/ Published May 28, 2009
Three NCAA football coaches--(from left to right) Jim Tressel of Ohio State, Jim Grobe of Wake Forest, and Troy Calhoun of Air Force--listen to Staff Sgt. James Long talk about the boom of a KC-135 Stratotanker at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27. The coaches visited different units at the base to start Coaches Tour 2009, a second annual morale-boosting mission that allows U.S. servicemembers to interact with icons of college football. Sergeant Long is a KC-135 hyrdraulics technician assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Troy Calhoun, head coach of the Air Force football team, gives an autographed hat to Staff Sgt. Steve Sellers during a visit to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27. Coach Calhoun and two other NCAA football coaches--Jim Grobe of Wake Forest and Jim Tressel of Ohio State--were at the base to kickoff Coaches Tour 2009, a second annual morale-boosting mission that brings icons of college football to U.S. servicemembers. Sergeant Sellers is a KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator and native of Killeen, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Senior Airman Eric Farley shows Jim Tressel, head football coach at Ohio State University, how to remotely control a robot used during explosive ordnance disposal missions. Airman Farley, native of Fayette, Ala., is assigned to an EOD unit at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., where Tressel and two other coaches--Troy Calhoun of Air Force and Jim Grobe of Wake Forest--visited at the start of a morale-boosting mission called Coaches Tour 2009. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Three NCAA football coaches who visited McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27, took time to sign a robot used during exposive ordnance disposal missions. The coaches--Troy Calhoun of Air Force, Jim Grobe of Wake Forest, and Jim Tressel of Ohio State--were at the base to start Coaches Tour 2009, a second annual morale-boosting mission that brings icons of college football to U.S. servicemembers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Staff Sgt. Myrick Bell helps Jim Grobe, head football coach at Wake Forest University, get fitted with body armor at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27. Coach Grobe and six other NCAA football coaches were scheduled to fly overseas aboard a KC-135 from McConnell on May 28 at the start of Coaches Tour 2009, a second annual morale-boosting mission designed to bring college football icons to troops overseas. Sergeant Bell is assigned to the 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron at McConnell. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Troy Calhoun, head coach of the Air Force football team, takes aim with a foreign-made grenade launcher during a demonstration at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27. To his left is Jim Grobe, head football coach at Wake Forest, and to his right is Jim Tressel, head coach at Ohio State. The coaches visited McConnell at the kickoff of Coaches Tour 2009, a second-annual morale-boosting mission that brings college football icons to U.S. servicemembers. Also pictured is Capt. George Haka, member of the explosive ordnance disposal team at McConnell that provided the coaches several demonstrations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Troy Calhoun, head football coach at the Air Force Academy, talks to a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot while Jim Tressel, head football coach at Ohio State University, learns how to fly inside a KC-135 simulator at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27. The coaches were visiting the base at the start of Coaches Tour 2009, a morale-boosting mission that allows icons of college football to interact with U.S. servicemembers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)
Master Sgt. Tarah Baxley offers Jim Grobe, head football coach at Wake Forest University, a writing surface in exchange for his autograph at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on May 27. Coach Grobe visited the base at the start of Coaches Tour 2009, a second annual morale-boosting mission that allows college football icons to interact with U.S. servicemembers. Sergeant Baxley is a medical lab technician assigned to the 22nd Air Refueling Wing at McConnell and a native of Caribou, Maine. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap)