Soldiers of 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), compete in five-on-five basketball at a 15th Sust. Bde. organizational day Aug. 5 at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area here. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew ...

Sgt. Greg Mummert, a 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) tracked vehicle mechanic and Lenark, Ill., native, catches his 9-year-old step daughter, Hanna Tarr, as she falls from an inflatable sticky wall at a 15th Sust. B...

Command Sgt. Maj. Nathaniel Bartee Sr., sergeant major of 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and Col. Larry Phelps, the brigade's commander, cut cakes with the unit's patches on them using cavalry sabers, as is tradit...

FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers and family members of 15th Special Troops Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) participated in an organizational day Aug. 5 at the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area here.

The unit, which completed its return from an Iraq deployment in early July, is scheduled to finish a move to Fort Bliss, Texas, adjacent to El Paso, Texas, by the end of the year.

Soldiers competed against one another for medals and trophies in horse shoes, basketball, volley ball, tug-of-war, and softball while their children played in an inflatable boxing ring with oversized gloves, on a sticky wall, and on the local playground.

"I think it's great to have everybody together," said 1st Lt. Josh Risher, a human resources officer for 15th Sust. Bde. and a Columbia, S.C. native. "...Especially since everybody is going to the four winds."

It was good to have a day for the Soldiers to have fun together with their families before school started again for the year, he added.

Other Soldiers agreed the organizational day was good for the unit.

"This brings a lot more camaraderie and brings everyone together. When People are at work, they don't all see each other," said Staff Sgt. Pomaikai Garza, 15th Sus. Bde. technical support noncommissioned officer and Honolulu native.

"We spent ten months down range. We spent a lot of time together - we bonded a lot more," said Sgt. Osbaldo Valles, a 15th Sust. Bde. human resources specialist and Dallas native. "It's a morale booster - playing sports, competing against each other"

Valles said it was a good chance for families to meet the people their Soldiers' worked with while in Iraq. He added that the organizational day showed the families the unit cares about them and would continue to care for them just as the Family Readiness Group did while the unit was deployed.