Dodging for fun

Photo By Staff Sgt. Christina Turnipseed | Spc. Michael W. Counterman of the 218th MP Co. gets hit by a dodgeball during a dodgeball tournament in the Warrior Gym.  

02.06.2010

Story by Staff Sgt. Christina Turnipseed 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, Iraq — Medium yellow balls with red markings whizzed through the air back and forth at alarming speeds aimed at dodging, jumping, sidestepping Airmen and Soldiers in Warrior Gym here, Jan. 30.

More than 200 service members came together for fun and friendly competition during a FOB Warrior dodgeball tournament.

At the first tournament there were about 100 people in the dodgeball game, the second tournament there were about 150, this time there were more than 200 players, eight to a team, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Cornelius Bastic, an Airman of the 506th Office of Special Investigations.

According to Staff Sgt. Bastic, the dodgeball games are held in the Warrior Gym twice a month.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Jerred Mitchell an Airman with the 506th Expeditionary Communications Squadron, pointed out that the dodgeball games are sponsored by Club 56, an organization that mentors Airmen and Soldiers while promoting good will and esprit de corps.

The group meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the dining facility VIP room; DSN: 444-2107; [e-mail].

Many service members found the dodgeball tournament to be fun-filled and stress relieving.

Spc. Michael W. Counterman of the 218th Military Police Company here, hometown Canton, Pa., said the best thing about the dodgeball game was "getting out there having fun."

Spc. David Ibarra 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division out of El Paso, Texas, states, "It's a good stress reliever. It feels like you're not even in Iraq."

"It's entertaining," said Sgt. 1st Class Abel Viveros of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Battalion; hometown El Paso, Texas. "I'm here to watch our team play."

"There's always action," said Maj. Dexter Kelly, a communications officer from the "Ready First" 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, who is from Silver Spring, Md., Kelly said he liked the tournament because of the "constant moving."

Capt. Darien Pitts of the 'Ready First Combat Team'; a member of the S6 dodgeball team said, "We're the S6 mafia. We shut you down! We Control, Alt, Delete you!"

"Brings me back to the childhood days when we were in elementary," said Desmond Timmons, MWR Coordinator form Albany, Ga. "I'm just amazed how the numbers picked up."

After about two hours of playing and team elimination, the team that came out with the win in the end was the Air Force Tactical Security Element who won all five of their games.

Each member of the team, made up of mostly Airmen of TSE and two Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 37th Armor Battalion, was awarded $20 Army Air Force Exchange Service gift cards.

The team stated that their strategy was to throw harder than the other teams and catch more balls.

• Date Taken: 02.06.2010
• Date Posted: 02.06.2010 16:08
• Story ID: 45021