Wrangler Cowboys and Cowgirls along with Nashville Artists embark on their 8th Wrangler National Patriot Tour on Monday May 22nd. Where is our Department of Defense Armed Forces Entertainment office sending them this year?
Bases in Kosovo and Jordan.
To date the western team has visited: Alaska, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Oman, our Pacific Command and UAE to name a few. This year’s Memorial Day tour will be mixing the lush green rolling hills and cool European temperatures of Kosovo with the baking hot sands and stone of Jordan in the Middle East.
“Where we go each year doesn’t matter, why we go and who we go to see is what this annual trip is all about,” says Jeff Chadwick, a Director with the Wrangler Corporation who has been on all of the trips to date, adding, “Armed Forces Entertainment and American300 have done a fantastic job over the years of moving us around the world with a focus on remote and isolated base visits which is the only thing we’ve grown to expect.”
Mr. Chadwick who held a professional rodeo card himself ‘back in the day’ has assembled an all-star team for this year’s trip including tour mainstay Lucas Hoge and his Band’s lead guitarist Thomas Becker, joined by Wrangler Cowgirls: Annie Bianco, Jenna Smeenk and Brittany Truman along with World Champion and Hall of Fame Cowboy Bullfighter Rob Smets.
Non-stop boot stomping musical performances, on the fly roping lessons and most importantly western community icons getting to spend time with the troops is what this tour has always been about. American300’s John Bates and Robi Powers couldn’t be more proud of this traditional effort.
Colonel Bates, a retired Marine Corps 3x purple heart recipient sums it up this way: “there’s something about putting Nashville’s finest with Cowgirls and Cowboys and watching them show the Troops that they’re admired and appreciated in and around Memorial Day that rings of ‘they’re not forgotten – you’re not forgotten’ loud and clear… it’s pure Americana… with love by some the most genuine troop supporters you’ll ever find.”
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