Country music entertainer, TV host and Army veteran Craig Morgan continued his role as a Force Behind the Forces recently when he returned from his tenth USO tour, joining Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul J. Selva for an around-the-world goodwill visit. The weeklong USO tour, focused on keeping service members connected to family, home, and country, spanned eight days and seven countries and ventured to western Tokyo, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq and Spain as well as the Korean Peninsula where the singer was once stationed. Joining Morgan were comedian Jon Stewart, NBA Legend Richard “Rip” Hamilton, celebrity chef Robert Irvine, and MMA fighters Paige VanZant and Max Holloway.
This trip marked Morgan’s third USO tour with the Vice Chairman, having last traveled with him on a weeklong, six-country USO tour in March 2017. Portions of previous trips were highlighted on PBS Film’s USO–For the Troops, which celebrated the USO’s 75-year anniversary.
Morgan first volunteered with the USO in 2002 and is a USO Merit Award recipient who has gone on to participate in ten USO tours, where he has entertained more than 37,000 service members and military families in 12 countries. Among the countries Morgan has visited with the USO are the U.S., Guam, Japan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Greece, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Diego Garcia, Qatar and Italy. Prior to making it big on the country music scene, the singer/songwriter spent more than 10.5 years of service in the U.S. Army and an additional 6.5 years in the U.S. Army Reserves. This marks his tenth tour abroad with the USO and his fifteenth overseas tour for our troops.