FOX NFL Team visit

We had a great visit from the FOX NFL team last night and this morning!  In my 4+ months here, I haven’t seen the type of excitement and buzz their visit created. Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, Curt Menefee, Jimmy Johnson, Michael Strahan and Jay Glazer were absolutely awesome! They shook thousands of hands, took a gazillion pictures, and signed autographs for the better part of a day. Heck, Terry and Jimmy even personally serenaded 1Lt Emily Shanes on her 24th birthday. Talk about making people feel special. The whole group couldn’t have been more down to earth, friendly and genuine … with exactly the same playful chemistry you see on TV … and true friends of the military.

How the FOX NFL team came to visit us here is a great story. It seems David Hill, a FOX executive was sitting at the Manchu Wok in the Dallas airport and noticed a young Airman walking thru the airport in uniform. David said the Airman was a spitting image of his daughter … and he noticed that nobody was paying any attention to the Airman. David thought, “heck, we’re at war and nobody is taking the time to shake that Airman’s hand and say thank you.” So during a visit to Howie Long’s place in Montana, David got with George Greenberg, Scott Ackerson and the rest of the NFL team and said we’ve got to do something to show our appreciation for the military and tell them ‘thank you’ for their service and sacrifice. And here they are. God bless you guys. You made the day for lots of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. 

This visit wouldn’t have been possible without the awesome work by our Force Support Squadron.  The Sq Commander, LtCol Paul Kopecki and his Operations Officer,  Maj Ernie Mata and the rest of the squadron were simply amazing.  Paul’s whole team works so hard to take care of all the deployed people here … and this event was no exception.   Another world-class performance!

We sent the NFL team off early this afternoon on a C-17, where they were going to watch up-close and personal an airdrop resupply of fuel to a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan … then continue on and land at Bagram AB where they were going to do this week’s FOX NFL show. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a big shout out to Jennifer Pransky and Don Cornelli – the FOX NFL camera pros. They were also incredible! Many thanks and we look forward to catching you on your return trip.

Later tonight, I went downtown to dinner with my Exec, Maj Dan Rubera, our Command Chief, CMSgt Dave Green and our First Sergeant, MSgt Brian Graybeal. The front office has been trying for awhile to set up this dinner but our schedule hasn’t allowed it. I’m sure glad we finally got around to it. We went to a wonderful picturesque old market area …sat outside and had a terrific local meal. My normal driver Maerk drove us (he does such a great job!) and tonight we were accompanied by one of Maerk’s co-workers, Wisam. Wisam was born in Baghdad, Iraq and moved to the US when he was 2 years old in the late 1960s. Wisam speaks fluent Arabic. He’s lived here for over 5 years and knows all the good local places to eat and shop. Wisam’s knowledge of the area, customs, traditions, and any local subject was really impressive. I can guarantee we’ll invite Wisam again! Thanks to both Maerk and Wisam for a really great evening. You guys rock.