New Horizon Band Makes First-Ever Deployment

Rock band travels to Southwest Asia as part of an Air Expeditionary Force

By TSgt Eric M. Grill
Electronic Systems Center Public Affairs

After years of planning, the Air Force Band of Liberty's New Horizon rock band became the first Air Force band to deploy into a major theater of operations as part of an Air Expeditionary Force. 

The six-member band, along with four crew members, deployed May 2 and spent about two weeks in Southwest Asia performing for not only Airmen, but sailors, Marines, soldiers and civilians, who are all supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"We basically went over there to bring a little bit of home to the troops," said Master Sergeant David Mitchell, who plays guitar and is a vocalist with the band. "Some of the people have been over there for more than a year. We were able to break up some of the monotony that goes along with deployments."

Previously, bands would be sent overseas in a temporary duty status, but that posed logistical problems, said Lt Col Mark Peterson, chief of Air Force Bands division for the Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs. 

For military airlift priority, people on temporary duty weren't as high up on the list as deployed people, Colonel Peterson said. Now, because the band members are being deployed as part of an AEF, the band is able to travel on military aircraft with the same priority and can get around the area of responsibility much easier.

With the exception of one member, this was the group's first time overseas. 

"I wasn't really worried (about deploying to a war zone)," said Airman 1st Class Tim Reeder, the band's sound engineer. "We flew from base to base and felt pretty safe."

Unfortunately that didn't mean they were out of harm's way. During one of the band's performances at Balad AB in Iraq, the base came under attack.

"We had to wait for the all-clear before anyone could leave the building," said Senior Master Sergeant Mike O'Connor, the band's operations manager. 

The band members, along with everyone in attendance, donned their protective equipment. As people in the entertainment business say, "the show must go on..." And it did, for a total of two and a half hours.

"We couldn't go anywhere, so we just played," Sergeant Mitchell said.

When the band ran out of their prepared material, they started taking requests from the crowd.

"People just started shouting out song names, and we hit our music books and played everything that we know," he said.

At one base, Sergeant Mitchell and Staff Sergeant Keisha Gwin, the band's main vocalist, gave more personalized performances to people who couldn't attend the scheduled performances. 

At another base, the band's performance was the first outdoor entertainment for people in the current AEF cycle, and the first outdoor entertainment at that base since February, Sergeant O' Connor said.

Senior Airman Bennett Weidemann, the band's drummer, said this trip made him look at freedom in a different way.

"Freedom isn't free," he said. "It's not about politics or religion; it's about the little things. It's about the freedom to go to the beach; it's about the freedom to go shopping. It's about the things that we take for granted." (Staff Sergeant Melanie Streeter contributed to this story)