Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Jeffery Kennedy, a per-WLC course instructor with 1st Maintenance Company, 373rd...... read more read more
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Story by: Sgt. Michael Carden)
VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, Iraq — The Army requires Soldiers to maintain a standard level of physical fitness to stay ready to complete their assigned missions. Soldiers with the 1st Maintenance Company, 373rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) have adopted a way to stay in shape and have fun while doing it.
“Climbing is an awesome sport,” said Sgt. Jeffery Kennedy, a pre-WLC instructor with the 1st Maint. Company and a Winchester, Tenn., native. “It’s a full body workout you really can’t get anywhere else.”
The 12-foot high climbing wall was originally built by the Soldiers with the 41st Special Troops Battalion before they redeployed in February. Climbing enthusiasts in the 1st Maint. Co. volunteered to take up stewardship of the wall, rather than see it destroyed, Kennedy said.
Kennedy, an avid climber for the past four years, said he coordinated the relocation of the wall from its old home across the base to its current location near the company headquarters. It took six Soldiers more than five hours to disassemble, move and reassemble the 800-pound wall.
To ensure a safe climbing experience, a maximum wall height was mandated, mitigating the risk of possible falls. Soldiers also act as spotters, offering advice and encouragement, but also to catch a climber if someone should fall, he said.
More than 30 climbers currently use the wall every week for recreation and exercise, with many units incorporating the wall into their unit physical fitness program, Kennedy said.
“It’s a great team builder,” he said. “You have to trust [whomever is] on the ground to catch you if you fall.”
There has not been a serious incident or injury on the wall since the Soldiers with the 1st Maint. Company have taken possession of the wall, Kennedy said.
Cpl. Kyle Logan, noncommissioned office-in-charge of escorting third country nationals with the 373rd CSSB and a Fort Wayne, Ind., native, said the wall is available for climbing daily, with fellow enthusiasts available to provide advice or spotting to anyone who asks.
“At first it can be a little bit intimidating, but after a few practice sessions, it gets easier.” Kennedy said. “It’s a good confidence booster, a good physical fitness booster; overall it’s good for our morale.”
Logan said he was first skeptical of the enjoyment and value in the climbing wall.
“They drug me out one time and got me climbing, and I was surprised at the workout,” he said. “I was sore the next day.”
Soldiers enjoy both the physical challenges as well as the mental challenges posed by choosing a route up the overhanging wall, Logan said.
“You’re always trying new things,” he said. “We switched up the holds recently, because we started to almost master it, so now we’re back to square one.”
With the company scheduled to redeploy soon, the fate of the wall is uncertain.
Kennedy said he hopes that someone will take possession of the wall, keeping it available for Soldiers to use it, rather than see the wall being dismantled.
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2010 07:04 |
| Story ID: | 52582 |
| Location: | VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, IQ |
| Web Views: | 249 |
| Downloads: | 83 |
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