USO Troupe Commences Holiday Tour at Spanish Air Base

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

MORON AIR BASE, Spain, Dec. 21, 2017 — Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford and Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell arrived here today with the 2017 USO Holiday Tour in tow, bringing a little bit of America to service members.

This is the third year that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his senior enlisted advisor have led troupes of performers overseas to thank service members for their sacrifices. It is the first USO Holiday Tour visit to Moron -- a strategic military hub and home to airmen, Marines and sailors.

Medal of Honor Recipient

Also accompanying Dunford is retired Army Capt. Florent Groberg, a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in Afghanistan in 2012.

The 2017 iteration of the Holiday Tour features professional wrestlers Michael “The Miz” Mizanin and Alicia Fox; actor-comedians Adam DeVine and Iliza Shlesinger; country singer Jerrod Niemann and his band; and celebrity chef and talk show host Robert Irvine and his wife, Gail Kim-Irvine, a professional wrestler, model and actress.

Like the forces they are visiting, the performers are all volunteers.

At the Spanish air base, the troupe will meet with service members from the 469th Air Base Squadron and the Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response – Africa.

The stop in Moron is the first of a weeklong trip to the U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command areas of operations, Joint Staff officials said.

USO Holiday Tour History

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers began the chairman’s holiday tour in 2003. Myers remembered fondly the USO shows he had seen as a young airman and worked with the USO to make it happen. The event gives service members tangible proof that the American people love them, miss them and value them.

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey and now Gen. Dunford successively led USO tours.

Last year, Dunford led two Holiday tours -- one in early December that visited Turkey, Qatar, Afghanistan and Germany -- and another that put on four shows in Iraq over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.