Gov. Sandoval resurfaces in Germany after whirlwind Mideast tour to cheer troops

CARSON CITY - Gov. Brian Sandoval stepped back into view Thursday after a whirlwind tour of Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan aimed at boosting the spirits of Nevada military members serving overseas during the holidays.

In addition to thanking the soldiers for their service, the governor was able to serve during the three-day Pentagon-sponsored trip: He handed over some homemade cookies to one Nevada guardsman, Spc. Ryan P. Magera, whose mother had asked him to take the package along in hopes he would encounter her son in Kuwait.

Sandoval, who spoke with reporters by phone after landing in Germany, said he also fielded lots of questions from the troops about the presidential election results.

“I told them that I am going to support the president because for the nation to be successful our president needs to be successful,” he said.

Sandoval, along with the governors of Oklahoma and Wisconsin, arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday, then traveled to the UAE before flying to Kabul, Afghanistan. Sandoval, speaking from Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday, left the Mideast earlier in the day from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, where a suicide attack last month resulted in the deaths of three U.S. service members and two contractors.

“There are still security issues in terms of rockets coming into the bases where we were,” he said. “It gives you even more of an appreciation for the men and women of our military that even when they are on base, they are at risk 24-7.”

Sandoval said he was invited on the trip in part because of the number of Nevada National Guard members serving at various locations in the Middle East.

Sandoval was able to personally thank dozens of Nevada soldiers during the trip.

He met with three active-duty soldiers from Nevada at the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait City, then greeted more than 40 members of the Nevada Army Guard’s Bravo Company 422nd Signal Battalion, at the Camp Buehring Army Base in Kuwait. The unit deployed in April for a nine-month tour.

“This is its third deployment in the last six years so they have really made some incredible sacrifices in terms of leaving their families and friends and loved ones to be able to serve their country,” Sandoval said. “They were positive. They’re doing great.”

Sandoval then traveled to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait where he met with about 70 members of the Nevada Army Guard’s 485th Military Police Company.

The next day Sandoval traveled to the United Arab Emirates before heading to Kabul, Afghanistan to visit with troops participating in Operation Resolute Support, a NATO-led counterterror mission involving more than 13,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Then on Thursday Sandoval spent time at Bagram, about 25 miles north of the Afghan capital, before heading to Germany.

“I was very impressed with the amount of progress that has been made in-country with regard to infrastructure and the changing mission for the U.S. military,” he said. “It really impressed upon me the importance of what we are doing over here in terms of national security and homeland security in the U.S.”

It was Sandoval’s third trip to Afghanistan and other Middle East locations.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @seanw801 on Twitter.