Take a swing and a break at VBC driving range

Photo By Jacob Boyer | Staff Sgt. Bob Moore, a video production detachment NCOIC with 346th Tactical Psychological Operations Company (Airborne), 15th PSYOPS Battalion, and Sgt. Wesley Fallos, a video production team leader with the unit, take their swings at the battalion's driving range.  

03.09.2007

Story by Staff Sgt. Jacob Boyer 

28th Public Affairs Detachment

Story, photos by Sgt. Jacob Boyer
28th Public Affairs Detachment

Life in Iraq can be a noisy, stressful affair. Most who have spent time here will tell others how important it is to make some time to do something — anything — enjoyable to get away from the daily grind of life in a war zone. For some, the soothing sound of clubs swinging and dimpled balls "THWACK"-ing off tees is the perfect escape.

While many here find themselves driving golf balls into lakes and fields, one battalion — with help from home — set up a driving range for enthusiasts old and new.

"A lieutenant colonel who was here this morning told me 'I almost feel guilty when I'm here driving golf balls, because I feel like I'm not in Iraq,'" said Capt. David Sifferd, a chaplain with the Psychological Operations Task Force-Iraq. "I said 'That's the whole point.'"

Sifferd, a native of Lansing, Mich., who joined the 15th Psychological Operations Battalion when it deployed to Camp Victory in April 2006, said the idea for a golf range came up very early in the unit's stay here.

When the Soldiers of the 15th PSYOPS Bn. fell in on their facilities on the southwest end of Lost Lake, they found the prior occupants had left something behind.

"There was scattered golf equipment — a few old clubs," he said. "The senior NCOs started policing stuff up, and the golf clubs were on the way out, but I managed to hold onto them."

A few old clubs and a big patch of sand do not make a driving range, however.

Sifferd's daughter sent him a few boxes of balls so he could hit out of the dirt. Then a friend of his who works for the Golf Channel asked if there was anything he needed. He asked for balls. One story in the cable network's online magazine later, and he got more than he imagined.

"Within a few weeks ... individuals, clubs, employee organizations and churches were sending clubs, balls, tees, hats and every accessory we could imagine," Sifferd said. "(Golf equipment manufacturer) Top Flite sent 32 cases of balls. People were hitting them as fast as they could."

In addition to about 60,000 balls, more was coming. Chicago's Wittek Golf Supply Company sent the unit ball pickers to allow them to clean up the balls they were hitting out into fields, along with driving mats and a drving cage.

"After we got the mats, I said there was no way we were going to lay those in the dirt, so we found some lumber and built a platform for the mats," Sifferd said. "As soon as there was one mat, people were out there hitting balls."

Once the tee boxes were complete, word spread fast. Service members from within and without the unit started taking the opportunity to unwind with a little golf.

"It's good stress relief," said Staff Sgt. Bob Moore, a video production detachment NCOIC with the battalion's 346th Tactical PSYOPS Company (Airborne) from Lexington, Ky. "It's a good way to talk with my Soldiers. I drag them out here as an informal way to talk with them, especially on a sunny day."

While some, like Moore and Sifferd, have golfed for years, others have found an appreciation for the game while they have been working on their stroke at the range.

"I just started when we came out here," said Sgt. Wesley Fallos, a video production detachment team leader with Company B, 15th PSYOPS Bn. from Gurnee, Ill. "I've learned my golf game needs some improvement, but when you get so frustrated and need a few minutes, it gets your mind off everything going on around you."

Sifferd said the golf range is open for golfers from any unit. He calls the range a tremendous blessing.

"A driving range for Soldiers is like a watering hole in the desert," he said. "Word spread fast, and people are out here any hour of the day."

• Date Taken: 03.09.2007
• Date Posted: 03.09.2007 04:39
• Story ID: 9361