Tiger woods connects with his military dad | members only access

_In April 2004, Tiger Woods, then 28 and already a superstar in the golf world, headed to the United States Army garrison in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He wanted to better understand what

his father, Earl, had gone through to train at that very camp as a Green Beret during the Vietnam War, and also to honor the active-duty soldiers there. In this excerpt from bestselling

author __James Patterson__, Tiger and his father find another tie to help build their father-son relationship._ __ Tiger is the only soldier reporting for duty in a private jet. After

touching down at Pope Air Force Base, he makes a quick transfer to Fort Bragg [now Fort Liberty], where he’s issued a camouflage uniform tagged with his name, then meets the troops and is

briefed on the installation where his father, Earl, trained between his two Vietnam tours, in 1963 and 1970. Earl and several of his old Special Forces buddies accompany Tiger to the base.

“It was the thrill of a lifetime for me,” Tiger says. “To see my father’s group, the ‘Sixth Group,’ which no longer exists in Green Berets, to see some of the guys my dad served with in Nam,

man that was really cool.” “Tiger’s interest in exploring the military firsthand means a great deal to me, especially since he’s chosen my former training ground,” his father says. “I will

not be with him during his training exercises,” Earl, who totes an oxygen tank these days, notes dryly. “But I’ll have plenty to talk to him about when he finishes.” James Patterson's

book about golfer Tiger Woods goes on sale July 15. AARP (Craig Jones/ALLSPORT) Fort Bragg spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Billy Buckner admits that Tiger isn’t getting the full military

experience. “He’s not going to have a drill sergeant barking up and down at him and yelling at him to get in line,” Buckner says, but he will “get some exposure and experience with how

Special Forces operators conduct business.” “If I was never introduced to golf, I would be doing something like that,” Tiger says in agreement. “Hopefully, something in the Special Ops

arena. It’s the physical and mental challenge of it all. We’ll see what happens.” Earl is curious, too. Tiger, he says, is “a very independent individual, and he plays an individual sport.

Quite frankly, he’s not in the business of people telling him what to do.” Tiger, Earl declares, will “learn an awful lot about himself, and how he can handle it. He’ll come out a lot

stronger than he went in.”