Doodletown Pipers singing arrangements by Chuck Sayre.

When the guest artist recording first started, few of these performers had ever heard of the Airmen of Note, and they weren't expecting much from a service band. But once the sessions got under way, they realized what a great band they were recording with, and many of these singers and musicians became big fans of the Note. When Lou Rawls was booked for a session, he insisted on using his own rhythm section. They were delayed en route to the studio, so to save time, Mr. Rawls agreed to rehearse the charts using the Note's rhythm section. When Rawls' men finally arrived, they found themselves part of the audience instead of part of the band. Some of these singers recorded with the Note many times, and the contacts made in the recording studio later led to some exciting concert performances.

In 1966 Bob produced the Note's first promotional record album. Johnny Osiecki had seen the need for recordings which could be used first of all to stimulate interest in potential concert sponsors and later by sponsors and local radio stations to publicize the concerts. Johnny had tapes made up for this purpose, but Bob went a step further and had some special promotional albums pressed. The first album was called The Surprising Sounds of the Airmen of Note, and it contained a selection of recordings that were made for the Serenade in Blue and Music in the Air radio programs. A later album featured recordings that were made at an actual live concert. The pressing of these special limited-distribution albums has continued over the years, becoming especially important after the cancellation of the regular public service radio programs in the late 1970's.

The tours gave the Airmen of Note a number of opportunities to appear on local and network television. On their September 1967 recording trip to California, they taped a series of five-minute spots that were used by Armed Forces Radio and Television Service to replace the commercials when network television shows were aired on their stations. The Note, as a part of the Symphony in Blue, did a 1968 Christmas television special featuring Sandler and Young and the vocal group Free Design. The Free Design's leader, Chris Dedrick, later joined the Note's arranging staff, where he contributed some unusual but very melodic charts. Singer Marilyn Maye appeared on the 1969 Christmas special.

The late 1960's also saw the Note participating more frequently in the Washington summer park concerts. An August 1967 Capitol Steps concert featured former big band singer Carolyn Gray. During this period the band also made regular visits to the Texas Bandleaders Convention, and in 1969 the Note were invited to perform at the Kansas City Jazz Festival. Another noteworthy 1969 job was an appearance at a Music Educator's Convention in Columbus, Ohio, where Stan Kenton led the Note through a program of charts from his book.