Deployed Troops Get President’s Christmas Greetings

By Air Force 2nd Lt. Jenna Lenski, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing

AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar, Dec. 26, 2017 — “I'm thrilled to bring season's greetings on behalf of the first lady and our entire family and most importantly on behalf of the American people," President Donald J. Trump said over video conference to deployed service members on Christmas Eve.

Airmen from the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron deployed here, took part in a holiday conference call with the president Dec. 24.

U.S. service members from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard also joined in the video conference with Trump, who called from Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

Thanking Service Members

Trump arranged the conference call with deployed units from all the branches of the military to recognize their contributions to the fight and thank them for their service, especially during the holidays.

“Having the 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron be selected to receive a morale phone call from the President of the United States is a true Christmas gift and a real honor,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Paul Goossen, the 69th’s commander. “We feel fortunate to represent all Air Force deployed personnel and we are humbled to have the opportunity out of so many deserving units.”

Fifteen airmen from the squadron, which is deployed from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, sat in on the call with the president. The group was comprised of aircrew members, maintainers and senior leaders.

The 69 EBS was selected out of several different deployed units to represent the Air Force on the prestigious call because of their many accomplishments while serving here.

Fighting Terrorism

Flying and maintaining the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, the 69 EBS has successfully engaged over 700 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Taliban targets in five separate countries, uploaded and released over 1.5 million pounds of munitions, and received over 26 million pounds of fuel via in-flight refueling from U.S. and coalition aircraft.

“Every American heart is thankful to you and we are asking God to watch over you and to watch over your families,” Trump told the service members.

The deployed military units shared their holiday greetings and were able to ask the president questions about current and future operations.

“Getting a chance to hear President Trump discuss some of our top issues was an exhilarating experience. The 69th EBS wishes the president, his family, his staff and all Americans back home a very Merry Christmas,” Goossen said.

Medal of Honor Recipient Celebrates Christmas With Military Family

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, Afghanistan, Dec. 24, 2017 — Flo Groberg celebrated Christmas at home with his brothers- and sisters-in-arms this year.

Home is this base outside Jalalabad where Groberg was deployed in 2012 as an Army 1st lieutenant.

After retiring as a captain, he has returned as a symbol of bravery and resiliency for the soldiers of this base. Now, Groberg wears the Medal of Honor around his neck for his actions in nearby Asadabad on Aug. 8, 2012, when he was severely injured attempting to stop an attack on his patrol by suicide bombers.

Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, invited Groberg to accompany him for the 2017 USO Holiday Tour, an invitation he said he immediately accepted.

Groberg’s first stop upon arriving at the base was to visit the memorial at the entrance to the base. The names of the four Americans killed in the attack in Asadabad are engraved there.

“I left [Forward Operating Base] Fenty on a stretcher,” Groberg told the soldiers. “I spent the next couple of months of my life -- hell, years -- at Walter Reed Hospital to recover. One thing I never lost: From the first day I came into the United States Army and I put on that uniform that you are wearing, I held onto my warrior ethos -- that will to fight and destroy the enemy.”

Best of the Best

The Army and the country needs that ethos, because “the reality is, we’re at war,” Groberg said. “The reality is the work you do every single day is an honor -- you are the best of the best.

“I am back here to tell the enemy who blew me up and killed my brothers that I’m still standing. They can’t keep me down. I still have my spirit.”

Groberg told the soldiers that they are doing the job that he can’t do anymore. “For that, I honor you,” he said. “There is no better place in the world to be today -- on Christmas Eve -- than spending the holidays with you.”

The chairman also thanked the soldiers for their sacrifices and stressed that those sacrifices have been worth it to the nation. “There’s a lot of people back home this year, they are enjoying the Christmas holidays, they go into a mall, they don’t think twice about their security, they drive around and conduct their lives not thinking twice about terrorists,” Dunford said. “I’m firmly convinced … that the reason they can do that is because we are playing an away game here, instead of a home game.

He told the soldiers that he believes the reason America has not seen another 9/11 is because of the men and women who have deployed to Afghanistan over the past 16 years. “So thanks for what you are doing,” he said.

Chairman’s USO Tour Takes to Sea Aboard Aircraft Carrier Operating in Gulf

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Persian Gulf, Dec. 23, 2017 — The Chairman’s 2017 USO Holiday Tour left al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and flew 20 minutes to sovereign U.S. soil in the form of the 4.5-acre flight deck of this Nimitz-class aircraft carrier today.

Navy and Marine Corps aircraft use this big-deck carrier to take the fight to America’s enemies and to maintain American presence in tough waters. The ship left its home port of San Diego in October. The crew has already missed Thanksgiving with their families and will be launching operations over Christmas, so Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thought it was important to bring the show to the Roosevelt.

The chairman’s senior enlisted advisor -- Army Command Sgt. Maj. John W. Troxell -- told the crew that they are living up to the “Big Stick” motto of the vessel’s namesake. “Any time somebody wants to get froggy out on the water, we just send up a carrier strike group, do a little freedom of navigation operation and show them who the real maritime kings of the world are,” he said at the start of the show on the hangar deck.

In an interview after the USO show, Troxell said the Roosevelt and the rest of Carrier Strike Group 9 are an integral part of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. “The aircraft that are flying off of this carrier … every day are going to Syria and they are going to Iraq and they are putting the hammer on [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria],” the sergeant major said. “Because of their efforts, we have this threat on the run.”

And it requires operations around the clock and around the calendar, he said. The enemy doesn’t take Christmas off, Troxell noted, and service members need to be ready, even on holidays, to defend the United States, its interests and its allies.

American Might

The Roosevelt epitomizes the reality of American might. The nuclear-powered ship is 1,092 feet long and 20 stories tall. Its flight deck is 252 feet wide. The ship carries more than 70 aircraft, from F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and MH-60R/S Seahawk helicopters to E/A-18 Growlers and the old C-2 Greyhounds. And it moves along at about 35 miles per hour.

The sergeant major got a chance to speak to members of the crew and said morale is high. “They understand why they are here,” he said. “They understand what the mission is.”

The morale is also high “probably because they have a port visit coming up in Dubai, and they are going to get a little well-deserved liberty they need after being out here for several months,” the SEAC said with a smile.

He said the Roosevelt is a huge American advantage, but the crew is what makes it work and he is impressed with “how well-trained, how well-educated and how focused they are. These petty officers out here are clearly the greatest competitive advantage we have in the waters, because of them being empowered by the officers of this vessel.”

Troxell noted that thousands of service members will be away from families doing the nation’s work on Christmas and New Year’s. The Chairman’s Holiday USO Tour is one effort to let them know that America cares about them, he said. “It is truly an honor for me to be part of this USO tour, along with General Dunford … and be over here on the holidays. Nothing is more important to us than spending time with the troops on the Christmas holidays.”