VP-Elect Meets Deployed Dyess Airmen
By: Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher
Updated: January 14, 2009
Vice President-elect Joe Biden met briefly with Airmen from the 387th Air Expeditionary Group at a base in Southwest Asia Jan. 12 before boarding a C-130 bound for Iraq as part of his visit to the region. The future vice president shook hands with the seven Airmen, who said it was a privilege to get to meet the soon-to-be VP.
"He's the first distinguished visitor I've met here," said Staff Sgt. Michael Dillon, 387th Expeditionary Support Squadron force protection augmentee deployed from Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, Ala. "It was an honor to meet him," the Athens, Ohio, native added.
Airman 1st Class Hugh Montgomery-Jones, 387th ESPTS, appreciated the future vice president's choice of aircraft, a C-130 from his home station of Dyess AFB, Texas.
"It's nice to know someone like him would fly on the same planes as us," he said, gesturing to the aircraft. Airman Montgomery-Jones, originally from Washington, D.C., had only been on station a week and said he felt lucky to get to see the VP-elect.
"It's one of the highlights of my military career," he said. Vice President-elect Biden will visit Iraq after meeting with officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He takes office January 20.
