PCT in the Community: A Warrior’s Table
Today we’re launching a new feature on the Premier Custom Travel blog – “PCT in the Community.” We believe in supporting the communities that support us, and throughout the year our team looks for ways we can give back to the areas in which we live. From time to time, we will spotlight those efforts here on our blog. We launch this new feature with a post from PCT’s Scott McAlister.
As 2025 draws to a close and we look ahead to 2026, I find myself reflecting on gratitude—gratitude for community, for service, and for the rare opportunities that allow Michelle and me to give back alongside some of the most selfless and inspiring people we have ever met.
Those who know us won’t be surprised to hear that volunteering is a core part of our lives. Some of the organizations we serve focus on local needs, others operate nationally, and a few even reach across the globe. Every once in a while, though, we’re blessed to find an organization that beautifully weaves all of that together, community, national impact, global reach, while honoring the men and women who serve in the United States Armed Forces and the families who serve right alongside them.
A few years ago, a friend approached me with an opportunity that would change me in ways I didn’t expect. I was invited to help tell the story of A Warrior’s Table, not with words, but through the lens of a camera as their photographer.
A Warrior’s Table has one simple but powerful mission: to provide post-deployment and post-mission Welcome Home Thank You Meals to active-duty service members and their families. They do this the Texas way, by cooking and serving authentic Texas-style BBQ. But what they’re really serving goes far beyond brisket and sausage. They’re serving connection. Comfort. Normalcy. A sense of home.
Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of being “behind the camera” for well over a dozen base visits and welcome-home meals. Each one leaves its mark. Each one tells a story.
When service members deploy, their entire family deploys with them, just in a different way. Home life doesn’t stop. Kids still go to school. Spouses still juggle work, schedules, and responsibilities. Life continues on… just missing a key piece.
One moment in particular still brings a lump to my throat.
The team was at Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene, Texas. As I moved through the serving area with my camera, I noticed a young woman on a video call. In today’s world, that’s nothing unusual, until I realized who was on the other end of the screen. It was her husband, deployed overseas.
As she walked through the serving line, he asked her to turn the phone so he could see what was happening. He wanted to thank us. Personally. From halfway around the world.
He thanked the team for giving his wife “a taste of home” while he couldn’t be there to do it himself.
I wish I could blame the diced onions on the table in front of me for my eyes watering that day—but as I write this now, I know better. It wasn’t the onions. It was the weight of that moment. The reality of sacrifice. The reminder of why this work matters.
Sir, if you ever read this, please know it was our absolute honor to serve your family, and every military family like yours. Your sacrifices, seen and unseen, are the reason organizations like A Warrior’s Table exist. And they are the reason I will continue to show up, camera in hand and heart wide open.
As we step into 2026, I invite you, our Premier Custom Travel family, to learn more about A Warrior’s Table and consider supporting their mission. Whether through a donation, sharing their story, or simply taking a moment to reflect on the families behind the uniforms, your support helps turn gratitude into action.
Because sometimes, a warm meal isn’t just a meal.
It’s home.
