SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The U.S. Air Forces Central Command Band, Touch n’ Go, played for a packed room full of U.S. and joint Coalition forces, at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, August 7-8, 2017.
The ensemble performed a variety of popular music spanning the top 40 hits, pop and dance songs of today to easily recognizable rock-n-roll classics of yesterday.
“The main purpose of this visit was troop support, to boost troop morale,” said Tech. Sgt. John Kukan, the NCOIC of the AFCENT Band and guitarist. “Our goal was to break up the monotony of the day-to-day activities for everyone stationed here and bring a little bit of joy to them and put smiles on their faces.”
As a means to motivate U.S. and Coalition forces, the AFCENT Band continuously travels and performs across the AOR providing a taste of home to deployed servicemembers.
Performing approximately 200 events a year, the AFCENT Band’s mission extends far past troop support. The band disrupts adversarial narratives and is a useful tool in developing relationships of trust with allies and emerging partners.
Its members participate in community outreach and cultural exchange using music as a way to help bridge language barriers so diverse peoples can connect and build partnerships.
“Our band uniquely affects outside relationships because we speak a language that everyone understands regardless of your age, background, race, culture or language,” said Senior Airman Paula Hunt, one of the band’s lead vocalists. “Music is something that can connect like nothing else. Whether it’s a rock song or a country tune, we get the opportunity just to bring people together, they’re singing, they’re dancing and that softens hearts and brings people together.”
The band’s high energy show and follow-on live band karaoke brought 386th Air Expeditionary Wing members and joint coalition partners together for two nights of fun, laughter and fellowship.
“This experience is very unique and it is an incredible blessing because we get to interact with all these different people, of different ages from different nations,” said Hunt. “I am a small-town-America girl from Nebraska. I never thought I’d see more than my backyard and here I am traveling this area of responsibility. It’s just an incredible mission, getting to share and getting to see the world. It’s a lot of fun.”