Service member Elevate above the influence

Photo By Sgt. Daniel Jean-Paul | Senior Airmen Damien L. Cook poses for a picture in a bubble suit during an Elevate event Dec. 11 aboard Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan. During each gathering, the service members assemble at building 5950 at 8 p.m. every other Friday to share a meal, play games, and meet people they wouldn’t interact with regularly. Along with the games and socializing, the service members also compete in the main event of the night. It’s a competitive event, where predetermined teams clash in fun, outlandish games such as bubble soccer and shocker soccer.  

CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JAPAN

12.14.2015

Story by Cpl. Daniel Jean-Paul 

Marine Corps Installations Pacific

CAMP FOSTER, Japan - All across Camp Foster, Marines and sailors are skipping out on going to bars and clubs. Gone are the days of partying the night away. These service members have elevated themselves to a new form of fun.

During the summer of 2015, chaplains from every unit on Camp Foster sought to get Marines out of the typical night life and bring them together for clean, fun alternatives to partying out in town or in the barracks. Their solution was to start the Elevate movement.

Elevate is an unapologetically alcohol-free alternative event for service members with the primary goal of making it "cool" to be sober, according to Navy Lt. Todd A. Trumble, a chaplain with Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force.

“Elevate is more than an event. It’s a movement,” said Trumble. “We provide an alcohol free, healthy environment. We started Elevate so that service members could rise above the typical Friday night adventures.”

During each gathering, the service members assemble at building 5950 at 8 p.m. every other Friday to share a meal, play games, and meet people they would not interact with regularly. Along with the games and socializing, the service members also compete in what Trumble refers to as the main event of the night.

“It’s is a competitive event, where predetermined teams clash in fun, outlandish games such as bubble soccer and shocker soccer,” said Trumble.

According to Lance Cpl. Tyler Rose, a diesel generator mechanic with MWSS-172, 1st MAW, III MEF, the Elevate movement gave him the chance to break the monotony of barracks life.

“Its feels great to finally break the normal weekend pattern,” said Rose, a Marion, Virginia, native. “I use to do the same thing every weekend because I couldn’t find anything else to do. It’s great to finally meet people like me, people who don’t have to drink to have a blast.”

Movements such as these fall right in line with ommandant of the Marine Corps’ “Protect What You’ve Earned” campaign. The campaign was started to promote the development of peer support systems and responsible decision making, reduce alcohol related incidents and all destructive behaviors that have a negative impact on the individual Marine, their Family and the Corps.

“As leaders, we can always do better;” said Trumble. “We can always do more for our Marines and sailors. I feel like we have a good start achieving that with this movement.”

• Date Taken: 12.14.2015
• Date Posted: 12.20.2015 19:11
• Story ID: 185024
• Location: CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, JP
• Hometown: MARION, VA, US