Photo By Sgt. Elizabeth Raney | U.S. Army Sgt. Jennifer Champagne, a native of Houston, and U.S. Army Sgt. Richard...... read more read more
NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The residents of Forward Operating Base Fenty got a chance to kick back and enjoy a live performance by AWOL, the rock band component of the 1st Infantry Division Band out of Fort Riley, Kan., July 17, 2012.
AWOL, which stands for Aggression Without Limit, performed an hour and a half-long show for the service members and civilians at the FOB.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Keith Cassant, a Queensbury, N.Y., native and non-commissioned officer in charge of the band, said FOB Fenty was one of the bases that responded to an offer for the band to visit and perform, and the band was happy to accept.
“We absolutely love it,” Cassant said. “It’s a great morale boost for the Soldiers and we love making that connection with the Soldiers. We love to raise their morale and really give them a taste of home so they can kind of let their hair down and take it easy from the combat mission and enjoy the show.”
U.S. Army Sgt. Richard Ingle, a native of Daytona Beach, Fla., and vocalist for the group, said he really enjoys performing for the soldiers.
“Seeing the troops and how excited and happy they get when they hear something and they say ‘Hey, I used to play that in my bedroom all the time,’” Ingle said. “It just brings that home feeling back to them for a while, so it makes it all worth it.”
U.S. Army Sgt. Jennifer Champagne, from Houston, another vocalist for the band, expressed that she’s glad her job makes other people happy.
“A lot of people have a pretty stressful job, so…[we] play for them and let them feel a little carefree for the evening,” she said. “We get to travel around and play for people and see them have a good time and play music.”
Soldiers and civilians sang along with the band and some even danced to a couple songs, all taking advantage of the opportunity to relax.
“This event was a huge success, one of the best ones we’ve had actually,” Cassant said.
“The crowd really enjoyed it. We could tell the soldiers were really…being able to relax and enjoy the music and were really getting into the music.”
According to Ingle, large performances such as this are not the only thing AWOL does while deployed.
“Sometimes…we go out and do battle rotations, jump from FOB to FOB, stay about 15 or 20 minutes, play a little music for the troops and bring a little home back to them and then we go to another spot,” Ingle said. “We just bust into offices sometimes and play happy birthday for a first sergeant.”
“I love the deployments because this is when we actually get to do the…meat and potatoes of our job,” Champagne said. “I’m in the band because I love music, so, not only do they enjoy it, but I enjoy it because it’s what I love doing.”
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 07.20.2012 07:17 |
| Story ID: | 91877 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE FENTY, AF |
| Web Views: | 222 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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