Airmen use football rivalry to help Afghan people

  • Published
  • By Capt. David Faggard
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) --  In a Soviet-era aircraft hangar here, a rivalry born during the Battle of the Red River is still alive and well, although now that energy is spent supporting the Afghan people.

Maj. Tobin Griffeth, an avid University of Texas fan, and Capt. Katie Illingworth, a University of Oklahoma alum, created a personal game honoring the two schools' annual rivalry, which every year is the talk of the two bordering states. They enlist family-member support back home giving one point to the corresponding school that donates one box of items like school supplies, clothes and shoes to the people of Afghanistan.

Texas is in the lead 10-0 over Oklahoma at the moment, but according to the captain, "boxes are coming."

"Yeah right," the major quipped to the captain flashing a "Hook 'em Horns" hand-signal to the captain.

"We started this because it's the right thing to do," said Major Griffeth, a native of Schertz, Texas, and graduate of University of Texas, Arlington. "In a war where we'll spend millions on bombs or missiles, it only makes sense to spend money on clothes, or socks. 

"I think this is a basic way we could help stop the Taliban and the insurgency -- by winning their hearts and minds," said the major, a graduate of North Kentucky's Law School. "It's also a way for Americans back home to get out there and start helping. (Afghans) don't have much and they hear nothing but bad things about America."

They team with Army Task Forces on the ground and the local chaplaincy who often meet with local village elders, country-wide, to distribute the aid given from Texas and Oklahoma citizens.

War puts the rivalry game in perspective.

"It's somewhat trivial," Captain Illingworth, an Oklahoma City native, and OU graduate said about the rivalry game back home. "But, it's not as trivial as some think. Our rivalry is a big deal and this is a unique channel that allows people back home to support their teams and support America. The energy is there already; we're just trying to re-direct it somewhere else."

The group asks that no food or money be sent, but donations of winter clothes, school supplies and shoes are accepted.

Donations can be sent via flat-rate priority boxes: CJTF-82-OSJA APO AE 09354, addressed to Major Griffeth for Texas or Captain Illingworth for OU.

The game started when the two officers were asked by their families what could be done to help. Soon, a U.S. postal worker in Texas started to send boxes as well, and now college fraternities, churches and an Eagle Scout are assisting. Even the hometowns are involved and donations are streaming in, according to the captain.

It's the goal of the two to get help from other universities too. They hope other college rivalries start and mentioned the Alabama, Auburn rivalry, as well as the Army and Navy rivalry.

Major Griffeth is deployed from Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, and Captain Illingworth is deployed from Hickam AFB, Hawaii. She is a graduate of Catholic University's Law School in Washington, D.C. The lawyers are deployed supporting Operation Enduring Freedom's Combined Joint Task Force 82 in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate. They are both fiscal and contracting lawyers. 

(Editor's note: So far, fans of the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma have sent a total of 434 boxes of blankets, coats, shoes and other items to Bagram Airfield to help impoverished Afghans survive the harsh winter. During the original challenge, a Dec. 3 deadline was set and Texas won the challenge 157-154, but boxes continued to arrive after the deadline. The latest count is 244 boxes for Oklahoma, 190 for Texas. Both sides have claimed victory. Courtesy of the San Antonio Express News)