Photo By Staff Sgt. Owen Thez | Staff Sgt. Jack “Huck” Blackjack, the 1st Theater Sustainment Command mascot...... read more read more
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FORT KNOX, Ky. – Team members of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command took a break from everyday duties and spent the day enjoying fun and games with their family members at the unit’s first organizational day since 2019.
Soldiers, civilian employees, and family members spent the afternoon at Keyes Park where they played softball, flag football, volleyball, kickball, cornhole, horseshoes, and bingo. Kids enjoyed spending time in the bounce houses, getting their faces painted, and winning prizes at the carnival games.
Maj. Gen. Michel M. Russell Sr., commanding general, 1st TSC, hosted the event and participated in activities after providing opening remarks and promoting the cherished unit mule mascot, Sgt. Jack “Huck” Blackjack.
“It is important that we are here today, because we have not had the opportunity to have an organizational day in almost three years. That’s a long time to function as we do, and not have the opportunity to get together like this and crack jokes, laugh, play games, and just enjoy our families,” Russell said.
“We don’t get this chance a lot being split-based. But that’s okay. We’re going to make up for that today,” Russell added.
The commanding general encouraged his team to talk to at least one person during the day whom they didn’t already know, describing the event as a great opportunity to mingle and build support networks.
After thanking the organizational day committee and all of the many volunteers who helped make the day possible, Russell called for “Huck” to take center stage.
He then promoted Blackjack to the rank of staff sergeant and described the ways in which the mule and logistics are synonymous.
“We are always there. You can never tell us we’re not going to get it done. You never have to look for us, because we’re not going to run away. And we can carry all of the burdens of all of the maneuver forces on our shoulders,” Russell said.
The newly-promoted mule, Staff Sgt. Jack “Huck” Blackjack, headed back to a shaded area where he posed with kids who were eager to congratulate, pet, and get a photo with him.
A young family member was invited on stage by Russell where together they cut the cake made to honor Blackjack’s promotion.
A picnic lunch was served by volunteers. It included pulled pork and chicken, potato salad, green and baked beans, macaroni and cheese and desserts. Concessions were open, music was playing, games were happening simultaneously and two clowns, Bip and Bop, surfed the party with the mission of making kids laugh.
Spc. Bryan Hernandez provides general administrative work in the secretary of the general staff section of 1st TSC, and he saw a lot of camaraderie throughout the day.
“It was nice to see a lot of families out here having fun outside of the workplace,” he said.
“I enjoy the organization as a whole and it’s great that we can come together as a team, because that’s who we are – First Team,” Hernandez added.
Sgt. 1st Class Angela Curry, senior religious affairs specialist, 1st TSC said, “It feels amazing to see my senior NCOs and officers out here enjoying themselves, their families, and us too.”
Civilian employee Theron A. Lymon, explosive safety specialist, 1st TSC, has been here three months and this was his first organizational day.
“Org day was excellent, because I got to meet a mixture of people from different sections. It was also great seeing families out here having fun,” he said.
Once all of the games and activities wrapped up for the day, Russell pulled tickets and awarded several raffle prizes and made closing remarks.
Committee members, volunteers, and attendees worked to help build camaraderie, connect families and teammates, and fostered friendships throughout the 1st TSC Army Family.
| Date Taken: | 08.22.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 08.22.2022 14:48 |
| Story ID: | 427744 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Organizational Day returns for 1st TSC Soldiers, Families, by Barbara Gersna, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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