Courtesy: Courtney Clevenger (UTSA Today)



When the Roadrunners take the field in the Alamodome Saturday night, thousands of people from the San Antonio military community will fill the stands as part of Operation Defend the Dome. UTSA Athletics and the UTSA Office of Veteran and Military Affairs teamed up for the initiative.

For every UTSA Football ticket fans purchase between Aug. 13 and Sept. 7, UTSA Athletics will donate the same number of tickets to San Antonio active-duty and veteran military members and their immediate families.

"San Antonio is Military City U.S.A. and we have a lot of active-duty and retired military in our community," said Lisa Carrington Firmin, UTSA associate provost for veteran and military affairs. "We are grateful for a chance to recognize them and thank them and their families for their service by having them come out to enjoy the game."

So far, Athletics and the UTSA Office of Veteran and Military Affairs has distributed more than 17,000 tickets to the military community including almost 3,000 to the local VFW Post 8397.

"The Veterans of Foreign Wars 8397 Post Commander and his staff did a great job in getting the word out to all the many VFW members in the community about our promotion and this game," said Firmin.

UTSA also provided 1,000 tickets to Joint Base San Antonio and distributed tickets to a wide range of veteran support agencies including the VA hospital, USO, St Philips Good Samaritan Veteran's Outreach and Transition Center, City of San Antonio Military and Veteran Affairs, local guard and reserve units and many others.

"This is an amazing opportunity to connect UTSA with the community and our military families throughout San Antonio," said Katie Douglass , executive senior associate director of UTSA Athletics.

UTSA also has a strong military family. Military student affiliated enrollment includes nearly 5,000 veterans, active duty, guard and reserve, ROTC, dependents and family members.

To help achieve the goal of defending the dome in "Military City USA," fans and local businesses are encouraged to purchase tickets at a special rate of $5 to donate. UTSA will match every ticket donated, including season tickets, group rates and single game day tickets.

Fan can call or text 210-458-UTSA (8872) for more information.





Representatives from the Veterans of Foreign Wars stopped by campus today and picked up nearly 3,000 tickets for @UTSAFTBL's home opener on Sept. 8 against Baylor. These tickets were donated as a part of Operation #DefendTheDome. 🇺🇸

Find out more at https://t.co/cnhhXOpurc pic.twitter.com/KobJCqNOqh — UTSA Athletics (@UTSAAthletics) August 31, 2018

San Antonio Mayor @Ron_Nirenberg is supporting Operation #DefendTheDome! So far, we've received more than 10,000 donations for tickets that we are distributing to local military members for @UTSAFTBL's home opener on Saturday vs. Baylor.



Find out more: https://t.co/V83zcVSy9w pic.twitter.com/z0GUuE0SW9 — UTSA Athletics (@UTSAAthletics) September 4, 2018

San Antonio businessman and #UTSA supporter Red McCombs announced his support of Operation #DefendTheDome & he also purchased 1,000 tickets that will be donated directly to active-duty & veteran military members for Sept. 8 game against Baylor. 🙌 Thanks for your support, Red! 👊 pic.twitter.com/u9h4GcujCw — UTSA Athletics (@UTSAAthletics) August 28, 2018