The US Army Bowl 2013

The 1st weekend of January marks an exciting football bame, the @US Army Bowl!  Thanks to my involvement in helping the US Army Recruiting Batallion, my small way of thanking our soliders for their service to our Nation, I've been fortunate to attend in the past several years. Please, click here to see images from my attendance/involvement in past Army Bowls:http://ritaverreos.blogspot.com/search?q=us+army  The @US Army goes ALL out with a line-up of events starting with a breakfast held in recognition of United States Army Future Soldiers.  Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond F. Chandler(pictured below), (SMA), Major General David L. Mann, Commanding General of Unites States Army Recruiting Command and Command Sergeant Major, Todd A. Moore hosted a breakfast the morning of the Army All-American Bowl on January 5, 2013, to recognize over 100 young men and women who will be joining the US Army. SMA Chandler commended these Future Soldiers for their commitment to their Country and to their future.  

United States Army Recruiting Command (USAREC) Deputy Commanding General, Brigadier General Henry L. Huntley, congratulates one of the Future Soldiers for his commitment to the Army.(to the right)

 USAREC Commander, Major General David L. Mann visits with several Future Soldiers at the breakfast and welcomes them to the US Army(above)

(Left)SFC Daniel P. Scott, San Marcos Recruiting Company and SGT Brent P. Mciver, San Antonio East Recruiting Company visit and answer questions with Future Soldiers.

I made a point to stop and greet Col. McGee(left). Besides the obvious Honor, I'm particularly happy to always greet him and thank him, 1st and foremost, for his service to our Nation and, on a lighter note, for him and his wife's huge admiration of the Reality Show I, pun intended...survived, LOL... @SURVIVOR Fiji!

It's thanks to my friend /Lt. Col. David Grant, Head of the San Antonio Recruiting Batallion that I was a part of this special breakfast as well as being able to take my kids and father, also, a bit later that afternoon, to the main event: The Army Bowl!

 After the delicious Taco Breakfast, we were energized and went to the next series of events that the Army had lined up. The ARMY ZONE! 1st stop, an actual Army Medical Helicopter.  Here, I ran into another friend of mine and @LATIN CONNECTION Magazine, "Longhorn" Gene.  We were fortunate to be there at the same time to have the Honor to meet 3 star General Tally.

Further into the ARMY ZONE. I decided to line up to try one of the G6 Fighter Jet Simulators and was intercepted by "Longhorn" Gene and  General Mann, who,  I was pleasantly surprised , knew of me thanks to  my participation on the CBS Reality Show, SURVIVOR Fiji.

Miss San Antonio USA 2012-13, Che White-Miss San Antonio Director, "Longhorn Gene," Miss Teen San Antonio USA 2012-13

After visiting the ARMY ZONE, I was ready to head to the Alamo Dome for the Army Bowl! It's an exciting game featuring the BEST High School football players in the Nation. For the 13th year in a row, some the best and brightest future stars of the college football gridiron came together in San Antonio for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Each year dozens of elite prospects go head-to-head all week in practice trying to showcase their talents for former NFL coaches, the fans, their fellow recruits and college coaches. The East Team (black) defeated the West Team (yellow) 15-8 on the back of a few big plays from its offense and special teams.  The game is attended by close to 40,000, among them, my fellow Beauty Queen title Holders (above)@Miss San Antonio USA.  Last, but not least, the MAIN reason the Army has created this event, to Highlight our Nations Soldiers, to applaud their bravery, selflessness and dedication to Protect our FREEDOM. I'm so Honored to be standing among just of few of them (left).  

The last of things on the list of events set up by the Army, was a Tandem Parachute Jump with the World Champions, THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS. Bright and early the next morning, once again, HUGE thanks to Lt. Col David Grant, I was able to be a part of the World Champion Golden Knights Tandem Parachute Jump-this time, as a Viewer. Several years ago, I was given the opportunity to take this Leap of Faith! LOL and I did. Here I am Tandem Jumping w/Billy V...ARMY STRONG!! This year, when Lt. Col. David Grant offered me the same opportunity, I decided to give someone else a chance to have this once in a lifetime experience, so my boyfriend, Carl Mergenthaler, pardon the pun....Jumped at this chance! A little trivia on Carl. He currently Wrote, is starring in and Producing a wonderful feature film called "Jimmy and Mia" (stay tuned to LATIN CONNECTION Magazine for more details about that). To the right, Carl and I with Col. Mark Rado, Commander US Army Accessions Support Brigade. A little trivia on Col. Rado..he was Jay Leno's first Agent! Huge thanks to him for squeezing Carl in that day as they had a record 29 jumps!!  The @GOLDEN KNIGHTS Team did an amazing job under the Command of Lt. Col. Jose E. Melendez proving why the are the current World Champions! Can I get a  Hooah!!