FORT BENNING, Ga. - SPC David Ellis stood at the top of a 100-foot tower overlooking a tree-covered valley as his teammates coaxed him to make the jump. Ellis was harnessed to a 2,400-foot-long zip line that would carry him across the valley at speeds reaching 65 miles per hour.
Called the Screaming Eagle, the jump is the longest and fastest at Historic Banning Mills' zip line course and aptly named for the shrieks it induces.
"It almost made me punk out," said Ellis, a truck driver with 4th Platoon, 233rd Transportation Company. "I'm afraid of heights. I was thinking of backing out but then I thought to myself 'it's a long walk back and I'm already strapped in.'"
He wasn't the only Soldier to consider backing out of the Screaming Eagle jump Tuesday.
Ellis was one of 22 Soldiers from 4th Platoon to participate in an extreme zip line course and rope challenge course Tuesday sponsored by Fort Benning's Warrior Adventure Quest program.
The 233rd Trans. Co. returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq three months ago where they provided heavy equipment transportation in support of units from Camp Adder southeast of Baghdad all the way to Mosul.
They are the first Fort Benning unit to participate in the zip line activities offered by WAQ. The program, funded by the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation, is geared toward recently redeployed Soldiers who are coping with the adjustment from a combat environment back to garrison life, said Darlene Hines, program manager for Outdoor Recreation, which is responsible for running the adventure program.
The program introduces Soldiers fresh from the war zone to high-adventure, adrenaline-boosting activities such as scuba diving, rock climbing, paintball, skiing, whitewater rafting and zip lining, at no cost to the Soldier.
The program is coupled with the Army's psychological resiliency building program, Battlemind, to enhance communication in the ranks. Battlemind is an opportunity for Soldiers to discuss how they recognized and responded to their fears and what they've learned about themselves.
The day started with icebreaker games before moving on to the low ropes challenge course, a series of teambuilding activities designed to foster communication, leadership, problem-solving and trust, said Lee Stuart, an internationally certified trainer for the challenge courses and zip lining.
"With each activity, we build up to the zip line course," said Stuart, a retired lieutenant colonel who began his Army career at Fort Benning when he was drafted during the Vietnam War. "I've been in their shoes. The extreme portion of the course is going to push them and they won't be the same person when they finish. They'll have more confidence in themselves."
The Soldiers learned to cross "islands" - platforms set six feet apart - using two boards, climb walls using their buddies for help and cross rope bridges set a few feet off the ground. After a lunch break, the troops dove into the high ropes challenge course - a series of seven zip lines and more than 20 rope bridges traversing several hundred acres overlooking the Snake Creek Gorge.
The four-hour course, dubbed one of the longest and highest canopy tours in the world by Historic Banning Mills staff, began at the top of a 60-foot observation tower with a 1,000-foot zip across Snake Creek. Along the course, Soldiers stayed primarily in treetop platforms nearly 20 feet off the ground as they crossed bridges and zip cables.
1LT Kimberly Ordonez, a platoon leader with the company, said the course taught her a lot about her Soldiers.
"I learned what some of their fears are," she said. "And how they act under pressure in certain situations."
SGT Justin Leverett, a truck driver in 4th platoon, said his fear of heights is not completely gone but he's confident he can overcome it after completing the day's challenges.
"The toughest part for me was crossing the narrow bridge over the water," he said. "There was a moment when I reached the middle of the bridge where I thought I was going to fall off. I had to man up and balance myself out."
Some Soldiers, like SGT Carroll Murphy, said the course gave them a chance to work out some problems related to the deployment.
"A lot of people in the platoon were having issues downrange," said Murphy, a truck driver for the platoon. "Coming here, you can see they've lightened up a little, come out of their shell and become joyful again instead of being serious all the time."
As for Ellis, after completing the Screaming Eagle he rated his performance on the course at 88.2 percent.
Where was the other 12.8 percent' "I lost it on that bridge over the water. The Screaming Eagle couldn't top how scary that bridge was."
Kristin.Molinaro@us.army.mil
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