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Serving the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community

Deployed Bliss soldiers enjoyed a variety of live entertainment provided by various celebrities as a part of the "On Duty For You" USO tour.

Bliss soldiers enjoy USO show

Compiled by Capt. Enrique T. Vasquez
32nd AAMDC PAO

Fort Bliss soldiers deployed got to experience the "On Duty for You" tour this holiday season.

The USO tour featured the U.S. Army Band, country-recording artist Darryl Worley, World Wrestling Entertainment champion Bradshaw, actress Karri Turner, comedian Kathy Griffin and Jacksonville Jaguars Cheerleaders, Jill Cottingham and Mindy Crews.

The Army band featuring "The Rockers" played several soul classics including "Soul Man" and "Respect," as well as rap hits like "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)." The band ended their segment with patriotic classic "God Bless the U.S.A. (Proud to be an American)" Kathy Griffin, from the sitcom "Suddenly Susan," kept soldiers laughing with a bit of stand-up comedy.

The Jaguars Cheerleaders did their part to raise soldier morale with a performance of the Mariah Carey hit "Hero" by Mindy Crews and a Santa Elf contest. The contest had four soldiers from the audience come up on stage and compete by dancing and wrapping a Jaguars Cheerleader calendar the fastest.

Wrestler and former Oakland Raiders football player Bradshaw took time to tell soldiers how much their sacrifice and dedication meant to him.

"I love you. I love what you do. God bless," said Bradshaw.

Karri Turner, from the television show "JAG," also came out to share what soldiers meant to her. Turner told a story about seeing the phrase "Freedom is not free" on the Korean War monument in Washington, D.C.

"I realized you guys pay the price," Turner said. "You guys are the ones out there doing that so I can pretend to be a lieutenant back home doing crazy things. There are no words that I can say ever to thank you for that."

Country singer Darryl Worley performed several songs, but his song "Back Where I Belong" about a soldier thinking about life at home while away serving around the country moved some soldiers to tears.

For the grand finale all of the performers along with the audience members, joined together on stage for a rousing rendition of "Stand by Me" and "God Bless America," which got the crowd on its feet for a standing ovation.

Fort Bliss soldiers really enjoyed the show. "It was a

Spc Semu V. Tafao, HHB, 32nd AAMDC, poses for a picture with actress Karri Turner, who stars on the TV series "JAG".

Deployed Fort Bliss soldiers enjoy the "On Duty for You" USO show, which featured the U.S. Army Band, country-recording artist Darryl Worley, World Wrestling Entertainment champion Bradshaw, actress Karri Turner, comedian Kathy Griffin and Jacksonville Jaguars Cheerleaders Jill Cottingham and Mindy Crews.

fun show; I enjoyed it," said Spc. Grant Fuller of HHB, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command. "I especially thought Kathy Griffin was funny."

"It was a nice break and a good morale booster. I thought the show was very entertaining; I enjoyed all the acts," said Staff Sgt. Gregory Bryan.

Fort Bliss soldiers got an opportunity to meet the performers after the show, as they lined up for autographs.

"Being able to meet Darryl Worley after the show was great," related Fuller.

"I think it is a good thing to have the USO performers sign autographs for service members," said Master Sgt. James Minton, HHB, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

The USO along with its sponsors and supporters puts on these shows for deployed soldiers, boosting morale and giving them a break from their everyday duties. Sometimes it is good for deployed soldiers to be able to get a break, because many work six to seven days a week and up to 12 to 14 hours a day.

"It is great to see stateside entertainment here, and these shows are a great opportunity for soldiers to take a break," said Minton. "A performer's words can be quite inspiring to a service member."

31st ADA Brigade hosts first
off-site conference

Compiled by Sgt 1st Class David Futty
and Maj. Joseph Wicker
Special to The Monitor

The foothills of the Pinos Altos Mountains of Silver City, New Mexico played host to the 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade's first Off Site.

An off site is a way of pulling together the senior officers and noncommissioned officers within the brigade, along with their spouses, to discuss important issues of concern among the brigade leadership.

By bringing the senior leadership together in an environment away from the daily stresses of computers, emails and phone calls, they can focus on the real purpose of the event. Coming together as a brigade, talking one-on-one with all levels of leadership, meeting on the common ground and discussing the hot topics of the day are just a few of the reasons to have an off site.

While in Silver City, we were able to create a relaxed forum where such topics were discussed, such as the state of the brigade, deployments, readiness, the new strategic readiness system which is planned to replace the unit status reports, and the brigade long-range calendar, to name a few. The spouses discussed topics such as family readiness groups, Army Family Team Building, FRG leadership and family preparations for deployment. After a half a day of classes on Saturday and Sunday, the families were able to enjoy the beautiful mountain setting of Pinos Altos, and revel in the variety of activities that were available.

Our agenda this year was a three-day event starting with a Friday evening icebreaker followed by conferences on Saturday and Sunday. We were fortunate to have wonderful guest speakers such as Nancy Thomas-Mainor from the Army Community Services Center. The Brigade wants to extend a special thanks to Tina G. Leyba from Mrs. T's Catering for her catering services.

31st Bde. plans to make the Off Site an annual event.

Col. Robert P. Lennox, Fort Bliss deputy commanding general, presents Pvt. Justin Creighton, B Btry., 1st Bn., 3rd ADA Regt., 3rd ID, with a deputy commanders coin for his job performance as an Avenger Stinger crewmember.

Fort Bliss ADA leaders visit deployed troops

Capt. Enrique T. Vasquez
32nd AAMDC PAO

This past holiday season, Brigadier Gen. Howard B. Bromberg, commanding general, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command and Col. Robert P. Lennox, deputy commanding general, Fort Bliss visited deployed Fort Bliss troops.

Currently more than 800 soldiers from Fort Bliss are deployed throughout Southwest Asia. Fort Bliss soldiers are part of a buildup of U.S. air, land and naval forces in the gulf area although President Bush has not made a decision on whether there will be a war with Iraq.

The Fort Bliss leadership visited soldiers to see how training could be improved and to reemphasize the important role Patriot soldiers will play in a future contingency.

"I wish to re-emphasize how important your job is over here, and how your actions will affect the futures of your children during this war on terror," said Col. Charles A. Anderson, Chief of Staff, 32nd AAMDC.

The importance of the Patriot soldier's mission was recently paraphrased in an article in the San Antonio Express-News.

"If Bush orders a U.S. attack on Iraq, Patriot air defense forces would be expected to play an important role in defending U.S. and allied forces in Kuwait and elsewhere from attack by Iraqi tactical ballistic missiles."

Along with the message of how important the role of air defense soldiers will be in any future possible conflict, Col. Robert P. Lennox, asked for inputs on how to improve training at the Air Defense School.

"How can the Air Defense School improve training?" asked Lennox. "What improvements can we do to insure Advanced Individual Training graduates are trained to meet the unit's needs?" related Lennox. Lennox spent New Year's eve visiting soldiers throughout Southwest Asia.

Lennox visited Short Range Air Defense soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Ga., as well as Patriot soldiers from Fort Bliss.

Likewise, Bromberg and his staff spent Christmas day visiting deployed Fort Bliss soldiers.

"I think it is terrific the 32nd staff came down to visit and boost the morale of the soldiers," said Pfc. Eric Scott Robertson, 14J Early Warning Systems operator, B Battery, 2nd Battalion 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

"We really appreciate the leadership coming down on Christmas day to see how we are doing," said Robertson.

In addition, to visiting soldiers, Bromberg re-enlisted 1st Sgt. Thomas Eagan, A Battery, 3rd Bn., 43rd ADA Regt.

"It was great seeing a one-star re-enlist our first sergeant, on Christmas Day," said Sgt. Nathan Fuhrman, 31R Patriot communications specialist, A Btry., 3rd Bn., 43rd ADA Regiment.

Before his departure, Bromberg wished his soldiers happy holidays and re-emphasized the importance of being able to accomplish the job at hand.

"At this point in time, it is important you are able to perform your job," related Bromberg to his soldiers.

"It is important for you to stay prepared and to keep training," he added.

Soldiers were grateful that the Fort Bliss leadership came down to visit soldiers and keep them abreast as to what is happening.

"I thought it was great the leadership came down to talk to us and keep us informed," said Pfc. Lisa Mason, Patriot Launcher crewmember, B Btry., 2nd Bn., 1st ADA Regt.

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Jan. 16, 2003

Serving the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community