Dinner with the President and First Lady

  • Published
  • By James Bowman
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jessica Coombs and husband Master Sgt. Jeremy Coombs had a one in a lifetime chance to sit at the President's table and have dinner with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during an event dubbed "A Nation's Gratitude": Honoring Those Who Served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn.

The Kadena Master Sergeants were among the 78 service members who had been invited to attend the Feb. 29 White House dinner. A Department of Defense press release described the event as a way to 'express the nation's gratitude to, and recognize the significant contributions of, the men and women in uniform who served in Iraq.

"I couldn't even speak I was in shock," said Master Sgt. Jessica Coombs, superintendent of the air terminal operations center from the 733d Air Mobility Squadron, after she found out that she was selected to attend the White House State dinner which honored veterans who sacrificed and served in Iraq.

When Master Sgt. Coombs and her husband Master Sgt. Jeremy Coombs, Superintendent, Passenger Operations, 733d Air Mobility Squadron, entered the east entrance of the White House it was like stepping into a history book filled with paintings, statues and pictures of all the past presidents and first ladies. They and the other guests were given the freedom to stroll around the rooms of the East Wing of the White House which included the State Dining Room, the Vermeil Room, the Presidential Library, the Red Room, Green Room and Blue room; while the Marine Corps band was playing music and hor's doeruves were served.

After standing in line we finally had the opportunity to meet the President and the First Lady. I told President Obama it was an honor to meet him and thanked Mrs. Obama for having us over for dinner, said Coombs.

After Hail to the Chief was played President Obama walked over to the table were both Master Sgts. were sitting and start talking to them about raising teenagers and the challenges and benefits of being a dual military couple with children. The dinner was relaxing, fun and the conversations were casual with the Commander-in-Chief, said Coombs. The President went out of his way to make sure we had everything we needed or wanted, it was an amazing evening that we will never forget.

"I kept making sure I wasn't dreaming because never in a million years would I have though that loving my job and doing it the very best of my ability would put me in a situation as breathtaking as this," said Coombs.

Master Sgt. Jessica Coombs was deployed to Iraq from June through December 2011 at Ali Air Base, also know as "Contingency Operating Base Adder." Her team moved over 35,000 passengers, 65,000 tons of equipment on more than 3,000 missions. Coombs and her team were among the last Air Force members out of Iraq.

"We were working so hard to make sure everyone else got out that it came as a great relief to finally board the C-17 and more importantly have the confidence to say that not a single person or unauthorized item was left behind," said Coombs. "My team will take great pride in the huge accomplishment for a long time to come. We knew that doing our job was going to have a historical impact for our career field, so we didn't want to let anyone down."