Bengals' Marvin Lewis one of four NFL coaches visiting troops on a USO Tour

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is one of four NFL coaches who will travel to Southwest Asia to visit troops on a USO Tour. The other coaches traveling with Lewis include Brad Childress of the Minnesota Vikings, Jon Fox of the Carolina Panthers, and Andy Reid of the Philadelphia Eagles.

On Monday, the Bengals hosted an event with soldiers from the Army’s Golden Knights in which they got the chance to parachute on to the Paul Brown Stadium practice field and eat lunch team. The Knights were also responsible for taking Lewis skydiving for the first time on Sunday afternoon.

“Our military personnel make significant sacrifices on a daily basis to protect and ensure our freedom,” Lewis said on the team’s site. “This USO trip is one small step that I can take to say ‘thank you.’ I don’t know that you’d call it a ‘sacrifice’ on my part, because I am very much looking forward to the experience, but I hope my presence can be helpful in letting our troops know how much they are appreciated back home.”

The four coaches will make their visit to the troops before the end of July—right before the start of training camp. This will be the second straight year the NFL will send members overseas to pay a visit to the troops. Last summer, Jon Gruden, Bill Cowher, Tom Coughlin (Giants), John Harbaugh (Ravens), and Jeff Fisher (Titans) made the trip to Iraq.