'Wranglers' prep for Super Bowl party with pre-party

13th Armored Corps Sustainment Command (13th ESC)
Story by Sgt. Matthew Cooley

Date: 02.06.2010
Posted: 02.09.2010 01:19
News ID: 45119
'Wranglers' prep for Super Bowl party with pre-party

CONTINGENCY OPERATING LOCATION Q-WEST, Iraq — Soldiers of the 15th Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), hosted a pre-Super Bowl party for service members and civilians at the dining facility, Feb. 6, during the midday meal.

The day-early pre-game party included music, board games, football toss, Twister, a raffle, a prize wheel and football decorations such as paper footballs at each table and large wooden cutouts of Colts and Saints football helmets.

"We just wanted to get everybody in the mood for the Super Bowl. It's an appetizer," Master Sgt. Vanessa Price, a Shreveport, La., native and senior food management non-commissioned officer in charge, said.

She explained that she wanted to provide an environment of fun.

"I had an NCO of mine come up to me and say she's very relaxed and that's how everybody feels," Price said.

Soldiers like Spc. Jahari Reed, a petroleum supply specialist in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 15th STB, agreed.

"It's fun really. Especially for us being away from family," Jahari, a Miami, native, said.

"It takes our mind away from the fact that you're away from home."

Price explained how retired Command Sgt. Maj. Ronnie Davis, a Department of Defense employee and Price's former boss, helped by providing new games for the party. His 9-year-old daughter chose the games.

"She said she hoped her Soldier friends enjoyed it," Price said of Davis' daughter and the games she chose.

Some Soldiers enjoyed the games more than others.

Cpl. Rebecca Rojas from Bakersfield, Calif., and Spc. Teasia Jackson from Virginia Beach, Va., both supply specialists with 204th Military Police Company, played one game of Twister for an hour. The game started with four players, but eventually came down to only the two. Finally, Rojas won.

"She cheated me!" Jackson said, smiling.

"I didn't cheat ... it's called strategy," Rojas responded with a laugh.

"We're very competitive against each other. It's more like a sibling rivalry," Jackson explained.

"We're getting a Twister. We're going to practice."