Reason no. 3876241 why Charles Barkley is so loveable. The NBA legend and current sports talking head on TV has never had a problem putting his job at the very bottom of the importance pyramid in favor of certain professions. One of them has been the armed services. For decades, Sir Charles has visited military bases, medical centers for vets, and events related to the armed forces as a fan more than a star. His latest visit to the service folks of Fort Moore is a lot like that.

Chuck hung around with the service members at the base off Columbus, Georgia, about two hours from Atlanta where Barkley’s job at TNT is based. He shared the highlights of his visit on his new Instagram page with a gracious word of thanks.

“Huge thanks to our service members and everyone at Fort Moore for welcoming me and the @redmontvodka team last week. It was an honor to visit with our service members and meet some amazing families!” wrote Barkley.

He held a ‘bottle signing’ for Redmont Vodka there this weekend. That’s his spirits brand based in Alabama. But promoting Redmont was a small part of the day. He got pictures with the uniformed men and women, signed autographs, and even ribbed them a little.

Like another attendee’s update showed Barkley feeling bad for an Alabama native at Fort Moore for coming from one of the towns on the border of Alabama and Florida. The Leeds native had the room chuckling saying that place, “doesn’t count.”

It’s all in good fun. And Chuck loves lightening the mood at military bases every chance he gets.

Charles Barkley’s awe for the guys in uniform

Charles Barkley told David Letterman during his recent interview on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, “I played basketball. I am not a teacher, I am not a fireman. I am not a policeman. I am not somebody in the armed services. Those are really important and significant jobs. We ain’t got no real job. We are overpaid and underworked and we’re the luckiest son of b***s in the world.” 

He’s repeatedly ranked the frontline services, teachers, and military among his top 5 ‘real jobs.’ If he had the opportunity, Barkley probably would’ve picked the military profession for himself among the many jobs he admires over getting paid $210 million at TNT. But his weight, that also came in the way of his playing career, prevented that. He’d, however, reveal that an army veteran inspired his recent weight loss journey.

So Chuck lives his dream vicariously. When the TNT crew is on the road for the playoffs, he’s known to visit the armed forces bases or medical centers nearby to hang around with the brave people in uniform. Now the NBA and the playoffs are not part of TNT. But Barkley won’t need that excuse to meet his favorite people.

Stay tuned for more such updates. Join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.