Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Smith | Hockey team players and coaches from Eagle River High School carry a rail road tie...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Paratroopers with the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division paired up with hockey players from Eagle River High School for a day of leadership development Oct. 25, 2014, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.
The day’s event started with team-building, cross-fit exercises at Hangar 5 on the Elmendorf side. The high school hockey players and paratroopers flipped tires, ran the perimeter carrying weights and worked together as they completed team events.
From there, they went to the Wilderness Inn Dining Facility to dine and replenish energy for the rigorous afternoon filled with more physical tests of endurance and teamwork.
The first event of the afternoon was the Humvee push. The hockey players and paratroopers teamed up again to push a Humvee for about 100 meters to an equipment donning area. At the donning point, the teams put on ballistic armor vests, protective masks, and carried “dummy” weapons as they started off on a a run to the base of the hill on Otter Lake Road. At that point, they donned the protective masks for a gut-check run up the hill.
At the top, everybody was able to turn in their equipment, but their run was not over. They continued running to the railroad crossing where a litter bearing a simulated injured Soldier awaited. The team gathered up the litter, and continued for another mile or so where they found the simulated evacuation point. From there, they picked up a railroad tie and ran another mile to the finishing point at the Arctic Warrior Combatives Academy.
At the academy, the teams learned some techniques in Army combatives, and finished up the day wrestling on the mats.
It was a really good leadership development and team-building event according to many involved in the day’s activities.
Bill Comer, the ERHS hockey head coach, said, “We thought it’d be a good idea to just get them out here early like this, and get them together, and do some team bonding.”
First Lt. Michael Vansickle from the 1/501 said the event was all about team building.
“This is fun and rewarding for us’” said Vansickle. “We can show them what we do a little bit, and hopefully we can help them be a little more cohesive as a team.”
Vansickle said events like this are important, because our local community is small and is intricately integrated into the military community. “We’re pretty committed to our school partnership program.”
The high school players and paratroopers alike, both enjoyed the day, and were able to learn from each other about the importance of working together as a team to get things accomplished.
“It was fun. We had a good time,” said Pfc. John Wendling from Comanche Company, 1/501. “As much as they learned from us, we definitely learned from them, just by how team work and team play can be effective for both our jobs and their team.”
Jesse Johnson, the ERHS hockey varsity team captain, said the event will benefit his team this year by helping them work together.
“We all need to work as a team, and if we work as a team, we’re going to win,” said Johnson.
He was also happy about being able to come to JBER for the event.
“I hope we can do this again some time,” said Johnson. “I think it’s awesome to work with the Soldiers.”
Coach Comer was also glad to spend the day with JBER paratroopers.
“Soldiers are great. It’s amazing how disciplined they are, and how accommodating they are for our players, and they really are great role models for our boys to see,” said Comer. “This a great event for the kids. I think they will remember this for a long time.”
The leadership development day at JBER was one of the first things on this year’s agenda for the ERHS hockey team, and the coaches and players look to use their experiences working together as a team as a solid base for a successful upcoming season.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.03.2014 20:05 |
| Story ID: | 146887 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, US |
| Hometown: | EAGLE RIVER, AK, US |
| Web Views: | 600 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, Eagle River High School hockey players work out with 1-Geronimo paratroopers, by SFC Jeffrey Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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