Photo By Staff Sgt. Candace Mundt | Nicole Jack, wife of Capt. Brandon Jack, crosses a horizontal ladder at the Marne Mile...... read more read more
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FORT STEWART, Ga. - Families of 3rd Infantry Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion Soldiers banded together to experience the Dog Face Soldier life April 20 at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
“The purpose of today’s event was essentially to get the spouses to see a day in the life of a Soldier in 3ID,” said Lt. Col. Alexander Lovasz, commander of DHHB. “The spouse gets a reality shock of exactly what it is to be a Soldier here.”
All Soldiers must learn the basics: shoot, move and communicate. So, Families were taught basic rifle marksmanship with M4 carbines at the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 and then took their new skills to engage at a live range.
They also completed a round at the Marne Mile obstacle course, which consists of a mile and a half of running through humid, coastal Georgia woods while crossing horizontal ladders and scaling angled, low and high walls.
Olivia Iott, a stay-at-home mom who completed the day’s challenges only six months after giving birth, said her favorite part of the day was the weapons range because she wanted to fire the same weapon her husband does.
In addition to enjoying a day of grueling military fun, those in attendance formed a bond, making the organization, as a family, stronger.
“When I’d see some of the other spouses go first, I would think that I couldn’t do the obstacle that well or at all,” Olivia said about tackling the Marne Mile. “Then they’d cheer and clap, and it really made me feel like I accomplished something.”
Olivia’s husband, Sgt. Timothy Iott, a High Capacity Line of Sight radio team leader with Division Signal Company, DHHB, attended the event with his wife. He ran with her through the obstacle course and coached her during rifle instruction.
“I thought it was really awesome that my wife was able to experience some of the things we go through,” Sgt. Iott said. “She now understands when I go to the range how tiring it can be.”
“I think that we can relate to them now,” Olivia said. “We only did a small portion and we had the fun side. They have to do the hard work.”
Battalion leadership hopes to host another Family day this fall to let more spouses and teenagers enjoy a day in the life of their Soldier.
| Date Taken: | 04.20.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2017 15:14 |
| Story ID: | 231361 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Dog Face Families experience 3ID life for a day, by SSG Candace Mundt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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