Photo By Sgt. Adam L. Mathis | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Candice Summers of Chicago, an operations officer with the 308th...... read more read more
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – The long morning came to an end for 1st Lt. Candice Summers with the event she was most nervous about. Summers, an operations officer with the 308th Brigade Support Battalion, had never fired a 9 mm pistol before, but now her trial by fire with the weapon was going to be a “stress shoot range.”
What made this range stressful, explained the 308th’s commander, Lt. Col. Gary Spearow of Olsburg, Kansas, was what had come before it: an obstacle course, involving climbing, hanging from rain-slick bars and balancing, and a 10-kilometer ruck march to the range site. That last one in particular had gotten to Summers.
“It’s hard because your shoulders are sore after carrying the 30-pound rucksack and the [improvised outer tactical vest], so just holding a steady position—it’s challenging,” said Summers of Chicago.
All of this was part of the first Gunga Din Competition held by the 308th, April 26, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The competition consisted of individuals and teams working for first place trophies.
Spearow created the competition in an effort to foster esprit de corps. The name “Gunga Din” comes from a poem by Rudyard Kipling about an Indian whose job was to bring water to British troops.
“So, we use the Gunga Din [poem] as kind of a rallying point for the battalion, so that they know that they continue to serve through thick and through thin, through the tough times,” said Spearow, “so that our supported units never have to look back for the support that we’re giving them.”
That kind of service can be difficult for anyone to provide, which is why competitions like this can be so useful to soldiers looking to improve. While Summers only hit the target once during her stress shoot, the competition taught her about how much her body could handle.
When asked, after the competition ended for her, if she could take more, her answer was full of energy.
“Oh, always,” said Summers.
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2012 19:00 |
| Story ID: | 88057 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 234 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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