Military Music - Military Times

Country on tour

Country music star Mark Wills enters the U.S. Army Band recital hall at Fort Myer, Va., and greets a crowd of two dozen musicians, sound technicians, USO reps and Army personnel.

“These are my war buddies,” Wills says, “the guys I’m traveling with now.”

Wills and his new crew have gathered for a quick rehearsal Dec. 15 and will catch an early flight the next day to spend nearly two weeks traveling to forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan to meet and perform for service members as part of the Sergeant Major of the Army’s Hope and Freedom USO Tour.

“I kind of feel like it’s my tour,” Wills, 35, says of his eighth trip to the war zone. “I take a lot of ownership over it.”

Wills has recruited fellow country musicians Craig Morgan and Keni Thomas for this trip, which has become an annual holiday event. Comedian Louis CK, sports commentator and model Leeann Tweeden and several Miami Dolphins cheerleaders also are in the lineup.

“I grew up playing army,” Wills says, “so when the opportunity arose for me to be able to give back and do something like this, I jumped at it. Because I think this is one of the coolest things that any American can do — show support for our troops.”

Although Wills has no military experience — his father was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War and served with the 101st Airborne — his fellow musicians have decorated service records: Morgan served on active duty for 10 years with the Army’s 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions, and Thomas is a former staff sergeant in the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. He participated in the ill-fated Battle of Mogadishu, memorialized in the book and film “Black Hawk Down,” and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor.

“Those guys are the real deal,” Wills says. “I think the theory for myself, for Craig, for Keni and for everybody on this tour is to touch as many soldiers as we can — to shake hands and talk and sign pictures.”

Wills goes through a three-song set of hits, including the perennial favorite “Nineteen Something,” which spent seven weeks atop the country charts in 2002, before turning the stage over to Morgan and Thomas. He spends a few minutes packing necessary gear — a Kevlar helmet, a bulletproof vest (he purchased his own), clothes — and places his ruck into a neatly stacked line of bags before spending the rest of the afternoon catching up with old friends.

Wills and longtime friend Master Sgt. Caleb Green, a vocalist with the U.S. Army Band, share photos of their families on their iPhones while the other performers rehearse.

“He’s a headliner and he could be anywhere in the world doing what he wanted to do, getting paid,” Green says, “and he chose to hang out with the little guys like us, which is cool.”

“I do get paid,” Wills jokes. “I get $25 a day.”

Their friendship has blossomed over years of USO tours where they have performed together, and they share “war stories” from trips past.

“You’ve heard the whole thing of brothers in arms,” Wills says. “Really, for what we do, these are our brothers in arms. Just like the real Army.”

“You couldn’t write the right words, you couldn’t write the right song to convey what happens on this trip,” Green said.

Wills willingly accepts the dangers of a combat-zone venue. Last September, he suffered severe dehydration while filming “My Military Diary” in Iraq for GAC — he refers to the trip as the “IV Tour” — and has been closer to mortar and machine-gun attacks than he’d like.

Still, he keeps re-enlisting.

“You can’t deter me from going,” he says. Iraq is “no more dangerous than Detroit.”

When he performs for soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, his show takes on a more “adult friendly” vibe, he says, and troops often become part of the show.

“We cuss a lot more,” he jokes. He also asks who in the crowd is a fan of country music — and who is not.

To those who are not, he says, “tough s--- — it’s a free show.”

“It’s honestly the best crowd you will ever play for as a performer,” says Kevin Key, 30, Wills’ lead guitarist. “I always look forward to a military crowd because they just appreciate everything you do.”

Wills has traveled to the Middle East eight times since the outbreak of the war in 2003, and each time, he says he’s reminded of why he goes.

“It gets into your blood and you can’t get rid of it. Once you feel the satisfaction of being able to go over and entertain,” he says, “you almost crave it.

“This tour, going overseas, is not about selling records to me,” Wills says. “I don’t care if one person in the military ever buys my album. That’s not what we go for. That’s not what I go for.”

He’s seen celebrities accept USO invitations so they can feel close to the action or, worse, receive credit for supporting the troops.

“I go because I enjoy it. I go because it’s Christmas, and what better way to give some man or some woman a Christmas present that you’ve never met in your life than by taking a little entertainment to them,” he says.

“And I’d like to think that if I were in the military, maybe one of my favorite singers would come over and do a show for me.” Ë