Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan, Jim Lovell, Steve Ritchie and Robert Gilliland had come here to kick off an eight-day tour of bases in Germany, Turkey and deployed locations in U.S. Central Command.

They spoke with and signed autographs for wounded service members at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center as well as troops waiting for flights at the USO in Ramstein’s terminal.

A Navy pilot before he joined NASA, Armstrong, 79, has tried to avoid the spotlight since he took those historic first steps on the moon. He declined to be interviewed by an Air Force Times reporter, too, but graciously spoke to each soldier, airman, Marine or sailor who asked for a picture or just wanted to know what it was like to stand on another celestial body.

“He doesn’t do many of these anymore, but when I asked him if he wanted to be a part of this, he didn’t hesitate because he wanted to reach out to the troops,” said Mike Whalen, a friend of Armstrong’s and a partner of Morale Entertainment Foundation, which organized the Legends of Aerospace Tour.

Cernan, the 12th and last man to walk on the moon, said he jumped at the opportunity to join the tour. The Navy pilot didn’t fly in Vietnam because he joined the space program instead.

“Vietnam was my war and I didn’t get to fight in it because all my buddies got their tails shot off, and I got my picture in the newspaper because I went to the moon,” he said. “And that’s something that has always bothered me, and maybe that’s why I wanted to come over here so much.”

Between pictures and autographs, Lovell, 81, and Cernan, 75, talked about the future of the U.S. space program.

Both criticized President Obama for wanting to cancel the Constellation program, which would return an American to the moon by 2020, and they urged Congress to reject the commander in chief’s request.

“We will go back to the moon not withstanding our president and his outlook for the future and future of space,” Cernan said. “Under the president’s proposed budget, it is a mission to nowhere.”

Manned space flight is essential, they said, particularly in light of the space advances of other nations such as China.

Lovell said he appreciates the concerns about expensive government programs, but he pointed to the advances brought about by the space race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union — from electronic communication to ready-to-eat foods.

“The investment that we have made in the space program has a lot of intangible and tangible benefits that we sometimes forget,” he said.

The former military pilots also weighed in on military aviation’s transition from manned aircraft to unmanned aerial vehicles.

Ritchie, 67, shot down five MiG-21s in 1972 to earn the distinction of the Air Force’s last fighter pilot “ace.” He described the fifth-generation fighters — the F-22 and F-35 — as a “quantum leap” in avionics.

“I just wish I could be part of one of those programs,” said Ritchie, who flew an F-4 Phantom when he shot down the MiGs.

The retired brigadier general gave a nod to the rise of remotely piloted aircraft and the advantages that drones can offer, including pilot safety and long dwell times, but he said, “We can’t discount the importance of having that human brain inside the cockpit.”

Lovell noted the Navy has followed the Air Force’s lead in placing a premium on adding to its RPA fleet.

“I guess in the Air Force more people are going through training to be UAV pilots instead of pilot pilots,” he said. “And the Navy is going that way, too, to some degree.”

Cernan said the transfer of more and more pilots from the air to the ground has hurt morale.

“A lot of young aviators are wondering how long we are going to be in the cockpit,” he said.

Cernan used himself as an example of why young pilots and airmen should stay positive. He never imagined he would travel through space.

“I walked on the moon,” he said. “Tell me what you can’t do.”

It’s the military’s next generation that Lovell, Cernan and Ritchie agreed they look forward to meeting on their tour. While their accomplishments have received worldwide attention, they stressed that every service member makes an important contribution.

“These are the real heroes these days, not us,” Lovell said.

At the most? A gold medal on the horizon for Team USA.

Four athletes with ties to the Army and National Guard return to Whistler Sliding Center on Saturday for the final two rounds of the four-man bobsled event. They are spread across all three U.S. sleds.

USA-1 pilot Steven Holcomb is in great position after two of four runs, in first place and with nearly a half-second lead over the second place sled, CAN-1.

“It’s a great lead to have, obviously,” said the 29-year-old former Utah National Guardsman. “It kind of takes a little pressure off [Saturday], even if we do make a mistake [Saturday] we can still have a little bit of padding.”

Holcomb and his team put down a track-record run of 50.86 seconds on their second effort, and were just off that time, at 50.89, on the first run. USA-1’s combined time is 1:41.75. Canada is second at 1:42.15 and Germany’s top sled is third, at 1:42.19.

There was reason for Holcomb to think he could need the padding. Six sleds crashed on the lower half of the course Friday, including the one belonging to John Napier.

Napier, an Army World Class Athlete Program participant, is USA-2’s pilot. USA-2 was in seventh before the crash on the second run pushed it back to 17th.

“I had a good trip going, but going 95 miles per hour, you make a mistake, there’s no catching it,” said the 23-year-old Napier, who is a member of the Vermont National Guard. “There’s no making mistakes on this track, especially in the four-man bob. I said earlier this week it was going to challenge the best drivers in the world, and it definitely challenged me today.”

Chris Fogt, who is also in the World Class Athlete Program, is part of Napier’s four-man team and was encouraged that the sled was able to make its way across the line, ensuring two more runs Saturday.

“We crossed the line, all four of us. We get more runs. …” he said. “And we’ll come back [Saturday] and try to finish in the top 10. That’s all we can do.”

USA-3 is 12th after two runs, after one of its push athletes struggled to get in the sled after the start of the second run.

“Tough first day, but we’ve got another day [to] do the best we can,” pilot Mike Kohn said. “The good news is Steve Holcomb and those guys are in first place, and let’s see if we can go ahead and keep the consistency going.”

Holcomb finished sixth in the four-man sled four years ago in Torino and continues to look for his first Olympic medal. Should he win Saturday, he would be the first U.S. pilot to bring home a four-man gold medal in 62 years.

He is ready to finish the job.

“We’re not going to give up and take it easy,” Holcomb said. “We’re going to go 100 percent and make sure we seal the deal.”

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