Good day to you all who participated in Operation G.R.I.T.S. (Gifts Raised in the South). What a great day to be an American!

I am the U.S. Forces — Iraq J3 Sergeant Major Richard “Rich” Jones and a good friend of your native son, Sergeant Major Wilburn “Big Swoll” Ferguson, and on behalf of all the members of the USF-I J3 I want to thank you for your support.

As the III Corps members of the U.S. Forces- Iraq headquarters prepare to redeploy soon, after our 12-month tour in Iraq, I wanted to take the time to thank those that have unselfishly and generously supported our nation’s greatest assets, our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and coast guardsmen that keep our nation free and willingly place themselves in harm’s way so that all Americans can travel our cities and towns and our children can go to school without fear of terror.

It’s organizations like G.R.I.T.S. representing small-town America that help keep the morale of our service members up and our pride in our great nation burning in our hearts.

From the service members and the civilians of the U.S. Forces – Iraq, Joint Operations Directorate, J3, thank you and God bless you the great state of Louisiana, and God bless the USA!

Richard R. Jones Jr.

Seargeant Major

U.S. Forces – Iraq, J3