FORT RUCKER, Ala. -- The shots rang out and were followed with screams and commands. The Soldiers trudged through the mud and hid behind bunkers.
After the shooting stopped, laughter and storytelling filled the air as the Soldiers completed a paintball outing as part of Warrior Adventure Quest at Outdoor Recreation's paintball courses Feb. 1.
WAQ is a Department of the Army program that "provides high-adrenaline activities and team-building opportunities" to Soldiers who have just returned from a deployment, said Danielle Hanes of Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.
Events like the paintball or the whitewater rafting trip that occurred in August provide Soldiers a way to relieve stress or expend adrenaline in positive ways as they adjust to life stateside, Hanes added.
"It's not necessarily stress inoculation," said Capt. Cameron Gallagher, a small group leader for the Aviation Captains Career Course. Gallagher noted WAQ events provide outlets for stress so Soldiers "don't get on a motorcycle and drive fast or do other high-risk behaviors."
At Forces Command posts, Outdoor Recreation usually holds the events within 120 days of units returning from deployment and/or block leave. Most of the ones who participated in Tuesday's event had been back longer, but it was still a good experience.
"This is exposure. Most are (going to) be company commanders (soon)," Gallagher said of his AVC3 students, members of A Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment. "They'll go to five or six different posts from here. Word of mouth is better advertising."
That advertising may allow Soldiers who need help reintegrating into normal life have another opportunity to do so. Gallagher noted the events also build teamwork.
CW3 Landon Dykes, a CH-47 Chinook instructor pilot with B Company, 1st Battalion, 223rd Aviation Regiment sees social interaction another benefit.
"This is back to life, back to reality," he said. "I'd love to see more of the Soldiers who came back recently. Maybe they open up to you and ask, 'Hey, did you experience this,' or maybe you ask, 'Got any lessons you want to share'' Everyone over there gets affected in different ways."
Dykes encouraged Soldiers who have an opportunity to participate in the event to do so.
"Don't stay in your room. That's the worst thing you can do when you first get back," he said.
The paintball excursion, like all other WAQ events, costs nothing for Soldiers, Hanes said.
For more information about WAQ, call Hanes at 255-9801.
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