Photo By Staff Sgt. Oshawna Tackett | The race begins at the triathlon event hosted by the 419th Combat Sustainment Support...... read more read more
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CAMP TAJI, Iraq — How do you make a lasting impression with people you have only known for a short time? The 419th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 'Wolfpack', attached to the 10th Sustainment Brigade demonstrated exactly how to do this, Sept. 7.
The battalion put together an exciting triathlon which consisted of three main events and a mystery event. Soldiers composed 17 three-person teams. Each Soldier participated in one event that included a five-lap swimming competition, a 5K march with tactical armor weighing approximately 35 pounds, and a 5K run. The competition was put together similar to a relay race with a D-ring with a number attached that was handed off to the next competitor as soon as each event was completed.
Staff Sgt. John Harlow, a native of Lakewood, Wash., who helped organize everything, and Perris, Calif., native, Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Swanson of the 419th, began by giving a brief overview of how each event would take place and provided a risk assessment to the Soldiers. There were medics and life guards at the swim meet and standing by throughout the 5K route.
The first event had Soldiers swimming the length of the pool forward and back to make one lap. Upon completion of the five laps, the swimmer took their number just outside of the pool area and handed it off to their partner waiting at a table with their weapon disassembled. The marcher then proceeded to assemble their rifle and head out on the 5K journey.
Waiting at the finish line were the runners, stretching, hyped up and ready to go. The hand-off was made and the runner was on their way. At last, the competition was nearly complete when the runners broke through the finish line to meet the fans waiting to cheer them on. The first team to finish the race was Bravo Troop 2/107 Cavalry, 419th CSSB. The winners, Spc. Mitchell Daugherty, a native of Athens, Ohio, Staff Sgt. Steven Hartman and Capt. Louis Longhenry, both from Cincinnati, did a great job.
Daugherty and Hartman had just returned from a mission that night, but were geared up and ready to go at the pool at 5:30 a.m.
"They almost made it too easy for me," said Longhenry of his two teammates. Daugherty finished the swim in first place and Hartman also finished the march in first place, way ahead of everyone else. Their total time was 1:05:44. After the competition, the Soldiers of Bravo Troop went on their way to get ready for yet another mission to Contingency Operating Base Adder which is usually a week long mission for Soldiers stationed on Camp Taji.
Second place winners were Spc. Nathanial Hernandez, of Orange, Calif., Sgt. Jeremy Bowden, from Laguna Beach, Calif. and Sgt. Michael Clark who hails from Rialto, Calif., and are members of Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 419th CSSB. The final time for this group of motivated Soldiers was 1:08:56.
"Our coach did a great job of motivating us through our training," said Bowden of Spc. Casey Beck a native from Westminster, Calif.
The competitors and their fellow Soldiers eagerly anticipated the finale. Swanson explained the rules of the final competition that involved two teammates entering the pool while the other teammate stayed on the side of the pool, helmet in hand. One hundred battalion coins for the 419th were placed in the shallow end, while the Soldiers waited on the other side. On the command "go", the participants swam to the other side, picking up one coin at a time and swimming back to place the coin in the teammate's helmet. Whichever group collected the most coins won that contest and the number of coins gathered added or subtracted from the final times for the teams.
The 1161st Transportation Company came in fifth place in the race but, having collected 11 coins, bumped them up to third place overall. Their time was 1:12:12. The team consisted of Spc. Brianna Eden, from Yakima, Wash., Spc. Lucia Enriquez, from Benton City, Wash., and Sgt. Britt Hawke, who hails from Salt Lake City. Just behind them in the competition were the 776th Maint. Co., and another Bravo Troop team. Seventeen total teams participated in the event.
To conclude the competition, the winning teams were announced, and awards handed out. All the volunteers for the competition were called forward and coins were given by Lt. Col. Kristan L. K. Hericks, commander, 419th CSSB. "They have done an incredible job and that is the memory I want them to take home," said Hericks.
With 54 participants, more than 20 volunteers, and plenty of laughs, the event was a huge success. The 419th CSSB is scheduled to leave Iraq for redeployment, Oct. 3.
When asked what he had to say about the triathlon event, Swanson said, "We just wanted to do something fun for the troops. The lieutenant colonel and I will really miss the Soldiers here. They'll always be a part of the Wolfpack Family."
| Date Taken: | 09.07.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2009 14:12 |
| Story ID: | 39103 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 298 |
| Downloads: | 183 |
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