The 733rd Engineer Company’s 1st Platoon took on a project that was cemented in song

By Spc. Amber M. Hoy 314th PAOCAugust 8, 2011

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JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX, N. J. " “Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots and ruined your black tie affair,” sang the soldiers of 1st platoon, 733rd Engineer Company out of Greeneville, Tenn.

The jovial engineers sang a blend of army cadence and country music to keep their morale high while assembling a 50-person pre-fabricated classroom during exercise “Castle Installation Related Construction” at Joint Base McGuire-Dix, July 16-30, 2011.

“Singing makes the work easier,” said Staff Sgt. David J. Kunter, noncommissioned officer-in-charge.

“When the heat index reaches 110-120 degrees and the hours get long, it’s important to crack some smiles and to lighten the mood with song,” said Spc. Christopher R. Doupnik, a 733rd engineer and unit motivator.

Kunter compared the melodies at the worksite to cadence calling during military runs.

“If you are not thinking about how much is left, you run harder and farther,” Kunter said.

The noncommissioned officers also used singing as a safety tool that allowed supervisors to gauge which Soldiers had been in the heat too long.

“When someone doesn’t participate, that tells us something is wrong and they might need to take a seat in the shade,” Kunter said.

Doupnik, who jokingly wears a bird feather in his yellow hardhat says that the unit is like a family.

“I wrestled in high school and this is the closest thing to that [type of] camaraderie,” Doupnik said. “Everyone understands the task, so you do not have to tell people what to do. They already know.”

The cohesion Doupnik spoke of became evident when some lower enlisted Soldiers voluntarily stayed late to help keep the project, which started two days late, on schedule.

The 733rd, which is subordinate to the 412th Theater Engineer Command answered to the 416th TEC, the exercise’s governing body, during Castle IRC. The overall focus of the mission was to improve training areas on JBMDL, and to give the engineers the opportunity to sharpen their construction skills during their two-week annual training.

The work progressed, the temperatures increased and the choruses got louder.

“Now I'm not big on social graces, think I'll slip on down to the oasis, oh I got friends, in low places,” the Soldiers chanted.

With that type of motivation it comes as no surprise that the platoon finished the project on schedule.