Photo By John Hughel | Lt. Col. Anna Robledo, Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery (left),...... read more read more
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FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The 2nd Battalion, 218th Artillery Regiment, “hit the ground running” during their May drill weekend as they hosted a 5-Mile Ruck March through the town center area here on May 3, 2025, while helping support a local food bank. The early Saturday morning Ruck March provided unit members with an opportunity to work out, collect food for the St. Vincent De Paul food bank, and connect with neighbors in the Forest Grove community.
The event began at the Army National Guard Armory, traversed a loop along Oregon Route 47, then through the downtown area, and concluded back at the Armory, with nearly 200 participants taking part in the experience. A majority of participants loaded their backpacks before the start of the Ruck with canned and non-perishable food to challenge themselves with the added weight.
The event offered a chance for a broad range of service members to be involved, including retired members, currently serving Guardsmen, future military members in the Army National Guard Recruit Sustainment Program, and U.S. Marine Corps recruits.
“We got started with the idea of, ‘let’s Ruck March through town’… so the community can see us and know that we're here as part of the (Forest Grove) community,” said Lt. Col. Anna Robledo, Commander of the 2nd Battalion, 218th Field Artillery. “The more we talked about it, it evolved, and we wanted to do this as a food drive for St. Vincent De Paul.”
With warm weather and sunny skies, several water stops were set up along the way, including a section of the route on the ‘B Street Trail.’ Throughout the Ruck, community members honked car horns, waved, and shouted out “Thank you” to the service members.
“I thought that was the goal, right, to get out in front of the community and make sure people, you know that we’re here, and are proud to be part of this community,” Robledo said. “We also got our PT (Physical Training) in for the day, so it was a great way to start a drill weekend.”
As Lt. Col. Robledo led the main body of the marchers, she was accompanied by Oregon Army National Guard Cadet Hailey Toornstra, who carried the unit’s colors. “Originally, I enlisted over two years ago as a 42-Alpha, a human resources specialist, but I wanted to do something different, so I looked into Field Artillery,” Toornstra said, taking a break following the Ruck.
“I’ve been here since this March, and it’s been great. I'm hoping to commission in two years now.” She attends Western Oregon University and is pursuing a double major in Criminal Justice and Psychology. In addition to shouldering the unit guidon, she carried a full rucksack while representing the battalion during the event.
As someone interested in multiple sports, Toornstra mentioned that she has participated in several ruck marches, including a 20-mile event last Memorial Day. “Weightlifting is my favorite. It’s a lot of fun to push myself,” she said.
While some carried canned food in their backpacks, Army National Guard Master Sgt. Brittney Ponder, a full-time recruiter, carried her son in a backpack designed for young kids.
“Yeah, he’s about 50 pounds, so that’s a good haul…he’s also moving around a bunch,” she said. “I’ve done other things like this before…a lot of people in the National Guard know who Cooper is because my husband and I are both dual military.”
Events like this not only help with recruiting but also build unit morale and teamwork. Many of the unit members are currently deployed overseas, with many in the remaining rear detachment preparing to deploy soon.
“We have a majority of the battalion that’s currently forward deployed to Iraq and Syria. In the next few weeks, we have a section that’s going to Africa,” Robledo said. “We have new members, new officers in the unit, so I feel like it’s a good cohesion event for the unit, especially to get them up to speed while others are downrange.”
| Date Taken: | 05.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.08.2025 17:46 |
| Story ID: | 497450 |
| Location: | FOREST GROVE, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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