FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALAGUSH, Afghanistan - Twenty-five U.S. service members made the effort to help raise funds, in support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, by participating in a 5 kilometer run around Forward Operating Base Kalagush, in Afghanistan's eastern Nuristan province, Oct. 31.
Members of the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team hosted the 5K run to help support the Save the Ta-Tas Foundation, founded in 2008, by the Save the Ta-Tas clothing brand.
U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Natassia Cherne, Nuristan PRT public affairs officer, and Navy Lt. j.g. Stacey Gross, PRT information operations officer, first came up with the idea when they heard of a breast cancer awareness month 5K run being held in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan.
"Lieutenant Gross and I were going to go to Jalalabad and do the run," Cherne said. "Then we thought we should do it here so that everyone who wanted to participate didn't have to leave the FOB. FOB Fenty [was] doing a 5K through the Save the Ta-Tas foundation, so I looked them up, and worked with the foundation to raise money for their foundation by giving service members the option to buy Save the Ta-Tas t-shirts. The people at the foundation were very supportive and really helped us get everything we needed in a two week time frame before the run. "
Hosting the event at the FOB was a good chance for everyone who personally knew someone affected by the disease to show their support.
"Lieutenant Cherne came to me with the idea for the whole event," U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Travis Mobley, Nuristan PRT radio talker operator, said "I knew someone who died of breast cancer, so I wanted to give back to something that I felt was really worth the cause."
Statistically, nearly 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,000 will die. Approximately 1,700 men will also be diagnosed, and 450 will die. It is the second overall cause of death among women, aside from lung cancer.
The Save the Ta-Tas foundation was introduced in order to promote cancer awareness and aid in a fight to find a cure for the disease. The 5K event made it possible for 57 T-shirts to be sold from the foundation's Web site, raising a total over $900, in which a third was donated to help the effort.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Randall Maurer with 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment, Task Force Steel, finished first, with a time of 20 minutes 47 seconds. U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Bradley Brill and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Cory Cummings, a gunnery sergeant with 2-77, finished second and third, with their times being 21:00, and 22:58, respectively.
For more information on the Save the Ta-Tas Foundation, visit www.savethetatas.com.