Troops in Afghanistan long distance "tailgate" Super Bowl

Thousands of miles away from home, soldiers celebrate Super Bowl XLVI in war zone

504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade
Story by Sgt. Marc Loi

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan – When Giants quarterback Eli Manning hit wide receiver Victor Cruz for a 2-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI , nearly 7,000 miles from Indianapolis, in a tent just north of the Afghan-Pakistan border, the crowd erupted, breaking the early-morning silence on the dark, muddy forward operating base.

Although they conducted combat operations as usual on Super Bowl Sunday, the soldiers of the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, deployed here in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from Fort Hood, Texas, also got a chance to watch the 46th annual NFL championship, and in doing so, experienced a duality that brought back memories of Super Bowls past, yet at the same time, subtly reminded them they were still in a war zone.

There were still paper plates heaping with food – hot wings and pizza, meatballs and onion rings – all the snack items that are parts of the Americana they’d swore to protect. Yet, when the soldiers raised their glasses to celebrate a touchdown, it was with non-alcoholic beers and carbonated beverages instead of the potent potables that would have overflowed had they been home.
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