Unit builds morale, cohesion in game

Photo By Lance Cpl. Ian McMahon | Lance Cpl. Carlos E. Martinez carefully lines up a shot during a pool tournament hosted by the G-6, communications telephone systems branch, at the Ocean Breeze at Camp Foster June 15. Martinez is a construction wireman with the branch, which is a part of Marine Corps Installations Pacific  

OKINAWA, JAPAN

06.15.2012

Story by Lance Cpl. Ian McMahon 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

OKINAWA, Japan - The sound of billiard balls cracking into one another filled the room during a pool tournament at the Ocean Breeze, Camp Foster June 15.

The tournament was held by G-6, communications telephone systems branch, Marine Corps Installations Pacific, as a morale-boosting event.

The tournament was organized by Staff Sgt. Jaime Gaona, a telecommunications systems chief with the branch.

“(We) asked the younger Marines what they wanted to do, and what we came up with was this pool tournament,” said Gaona. “Each player participated in a bracketed competition with standard eight-ball rules.”

The objective of eight-ball is for the player to be the first to pocket all of their balls, solids or stripes, and finish by “sinking” the eight-ball. If a player pockets the eight-ball before the rest of their balls, he or she loses.

The game of eight-ball evolved from an earlier game first recorded in 1908 in the U.S. by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. This forerunner game was played with seven yellow and seven red balls, a black ball and the cue ball. Today, numbered stripes and solids are preferred throughout most of the world.

Pool competitions such as this provide a refreshing change from the usual events hosted on military installations.

As an incentive to join the competition, the first-place winner of the tournament received a $30 gift certificate to any Army and Air Force Exchange Services store and a first-place medallion. The second-place winner received a $20 gift card and a second-place medallion.

“Everyone who participated had an excellent time,” said Garcia. “The Marines got to engage in friendly competition, talk a little trash, and have some fun.”

At the end of the tournament, Cpl. Tien M. Nguyen, a data systems technician for the branch, emerged victorious.

“I had a lot of fun and hope to do this again,” said Nguyen. “It was a good way to build camaraderie and morale.”

• Date Taken: 06.15.2012
• Date Posted: 06.29.2012 02:59
• Story ID: 90827
• Location: OKINAWA, JP