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| Dave Gatley / USO |
| Jared Allen speaks as NFL players participate in a USO meet and greet at Camp Ramadi in Iraq. |
Previous blogs:
» Day 1: Arrival in Kuwait
» Day 2: Running into old friends
» Day 3: Planes, helicopters and automobiles
» Day 4: Meet-and-greet with soldiers
The NFL is continuing this March its legacy of more than 40 years of sending players overseas to visit with U.S. military troops. The NFL's Director of Community Affairs, David Krichavsky, is accompanying four NFL players -- Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, New York Giants linebacker Danny Clark, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and St. Louis Rams linebacker Will Witherspoon -- on a week-long tour to U.S. military bases in Iraq and Kuwait.
St. Louis Rams LB Will Witherspoon wrote his own blog post about the trip so far, including the first sandstorm experienced by the player in the Persian Gulf. More ... » Danny Clark touches down in Iraq
The following is Krichavsky's Day 5 blog:
Defense wins championships. You need to run effectively and control the clock to win against a strong opponent. Protect the ball because it's difficult to overcome turnovers. Add to those axioms that flexibility is critical on a USO tour. On nearly every trip, weather patterns, transportation problems, or some other unforeseen issue inevitably causes you to divert from your original itinerary. The key is adapting in such a way so that you can still bring as much goodwill and visit with as many troops as possible. That is what we did on Day 5 of the USO tour.
Our day started in Ramadi where we boarded Ospreys after an early wake-up call and breakfast. Our plan for the day was to visit two bases, first a remote base called Camp Gannon on the Syrian border and then a larger base, Al Asad, where we would spend the night.
As we boarded the Osprey, Larry Fitzgerald was invited up front to experience the flight from the cockpit. The rest of us settled into the main cabin for the 45-minute flight to Camp Gannon.
When we landed, some of us realized that the flight seemed shorter than expected; others did not. Regardless, any confusion was cleared up when Larry bounded out of the cockpit and said, "We can't make it out West to Gannon. The sandstorm is too bad."
We had been tracking a potential sandstorm for the past couple of days, and had luckily dodged it thus far. However, it was now descending on Central and Western Iraq.
Sandstorms are relatively common this time of year in Iraq when the winds pick up, and a bad sandstorm can turn the air all around you red and reduce visibility to only five to 10 feet. Needless to say, aircraft don't fly in this weather. While the Osprey couldn't make it from Ramadi to our desired destination due to the storm (which only qualified as a dust storm at this point, not a full-fledged sandstorm), we were able to make it to Al Asad, which was supposed to be our second destination today. We took advantage of the extra time at Al Asad to spend more time with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines at this large base.
In addition, one of the first things that the players did upon arriving at Al Asad was to begin signing autograph sheets to send to the troops at Camp Gannon, the base which the storm would prevent us from visiting. This is something the players did on their own without anyone suggesting it to them. "We didn't want those guys not to get anything just because we can't make it there," Larry explained.
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| Dave Gatley / USO |
| NFL players pose for a group photo with troops while touring Al Asad, one of ten military bases visited this week. » Photos: 2009 NFL USO tour |
Among the highlights of our day at Al Asad was a terrific visit and discussion with two generals, Major General Richard Tryon and Brigadier General John Wissler. The generals did a great job explaining to us how they have established partnerships with local sheiks in Iraq to help bring stability to the region. Another highlight was a visit to the hospital on base, where the players met with patients and staff. Will Witherspoon even volunteered to serve as a "test patient" as the hospital staff participated in a drill in which they practice loading a wounded soldier onto a gurney and transporting him throughout the hospital.
Also very notable was a pig roast lunch that we had with a group of soldiers. The pig had to be flown in from Germany, and the troops had been cooking it on a hand-made spit for over 18 hours in order to enjoy it for lunch with us.
Despite the constant dust that filled the air -- getting in your eyes and nose and anywhere else exposed -- our day was filled with stops at offices and duty stations all over Al Asad. This gave us some sense of the size of the base. That size was confirmed when we arrived at our evening meet-and-greet and found a snaking line awaiting us at the MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) center.
We once again began the evening with a "football roundtable" in which the players talked about their experiences on and off the field and took questions from the crowd. The back-and-forth exchanges were terrific, with the topics ranging from T.O. (why did the Bills take the risk of signing him?) to O.T. (should the NFL change its overtime rules?) and beyond. One of the best comments of the night came from Jared Allen who said, "I'm going to think of all of you when I'm in training camp this summer and struggling to get through a tough drill. The sacrifices that you make are so much greater than anything we do. And the work that you put in and the discipline that you show is off the charts."
More than 600 troops came to the evening meet-and-greet on Day 5, making it our largest gathering of the 2009 NFL-USO tour. All left with at least an autograph, most got photos, and some received NFL t-shirts and other gifts. Perhaps most importantly, all were entertained, receiving a slice of home provided by the NFL, and a reminder that folks back in the States haven't forgotten about them.
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