Fort Bliss Monitor

Sgt. Maj. Richard Gillis

Instead of reindeer and a sleigh, Santa arrives at the U.S.
Army Sergeants Major Academy Christmas Program and
Tree Lighting on a Harley Davidson motorcycle.

USASMA rings in the holidays

Sgt. Maj. Angi Gordon
USASMA Class 57

Students, family members, staff and faculty of Class 57, United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, joined together Dec. 14 to celebrate the holidays with a Christmas Program and Tree Lighting Ceremony at Biggs Army Airfield.

The program was originally planned to be a tree lighting ceremony, but through the hard work and persistence of the committee, it turned out to be a spectacular event for all in attendance.

“You can see they put a lot of heart and soul into the program tonight to bring Christmas to us before departing on leave,” said Sgt. Maj. Mike Lynch, Class 57.
Opening the program were comments and an invocation by Chap. (Maj.) Mark Johnston, chaplain for USASMA.

Next, Col. David Abramowitz, commandant for USASMA, addressed the audience with his well wishes and safety messages for all of the students and their families over the holidays, a bitter-sweet moment for the commandant, as this will be his last holiday season at USASMA.

The audience was literally jumping out of their seats during a unique rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, which encouraged various groups of participants to sing certain phrases.

“At first I thought it was going to be silly, but it was actually fun and we all got quite a bit of a laugh from it” said Sgt. Maj. Reynaldo Canales, Class 57.

The evening was also filled with performances from the Biggs Chapel Choir, the Fort Bliss Chapel Handbell Choir and the USASMA Choir. Shortly after the choir concluded, the group hurried outside to see the tree lighting ceremony. Just as the lights were illuminated, someone thought they had heard the hoofs of reindeer in the distance. Much to everyone’s delight, it was Santa’s helpers, but instead of reindeer and a sleigh, they arrived in a Harley Davidson motorcade.

Command Sgt. Maj. Darieus ZaGara, USASMA battalion commander, closed the ceremony, and the crowd dwindled off, one by one, into the holiday-charged evening.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	Jan. 4, 2007

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Sgt. Maj. Richard Gillis Instead of reindeer and a sleigh, Santa arrives at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Christmas Program and Tree Lighting on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. USASMA rings in the holidays Sgt. Maj. Angi Gordon USASMA Class 57 Students, family members, staff and faculty of Class 57, United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, joined together Dec. 14 to celebrate the holidays with a Christmas Program and Tree Lighting Ceremony at Biggs Army Airfield. The program was originally planned to be a tree lighting ceremony, but through the hard work and persistence of the committee, it turned out to be a spectacular event for all in attendance. “You can see they put a lot of heart and soul into the program tonight to bring Christmas to us before departing on leave,” said Sgt. Maj. Mike Lynch, Class 57. Opening the program were comments and an invocation by Chap. (Maj.) Mark Johnston, chaplain for USASMA. Next, Col. David Abramowitz, commandant for USASMA, addressed the audience with his well wishes and safety messages for all of the students and their families over the holidays, a bitter-sweet moment for the commandant, as this will be his last holiday season at USASMA. The audience was literally jumping out of their seats during a unique rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, which encouraged various groups of participants to sing certain phrases. “At first I thought it was going to be silly, but it was actually fun and we all got quite a bit of a laugh from it” said Sgt. Maj. Reynaldo Canales, Class 57. The evening was also filled with performances from the Biggs Chapel Choir, the Fort Bliss Chapel Handbell Choir and the USASMA Choir. Shortly after the choir concluded, the group hurried outside to see the tree lighting ceremony. Just as the lights were illuminated, someone thought they had heard the hoofs of reindeer in the distance. Much to everyone’s delight, it was Santa’s helpers, but instead of reindeer and a sleigh, they arrived in a Harley Davidson motorcade. Command Sgt. Maj. Darieus ZaGara, USASMA battalion commander, closed the ceremony, and the crowd dwindled off, one by one, into the holiday-charged evening.