Space Force and Border Patrol turn rodeo into recruitment push
At Falcon Stadium, Space Force and Border Patrol folded Tim McGraw and Chris Janson into a rodeo recruitment pitch tied to America 250. The stunt came amid hiring pressure.
The U.S. Space Force and U.S. Border Patrol turned a June 20 rodeo at Falcon Stadium on the U.S. Air Force Academy campus into a recruitment pitch, pairing the event with live performances by Tim McGraw and Chris Janson and tying it to America 250 celebrations.
Professional Bull Riders said the show, billed as “PBR Space Cowboys Presented by the U.S. Space Force,” took place in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as part of a larger effort to put federal recruiting in front of a crowd built around Western spectacle. The event fit neatly into a broader Trump-era push in which military and border agencies have leaned on public-facing partnerships to draw applicants and reshape their image under political pressure.
Defense Department updates on the southern border added to that backdrop. The department said about 8,500 military personnel were attached to Joint Task Force Southern Border, which had conducted more than 3,500 patrols since its creation in March 2025. More than 150 of those patrols were carried out jointly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Mexican military, underscoring how closely the Pentagon’s border mission has become intertwined with enforcement agencies.
Border Patrol’s use of rodeos as a recruiting venue is not new. The agency has been sponsoring Professional Bull Riders events since 2008, and during Donald Trump’s first term the administration renewed that relationship with a $1.5 million deal with PBR. By 2025, the recruitment drive had grown larger, with a $15 million, five-year campaign aimed at promoting Border Patrol through rodeo and sports partnerships.
That push came as Border Patrol’s ranks climbed to 21,471 agents in spring 2025, the highest total in about a century. The numbers gave the agency a recruiting story to tell, but also sharpened criticism from activists and other opponents who said the strategy turns family entertainment into a politically charged setting for immigration enforcement messaging.
The matchup between a rodeo, pop-country headliners and federal recruiters reflected the current playbook in Washington: bring the branding to the crowd, wrap it in patriotic imagery, and make the agency look like part of the spectacle.
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