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CAMP BLANDING, Fla. — Although Soldiers arrived in Florida for a grueling competition to find the 143rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) best warriors, competitors were met with a surprise professional development trip to a historical national monument on day one.
The trip may have been a surprise to the competitors, the 143rd ESC leaders planned the event for them to learn and enjoy.
“The purpose of the noncommissioned officer professional development was to give competitors, as well as support staff a taste of the Spanish history that is here in St. Augustine and exposed them to something some may never get the chance to see,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Ciearro M. Faulk, command sergeant major of the 518th Sustainment Brigade out of Knightdale, N.C., and stand-in 143rd Best Warrior Competition command sergeant major.
One 941st Transportation Company Soldier, Spc. Nathan Jackson, a petroleum supply specialist out of North Charleston, S.C., took in the day and said he appreciated the trip and learned a lot of history from looking around and talking to the park rangers and sees how it compares to being a Soldier today.
“We’ve evolve from high-powered cannons to rockets and missiles,” he said of how the military has evolved over time. But, he also said, “I get the idea of how they surrounded their fort and how they built it to quickly destroy the enemy before they could get them. You would have 40 cannon holes in the side of the ships before they made it to the open clear. A lot of what we do is try to suppress fire when we are trying to go toward the enemy.”
Intended to be a professional development experience, Soldiers took the opportunity to relax along with learning a bit of the United States history at the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument March 6, and that is another reason Faulk said they wanted the Soldiers to have this opportunity.
“It allows them to relax and bond with their sponsors as well as with each other to make sure that they are ready for this week’s competition,” he explained.
Even more than the surprise field trip, Soldiers met with excited fourth grade students from a local elementary school. The students gave Soldiers hi-fives, and while the Soldiers were forming up to prepare to leave the park, marched by and called out in cadence “U.S. Army. We salute you!”
Overall, the day included fun, education, relaxation and a lot of smiles from both the children visitors and the Soldiers.
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2014 16:42 |
| Story ID: | 135548 |
| Location: | ST. AUGUSTINE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | KNIGHTDALE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | NORTH CHARLESTON, SC, US |
| Hometown: | TOPSHAM, ME, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Best Warrior Competition starts with a field trip, by SSG Christina Dion, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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