CrossFit for the fallen

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Banzhaf | Soldiers of the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade finish the September 11th Memorial CrossFit workout, Sept. 11, 2016 at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Deployed Soldiers and Airmen participated in the workout to come together and honor those whose lives were affected by the 2001 terrorist attacks. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Banzhaf )  

QATAR

09.11.2016

Story by Sgt. Brandon Banzhaf 

69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade

Al Udeid Air Base — Soldiers with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and Airmen with the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing came together to participate in a September 11 Memorial CrossFit workout, Sept. 11 on Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
To honor the lives lost during the 2001 terrorist attacks, each exercise was designed to represent a specific statistic.
“It created a sense of camaraderie, unity, and strength in American patriots within the significance of overcoming the horrific events that unfolded 15 years ago,” said Spc. Elijah Foster, intelligence analyst for the 69th ADA Bde.
To start the workout, participants first had to run 2,001 meters, the year of the attack. Then the workout of the day was nine sets, for the month of the attacks, of various exercises with a wide range of repetitions. Eleven pullups per set represented the day of the attacks.
The Servicemembers performed 23 pushups and 37 air squats each set, for the number of police officers of the New York Police Department and the Port Authority Police Department that lost their lives.
It was then followed by a 343 meter sandbag carry, for the number of firefighters the New York Fire Department lost and 110 total box jumps equivalent to the amount of flights of stairs in the World Trade Center.
Additionally, 44 jumping jacks were performed; one for each person on Flight 93 and 125 total sit ups for the people killed at the pentagon.
“I did the workout to support the firefighters and policemen killed on 9/11,” said Sgt. Michael Spoor, a Houston, Texas native and Intelligence noncommissioned officer in charge with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. “It provided a great team building activity for my shop. We pushed each other throughout the workout and finished all of the events together.”

• Date Taken: 09.11.2016
• Date Posted: 10.03.2016 04:22
• Story ID: 211147
• Location: QA
• Hometown: HOUSTON, TX, US