Water bottle regatta encourages teamwork, fun

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Houx | Chief Warrant Officer Sandy Tacorante, the communication security custodian for Task Force 38, poses with the raft she rode, built by the 244th Aviation Brigade during the Labor Day 2009 water bottle raft race at the outdoor Joint Base Balad pool.  

BALAD, IRAQ

09.07.2009

Story by Spc. Elizabeth Houx 

Task Force 38

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — While service members' friends and family in the United States celebrated Labor Day with vacations and cookouts, Task Force 38 Soldiers, along with other Army, Navy and Air Force units stationed here, came together to celebrate in a special way at a Joint Base Balad pool.

Different units stationed here worked together to build team rafts made strictly out of used water bottles, rope and duct tape to participate in the water bottle raft race Sept. 7, 2009. Each unit's raft was compared and judged in competitions based on the best theme, best design and whose raft could hold the most people.

Filling the pool and surrounding area with rafts modeled after tugboats, ambulances, alligators, surf boards, pirate ships and other different shapes, the games were on.

The team, The Chief Selectees, consisting of Sailors stationed here from the 24th Navy Mobile Construction Battalion, 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Joint Airborne Battle Staff, Naval Informational Operations Command from Norfolk and Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center, won the competition of best design with their raft modeled after a naval ship.

The Emergency Management personnel here, who called themselves The Lady Dragons, won the competition for best theme with their pirate ship water bottle raft.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Michelle Torres, the Task Force Double Eagle human resources non-commissioned officer in charge, helped design their raft but also took enjoyment in seeing everyone else's creations.

"It was fun to see everyone's ideas for putting water bottles together," she said.

After the judging all eyes were on the upcoming race. Teams worked together to push, pull and paddle their rafts from one end of the pool to the other and back to complete the 100-meter race.

The main competition of the event was a held in three heats. The winners of each heat then raced the 100 meters again against each other in the final round to determine the overall winner of the race.

First, second and third place winners of the race all received T-shirts at the end of the event. The 37th Engineer Battalion placed first, closely followed by the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron who placed second and the 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment third place finishers.

Although placements and prizes were awarded, the event was about teamwork, fun and giving units stationed here a chance that they wouldn't usually to have to interact with each other and work as teams.

"We did this event for team cohesion and Soldier motivation," said Torres.

Taking advantage of the holiday event, two units came together, Task Force Double Eagle and its headquarters Task Force 38, to build and race their raft.

Command Sgt. Maj. Glenn Bowens, the Double Eagle command sergeant major, said even though the unit didn't win the competition or race, it met its goals of teamwork and having fun for the event.

"This was an extracurricular activity with a unifying effort," he said. "It took a lot of time designing and redesigning the raft."

"We achieved what we came to do and that was to have fun," he added. "We will be back next event. We will remain positive and have fun."

Already preparing for the next water bottle raft regatta, Chief Warrant Officer Sandy Tacorante, communication security custodian for Task Force 38 and the Double Eagle raft driver, said the Double Eagle-Task Force 38 team, Brigade Aviation Raft Assault Team, started making plans for adjustments to their raft.

"We didn't win, but we didn't lose," she said. "But we know how to design it next time."

With that said, Tacorante agreed with her teammates.

"It was really fun," she said. "The support that we got was great and [the event] built camaraderie within the brigade."

• Date Taken: 09.07.2009
• Date Posted: 09.10.2009 09:19
• Story ID: 38539
• Location: BALAD, IQ