Country Music stars entertain Nellis Published April 6, 2011 By 2nd Lt. Laura Balch Nellis Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The USO and the Academy of Country Music hosted the second annual concert for Nellis Airmen and their families April 2 at the Nellis Sports Pavilion. The concert featured, in order of appearance, Brett Eldredge, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Sunny Sweeney, Little Big Town, Craig Morgan, Miss Willie Brown and Montgomery Gentry. Storme Warren, the host of Great American Country's "Headline Country," emceed the event. At the beginning of the concert, the Academy of Country Music presented Col. Steve Garland, 99th Air Base Wing commander, with a $10,000 check. The donation will enable the Nellis Youth Center to purchase new musical instruments. Throughout the concert, both on and off stage, the entertainers expressed their gratitude to the military and to the family members that support them. "This is the first time I've participated in a USO event," said Brett Eldredge. "I had a roommate in Nashville who served in Iraq and I remember him saying that, while oversees, having something to look forward to was so important. His favorite memory was when an artist came to visit. That always stuck with me and now, any time I can do something like this, I'm happy to do it. These guys are my heroes." "When we heard about this show, we said right away that we wanted to be a part of it," said Kasey Buckley, a member of Miss Willie Brown. "It's very rare that we get to perform our song [Freeland] in front of the people it was written for." Doug Bradford, the center director for the USO Las Vegas, and many of the USO volunteers attended the concert. In addition to assisting with the setup and teardown for the event, these USO workers spread the word about the Las Vegas center, which opened Nov. 11, 2010. "The USO is open at McCarran [International] Airport 24 hours a day, seven days a week," Mr. Bradford said. "Our center has three gaming stations, three desktop computers, 20 laptop computers, a TV lounge with recliners and a snack bar. We know there's a need for it; we have troops coming in from all across the country. We want to let [the military] know that while their families are waiting for them to come home, they've got a place to come have a snack, watch a movie, read a book and relax." In addition to running centers at many airport locations, the USO coordinates hundreds of entertainment events every year to ensure the military community knows the USO cares. "In 2010, the USO conducted more than 100 USO tours in 21 countries and 11 states," said Oname Thompson, USO communications manager. "The USO also organized more than 700 entertainment events with more than 200 celebrities. These events included concerts, autograph signings, hospital visits and movie screenings." Some of the entertainers at the Nellis concert were no strangers to USO events. Montgomery Gentry and Craig Morgan have each participated in multiple USO tours and have each entertained more than 27,000 troops. Craig Morgan, a former active duty Solider and Army reservist, shared his reasons for participating so often in USO events. "Ever since I left the military and I started working as an entertainer, I knew that [the USO] was an organization that I could work with and still maintain that relationship that I had with the military," Mr. Morgan said. "As an entertainer, I get great gratification in knowing that we have an opportunity to let those men and women that are serving, whether it is overseas or at home, know how much we support them... and how much we appreciate their sacrifices." More than 5,000 people attended this year's concert, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Throughout the show, audience members clapped and cheered for all the entertainers and sang along to their favorite songs. One of the younger members of the audience was Bethany Millican, daughter of Lt. Col. Tony Millican, 98th Mission Support Group deputy commander. She brought a guitar to the concert and was able to get it autographed by Montgomery Gentry, Little Big Town, Craig Morgan and Storme Warren. "This is probably one of the best days I've ever had," Miss Millican said. "My dad, my mom, my sister and her friends are here and all these singers came out and sang for Nellis Air Force Base. I am going to tell my friends that I was at the most awesome concert in the world! I just loved this concert; it was so amazing!"
