Fort Sill spouses 'walk-a-mile' in combat boots

FORT SILL, Okla. (May 22, 1014) -- The 214th Fires Brigade opened its hearts and doors to Soldiers' spouses to show what goes into being a Soldier.

Spouses tried on their loved one's boots and test their soldiering skills in a friendly team building competition composed of Basic Rifle Marksmanship, a 2.7-mile ruckmarch, the Team Development and Combat Conditioning courses.

The "Leaders Brigade" Spouse's Day of Duty kicked off early May 16 with a briefing and team registration. The four-person teams, each wearing their own uniform and carrying a unique team guidon, then divided into two groups and headed out to their first events. Each was developed to foster teamwork, leadership and esprit de corps.

"This day was designed to give family members a brief glimpse into the lives of their spouses," said event organizer Maj. Chad Wetherill, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 214th FiB. "By allowing family members the opportunity to experience actual training, we hope to show what it takes to be a Soldier and make our families and unit even stronger than they already are."

Divided into two equal groups, the spouses set off on their mission of excellence.

At the Engagement Skills Trainer, they learned the fundamentals of the M-16 rifle, range safety and zeroing sights. They tried their hands at a simulated qualification range before the real competition: the "turkey shoot." Here teams lay prone with their weapons before the EST's large screen where dozens of turkeys gobbled and flew across a simulated landscape in which riflemen earned points for each hit in a massive free for all.

"The whole thing was tons of fun!" exclaimed Olivia Hascher, Team B Company, 168th Brigade Support Battalion. "It was definitely a challenge from start to finish, but it was also incredible to do things I've never done before and see what my husband has to do for a living."

Three miles away, spouses tested their ability to work together and leadership skills at the Teamwork Development Course, an obstacle course that challenges groups to use problem solving skills to accomplish a series of tasks. Using boards, ropes and ingenuity, teams traversed obstacles to deliver "supplies" across challenging situations. Climbing walls and forging gaps with only posts sticking out of the ground between the start and finish, teams tested themselves by laying narrow boards across as bridges then balancing atop them as they passed further bridge building materials and supplies to the front.

The groups then swapped places via a 2.7-mile ruckmarch across the terrain well known to all who have marched those miles in Basic Combat Training. It built team loyalty and cohesion before their own turkey shoots and amateur engineering adventures.

"Seeing our team grow and come together really made me feel like we achieved something today," said Cynthia

Murcia, Team A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 5th Field Artillery. "We really pushed and supported one another, doing things together we could not have done on our own."

The culminating event in the spouses' day was the challenging but rewarding Combat Conditioning Course, an obstacle course that required physical conditioning, determination and personal courage. Vaulting logs, climbing walls, low-crawling under barbed wire and crossing rope bridges were only a handful of the dozen stations requiring focus, balance and stamina. Racing the clock while encouraged by one another, opponents and the experienced officers or noncommissioned officers assigned to them, the spouses blew through the course and chugged their way breathlessly to the finish line, where congratulations awaited one and all.

"That was tough," explained Shaleasa Peleska, Team Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery. "But, it was great to get out with everyone in a fun and healthy competition. I really liked seeing everyone root for each other and enjoy themselves."