JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas -- An Air Force Office of Special Investigations civilian helped make Armed Forces Sports history after coaching the Air Force women’s flag football team during the inaugural Armed Forces Flag Football Championship.
Bob Black, a force development manager at AFOSI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, coached the Air Force women to a 13-8 victory over Army, July 25, at Cougar Stadium on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The win secured the first women’s flag football championship awarded by Armed Forces Sports.
For Black, the tournament brought a decadeslong connection to the sport full circle.
“I started playing flag football 42 years ago on the same field where I was coaching them this year,” Black said.
Black began playing after joining the military in 1984 and remained active in the sport for much of the next four decades. Before moving to the Washington, D.C., area in 2024, he spent roughly 10 years running and quarterbacking an Air Force team in Europe that competed against teams from across the continent.
During that time, Black advocated flag football to gain greater recognition as he watched the sport expand internationally.
“Having the opportunity to be one of the first people involved in having it recognized as an Air Force and Armed Forces sport was a great closing of the circle for something I’ve been trying to promote for a long time, for both men and women,” Black said.
The four-day championship brought together athletes from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Teams competed in five-on-five matchups through a round-robin group stage before advancing to the championship and third-place games.
The Department of the Air Force (DAF) swept the inaugural event. In addition to the women’s title, the men’s DAF team defeated Army 37-32 to win their championship.
Building the women’s team required Black and his coaching staff to bring together athletes with widely different backgrounds and limited football experience.
“We had athletes from lacrosse, soccer, basketball and softball, and we had to take their athletic ability and create a flag football team,” he said.
The team spent much of its three-week training camp learning the fundamentals of flag football before turning its attention to more advanced strategy.
“The fact that we were able to take all that athletic ability and convert it in three weeks, to come together and become a good team, was an accomplishment for the whole team,” Black said.
The roster included Airmen ranging from senior airmen to a captain. Black said their willingness to learn, combined with the leadership they brought from their military and athletic backgrounds, helped the group develop quickly.
“They were all proud to be the first ones selected and they worked hard for three weeks to learn,” he said.
The Air Force women opened group play with three consecutive victories. However, the Army gained momentum later in the tournament, defeating Air Force twice and finishing group play with a 5-1 record. Air Force finished 4-2.
The championship was the fourth meeting between the teams, with Army leading the tournament series 2-1. Black said the two losses did not diminish his players’ confidence.
“I think the women had confidence that, although we had lost two games, we were competitive in every game,” Black said. “As long as they played the way they had in the other games, they knew they had a great chance to win.”
Air Force responded in the championship by holding Army to eight points.
Black said the championship demonstrated that women do not need extensive football backgrounds to succeed in the sport.
“It’s not just about knowing football,” he said. “We can take women from all their other athletic backgrounds, put them together and create good flag football players.”
The event also introduced military athletes to international standards of play. Armed Forces Sports brought in professional referees with experience officiating under the International Federation of American Football, the sport’s international governing body.
That exposure comes as flag football prepares to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
Black said he hopes the inaugural championship brings greater awareness to Armed Forces Sports and encourages more Airmen and Guardians to support future participation.
“In five or six years,” he said, “I think the women joining the military will come in with a base of flag football knowledge, and that will grow the sport even more in the military.”