Entertainment Tours make the job more enjoyable...

http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/2010/11/15/1116-cartoon-mike-luckovich-on-afghanistan/ (In Photo: WA Redskins Cheerleaders aboard the C-17 ready to head home.)

The WA Redskins Cheerleaders danced and cheered in conjuntion with the X-Bowl Madden NFL competition held on base. Microsoft sponsored the event along with some others; and brought out gaming systems and provided this fun event for our clamshell full of excited soldiers and civilians.

(In Photo: Scott Kennedy and Mike Pace)

In Oct, we traveled north with a couple of funny comedians - Scott Kennedy and Mike Pace. It was Scott's 42nd tour here and Iraq. He is very committed to keeping the smiles on the faces of heroes in the field. We traveled to outposts that were very small, and they performed for over 2,000 soldiers. I must admit that traveling in blackhawks was both scary and exhilarating.

In Nov, we took a group of cartoonists south, to Kandahar. It was warm there, and I really liked the base. They have a wonderful boardwalk with shops and sports fields in the center. Every day soldiers play everything from baseball, football, cricket, basketball, and even hockey. The joke is that the Canadian Forces are equipping the country with hockey rinks. When you go to a FOB and there is a hockey rink you know the Canadians aren't far away. The one bad thing about this base is that they dump all of the "blackwater" into a pond that is aerated, which simply means continuously stinks! They even have shirts about the "Poo Poo Pond". Makes me all the happier to be living in Bagram, where I have learned how to digest the diesel fuel smell and dust.

I loved watching the visiting cartoonists draw caricatures and cartoons. They sat and talked and listened to soldiers stories; sharing their experiences at war and the love of their families back home.
(In Photo: Garry Trudeau, "Doonesbury"; Mike Luckovich, Editorial Cartoonist; Rick Kirkman, "Baby Blues")

Each soldier willing to wait in the long lines, walked away smiling and excited to have been in the company of: Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury); Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine); Mike Lukovich (Editorial Cartoonist); Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine); Jeff Keane (Family Circus); and Rick Kirkman (Baby Blues). I came away with some great cartoons drawn just for me, as well as two very cool caricatures from Tom Richmond and Mike Lukovich.
(Drawing done for me by Tom Richmond, MAD Magazine)