Rolling Thunder takes break with Family

Photo By Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover | Sgt. Joseph Bushey of Fair Haven, Vermont, a combat medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment “Rolling Thunder,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, pulls with everything he has as the anchor on his batteries tug of war team during Rolling Thunder’s Organizational Day Sept. 19, 2016, on Fort Hood, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

09.30.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

After putting long hours in away from families and friends, it was time to take a break and relax before heading back to training,
“We’ve been working really hard as we are training up for gunnery for Black Jack, support Black Jack’s gunnery with fire support, so we got an organizational day for our unit, and we haven’t had an organizational day in a long time,” said Lt. Col. Joey Errington, commander of Rolling Thunder.
“We had the opportunity to not only challenge ourselves and challenge the batteries against each other to find out who the best sports teams are, but also the sportsmanship and camaraderie that goes along with this,” said Errington. “We started this morning at 6:30 a.m. with a family fun run where we had 600 Soldiers and a whole lot of families came out at 6:30 a.m. this morning. We ran about a mile and a half with kids, spouses, dogs and that’s how we started off the day.”
The sportsmanship and camaraderie were definitely tested as Rolling Thunder planned 13 events for a complete day of competition. The events were the following: Tug of war, flag football, ultimate Frisbee, dodge ball, chili cook-off, Magic the Gathering tournament, Call of Duty tournament, volleyball, horseshoes, combatives tournament, kickball and a 5K run.
Throughout the day, the batteries competed against each other gaining points for each event won for the battery, which would be totaled up to crown the overall battery champion.
“Each battery was in charge of three different competitions and this came from the Soldiers and this came from the family readiness groups,” said Errington. “What we actually did, all of our in-progress reviews, our IPRs, were actually held in conjunction with the FRGs. So, the spouses had a lot of input into this and did a lot of the planning on this with us, so it was a joint venture. Really shows our battalion is a family.”
“You could at least participate in one thing with all those events, so I think it just kind of helps everyone participate,” said Pvt. Adam Bagley, of Indio, California, a field artillery fire finder radar operator assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery.
Bagley has only been in the military for approximately 10 months, and this was his first organizational day in the military with his wife Kira.
“I liked watching people do their sports and competition. It was really fun to watch,” said Kira. “Today was really fun, kind of hot out, but it was still pretty fun.”
“The weather’s 100 degrees, and that’s probably the only thing that if we could change, we would change,” said Errington.
Even though the Texas heat can be excruciating at times, it had no affect on what the event was designed to do.
“We’ve had several competitions, and it’s really close throughout the day. Team competitions and individual competitions which just keep building the team and the family we have here within the battalion,” said Errington.
Although he was unable to participate, Bagley intended to play football but arrived to late to sign up. Bagley is an example of what the event was designed to instill within the unit.
“I showed up late, I had to take a battle to the hospital to get his wisdom teeth taken out,” said Bagley.
Even though Bagley was unable to participate, he was happy to just enjoy the day with his wife.
“I liked it, I really did. We have been working really hard so its time to relax, enjoy your family and have a good day,” said Bagley.
“I appreciate the opportunity Black Jack gave us to do this today and enjoying all of our time together,” said Errington.
When asked how the day went, Errington said, “It actually went very, very well. Like I said, we are very, very busy and to take a day to enjoy each other’s company, build the team, build the families, and it was a great opportunity today.”
“The competition and having all the families here with the Soldiers has been great,” said Errington.
The overall battery champion was the Fox Forward Support Company winning with tie breaking rules against Headquarters and Headquarters Battery.


Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment “Rolling Thunder,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, compete in triple digit heat during Rolling Thunders Organizational Day Sept. 19, 2016 on Fort Hood, Texas.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)



Sgt. Joseph Bushey of Fair Haven, Vermont, a combat medic assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment “Rolling Thunder,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, pulls with everything he has as the anchor on his batteries tug of war team during Rolling Thunder’s Organizational Day Sept. 19, 2016, on Fort Hood, Texas. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)



Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Watson, a native of Garland, Utah, platoon sergeant for Fox Forward Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment “Rolling Thunder,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, carefully reads the instructions prior to making popcorn during Rolling Thunder’s Organizational Day Sept. 19, 2016, on Fort Hood, Texas.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)



Spc. Conner Mathews of Alton, Illinois, a howitzer section gunner assigned to Charlie Battery, 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment “Rolling Thunder,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, narrowly escapes being eliminated from a dodge ball game during Rolling Thunder’s Organizational Day held Sept. 19, 2016, on Fort Hood, Texas.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)


Families take refuge in the shade while children play in the bouncy house during 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment’s “Rolling Thunder,” 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Organizational Day held Sept. 19, 2016, on Fort Hood, Texas.
(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hoover, 2nd BCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)

• Date Taken: 09.30.2016
• Date Posted: 09.30.2016 21:04
• Story ID: 211091
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US