Story by Capt. Morgan Wood, Company F, 227th Aviation Regiment, 40th Combat Aviation Brigade
IRAQ – Hours before sunrise, nearly a hundred Danish service members, U.S. Airmen, Marines and Soldiers marched in the Danish Contingent March in Iraq, April 29, 2016.
Nine Soldiers from Company F, 227th Aviation Regiment, 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, participated in the 15.2 mile trek.
Since 1972, the Danish army have organized marches wherever their contingent forces have been deployed, thus spawning the march’s moniker “DANCON.”
“You can tell this isn’t the first time the Danish soldiers have done [the DANCON],” said Sgt. Andrew Gordley, an MQ-1C Gray Eagle maintainer in Company F. “It was nice being able to take part in their tradition, and I’d do it again.”
The minimum load for the event is 22 pounds not including water. Although the event wasn’t timed, every service member was brutally aware that marching would only get hotter and more difficult as the sun came up.
Sgt. Chas Phillips, a Gray Eagle operator in Co. F, earned the distinct honor of being the first U.S. service member to complete the DANCON, and placed fourth overall.
“It was a no-brainer to come out here and support our Danish counterparts,” Phillips said. “They did a great job planning it, and it was a good change from the everyday routine.”