Photo By Sgt. Javier Amador | Syracuse University football players take aim on their opponents as a Spartan soldier...... read more read more
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FORT DRUM, N.Y. - The Syracuse University Football Team’s week of Army training at Fort Drum came to a memorable end Friday, Aug. 16, with a paintball competition where they paired up with Spartan soldiers from the 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, bringing them one step closer to the completion of their preparations for their upcoming season.
According to Scott Schafer, Head Coach of the Syracuse University Football Team, one of the advantages training at Fort Drum offers the team is doing without some of the daily comforts as well as the distractions they may present.
“You get away, you don’t have cell service and all of a sudden the kids look each other in the eye and are forced to communicate in a way that maybe they wouldn’t do so with all the social media getting in the way in this day and age. So, that’s just one good example of the things that happen when we’re forced to be away from our normal environment.”
Shafer also mentioned how he and some of the players who have been on the team for a while paired up players who wouldn’t be familiar with each other, using veteran offensive lineman Ivan Foy and freshman quarterback Austin Wilson as one example.
The week began late in the afternoon Mon, Aug. 12 when former drill sergeants, who are now Spartan soldiers assigned to the Catamount infantry battalion, met the athletes coming off their buses in true Army fashion. Wearing their trademark “Smokey” drill hats, the drill sergeants quickly surrounded the players and welcomed them as if it were their first day of basic training. It was the beginning of an experience where both the players and the soldiers would find out what it is like to perform outside of their comfort zones.
The athletes and coaching staff participated in various training events such as small unit leadership and problem solving as a group. They were also treated to a static display where they got the opportunity to see Army infantry weapons systems and vehicles up close. The team expressed their appreciation by playing a scrimmage game Thu, Aug. 15 at Sligh Field. The game was free and open to all Fort Drum soldiers including their families.
Capt. Pearson Brantley, the fire support officer for the Catamount infantry battalion, was assigned the daunting task of organizing the week-long event. The Jonesboro, Ga., native described how the team was made to work with each other in ways they would not normally do.
“In the Army, our main focus is at the squad level where that squad leader knows everything about the soldiers in his squad and the team leaders who know everything about the soldiers that are in their team,” said Brantley, “What the coach did was take a quarterback or a running back and put them together with some defensive line guys into one squad, putting together players that rarely talk to each other.”
The situations the Syracuse University football players and staff faced as they went through the small unit training encouraged them to take their understanding of teamwork and apply it to situations where they had to solve practical problems.
“One of the things they had to do was a light-medium tactical truck pull where they had to move it 25 meters as well as move a bunch of fuel cans and boxes,” said Brantley, “and I would watch them come up with a plan and then tell each other what they had to do solve the problem.
Brantley described another event, a simulated water crossing where they had to come together and apply the lessons they had learned about small unit leadership and communication.
“We had a simulated water crossing,” said Brantley, “They had to use two boards and some pliometrics boxes, the kind used for jumping on in the gym, and they had to figure out how to place them to get across so they talked to each other and someone would direct who had to stand on one of the boxes and how to move the boards.”
Brantley also faced many challenges of his own whilst planning the event. He described one of those challenges as “thinking about things I'm not used to thinking about. I, as an artillery officer am always thinking about providing fire support for the battalion so the hard part for me was thinking about the intricacies of football like what is the coach going to need, what the team is going to need.”
Having had to work outside of their comfort zones has offered both players and soldiers alike new learning opportunities. Both will aid in the days to come. For one team, that’s hopefully a bowl victory. For the other, that’s completing the mission ahead.
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2013 11:17 |
| Story ID: | 112271 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 140 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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