Branden Albert Official Website

On Day 2 of the NFL USO tour, our group tried to cover every inch of Al Udeid AB and meet as many of the 11,000 troops on base as possible.

 

We began the day with an 8 a.m. breakfast that was structured as a "football roundtable Q&A" in which the players sat at a table at the front of the room and the troops in the DFAC (dining facility) had the opportunity to ask the players questions.  As a representative of "America's Team," Jason Witten seemed to have the most questions directed his way, although there was interest in a wide range of football (and non-football) topics.

 

After breakfast, the players toured the flight line, seeing all the different planes and jets that operate out of Al Udeid AB and visiting with the men and women who fly and work on the planes.  The B1 bomber was a particular hit with the players due to its precision bombing capabilities.  The players not only provided autographs to all the B1 pilots at this stop, but they also were able to sign a few of the bombs heading on the B1s into the war zone.  "From Cleveland, with love," wrote Joe Thomas affectionately.

 

Another highlight was touring the Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC).  This command-and-control center coordinates all air assets over both Iraq and Afghanistan.  In the CAOC building, there are giant screens showing all planes currently in flight above both war theaters.  The screens also show everywhere in Iraq and Afghanistan where we have Troops In Combat (TIC).  And the most amazing part of all is that we generally have renaissance planes over these TIC areas that transmit live pictures to the CAOC so that those at the CAOC can call in additional air support if necessary.

 

The players spent 30-45 minutes in CAOC, soaking everything in and signing autographs for all the airmen and women working there.

 

One other highlight of our tour of Al Udeid was our visit to the K-9 unit.  Al Udeid has a dog unit specially trained to sniff out explosives.  The players had the opportunity to watch the dogs go through a number of exercises designed to test and refine their training.

 

After a brief rest and dinner, our group had a large meet-and-greet in the evening.  This appearance attracted well over 300 troops from across the base.