Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Steve Cushman | U.S. Marines and Sailors share a war-cry with their former opponents in the gymnasium...... read more read more
Subscribe
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Italy – The roars of U.S. Marines rushing toward ruthless opponents mixes with the higher pitched war-cries of children charging the Marines echoed throughout the gymnasium aboard Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, April 10, 2015.
The roars of the Marines and children quickly turned to laughter as more than 30 service members assigned to Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa donned their combat gear and faced down approximately 100 kids ranging from the ages of 5 to 13 years old for the Base’s first ever “Nerf Battle.”
Eric Barge, the Youth Sports Director for Morale, Welfare and Readiness, said, it was great exposure for the Marines to show the public what they’re about by interacting with the families and community.
"The children and service members played several rounds of standard elimination, capture the flag, and “Protect the Captain,” in which Navy Capt. Christopher Dennis, the commanding officer of NAS Sigonella, sided with the Marines, attempting to fight through waves of ruthless kids to reach an objective deep in enemy territory.
At first the kids seemed apprehensive because we were kitted up, we had cammies on and flak jackets,” said Staff Sgt. Ian Cameron. “We were talking amongst ourselves and I think that image kind of played into maybe being a little intimidating. But we were on the kids’ ground, we were on their playing field and by the end they were really letting us have it.”
The Marines and Sailors were invited by the Sigonella MWR to participate in the day’s battle on the last weekday of spring vacation for the children of the permanent party personnel of NAS Sigonella.
“The Marines were just as excited as the children and this was very good for building a better relationship between this tenant organization and the base,” said Navy Lt. Brian Salter, SPMAGTF-CR-AF chaplain. “I could see the excitement in the children’s eyes as they saw the Marines and saw them like heroes, and the Marines were glad to play that role.”
“When the kids get as excited as they were, and almost sad to see it end, we know we’ve had a successful event,” said Barge.
After the gym floor was cleared of ammunition and both sides made their exits, the MWR staff was already thinking about planning a second battle.
“The Marines are ready for round two,” Cameron said.
| Date Taken: | 04.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2015 05:08 |
| Story ID: | 160140 |
| Location: | SIGONELLA, IT |
| Web Views: | 151 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Shoot ‘em up: Marines, children duke it out in Nerf battle, by GySgt Steve Cushman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
