By Kate Lange
You might have recently read about how five PGA Tour golfers joined the USO to visit troops stationed in Djibouti over the holidays. Well, they’re back, and one of them had plenty to say about his once in a lifetime experience.
PGA Tour golfer Shaun Micheel’s appreciation for the military started with his father, an Air Force veteran, who told him lots of stories growing up. Micheel has visited bases and worked with veterans groups since, but the Djibouti trip was his first through the USO, which works to keep service members connected to home during the holidays.
So what were some of the coolest parts of his experience?
PGA golfers (from left) Shaun Micheel, Kyle Thompson, Billy Hurley II, Kris Blanks and David Hearn stand with Navy Capt. Charles Degilio, the commanding officer of Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, while visiting the base during a USO tour, Dec. 7, 2018.
Camp Lemonnier was very different from his other military adventures.
Micheel has flown with the 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia and the Naval Fighter Weapons School of “Top Gun” fame in Nevada. But going to remote Camp Lemonnier was a new experience. The Navy-led installation is truly at the center of many of our major overseas operations, so there was a lot of security.
“You have five PGA golfers walking around a military base in golf clothes. We certainly stood out, but it was a great opportunity,” Micheel said.
“It was fascinating to see the equipment and to get a backstage pass to what these men and women do for us every single day.”
PGA golfers Shaun Micheel, Kyle Thompson, Billy Hurley II, Kris Blanks and David Hearn learn from a sailor about the various weapons the Navy uses for duties at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, during a USO tour, Dec. 8, 2018.
The group only had two full days to tour the base, so they crammed a lot in, including meeting the commanding officer and seeing some Navy vessels that patrol and protect other ships in the Gulf of Aden.
Their accommodations were … interesting.
About 4,000 military, civilian and Defense Department contractors call Camp Lemonnier home right now. So where did the golfers sleep? In shipping containers, like everyone else.
Those deployed to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, live in shipping containers turning into housing.
“We knew we were going to be staying on the base, but when we got there, there were literally shipping containers that you see on trains that have been converted to housing,” he said.
“And they were wonderful!”
I swear we didn’t tell him to say that, either.
Micheel shared his bunk with Billy Hurley III, a Naval Academy graduate who served for five years before turning to golf.
“It was exciting and really special to be able to be with him, because that’s really his element,” Micheel said. “It was fun standing behind him and letting him kind of lead us along.”
They didn’t know what to expect.
The unknown was unnerving. Was everything classified? Were they going to be able to see anything? What could they ask that would actually get answered?
Airmen assigned to the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, forward deployed to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti,, are visited by professional golfers as part of the USO/PGA Tour Birdies for the Brave, Dec. 7, 2018.
“We all understood there were things that we wanted to ask that couldn’t be told to us,” Micheel said.
“But it’s just fascinating, really, to see behind the scenes of what’s going on. … It was interesting that they did share the information that they could.”
The troops were also nervous. At first.
On their last night of the trip, the golfers hit up the camp’s recreational area. The complex includes six netted areas like batting cages for people to practice golf, so the men set up shop to help service members with their swings. Micheel said it actually took some coaxing to get them interested.
U.S. Naval Academy graduate and PGA Tour winner Billy Hurley III gives a quick lesson at “TPC Djibouti.” Hurley was one of five PGA Tour players who visited Camp Lemonnier with the USO during the week of Dec. 6, 2018.
“A lot of the service members were hanging around the periphery … but within 15-20 minutes of us telling a few stories, we had 100 or so service members who were in line to take a couple shots, trying to get prizes,” which included balls, hats and clubs, Micheel said.
“We gave lessons, and it was exciting to see that once … everyone started getting in line, we didn’t have any more people on the periphery.”
“Everybody seemed to really embrace why we were there,” he continued.
“We had a great opportunity to chat individually with each of them…We were just trying to share some funny stories and things about life on tour.”
He called the USO tour a “trip of a lifetime.”
“I certainly would love to go back somewhere – I have that much appreciation for what these men and women do each and every day,” he said.
“It was a bucket list item, and if I never get to do it again, I’ll always remember this trip for the rest of my life.”
- This article originally appeared on defense.gov. It has been edited for style, brevity and grammar.
Every day, America’s service members selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice.
