Alliance residents Shawn Nelson of Westco, Tracy Jatczak of Box Butte General Hospital, and Kevin Horn of KCOW Radio participated in a military "Bosslift" July 19-21 in Tacoma, WA.
Bosslift is sponsored by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve and is designed to garner support from employers by helping them to understand why employees have to leave work for training or active duty.
Nominated by Randy Langemeier of Alliance, the trio and 20 others from across Nebraska boarded a Nebraska Air National Guard KC-135 cargo plane at the Nebraska Air National Guard Base in Lincoln and flew non-stop to McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma. Along the way, the group viewed an airborne fueling mission -- at 28,000 feet -- of the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron.
The group spent two days touring the Fort Lewis National Guard and Reserve base near Tacoma, viewing the quarters where the guard members reside, training facilities which included signs of Iraqi roadside bombs, and visiting with a number of Nebraska Troops stationed there. A good number of the Nebraska troops, who are members of the 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade under the command of COL Philip Stemple of Lincoln, are scheduled to be deployed to Iraq for a ten month mission sometime after August 10.
The highlight of the trip was the chance to meet with Combat Infantry Specialist Jared Hoffman, a 2007 graduate of Alliance High School. Hoffman is the son of the John and Deb Hoffman of Alliance. SPC Hoffman is also scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in August.
