Multi-national soccer game builds partnership

By Spc. Paige Behringer, 1st BCT Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.September 25, 2014

Multi-national soccer game builds partnership
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division warm up by taking a lap around the field before a friendly soccer match Sept. 22 against Royal Netherlands Army soldiers assigned to the 11th Air Mobile Brigade at For... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Multi-national soccer game builds partnership
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – 140922-A-HL390-089

Soldiers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division celebrate their recent soccer victory in the Phantom Warrior Week post-wide competition by warming up before playing a friendly soccer match Sept. ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
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Multi-national soccer game builds partnership
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A Soldier assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division and a Royal Netherlands Army soldier assigned to the 11th Air Mobile Brigade compete for possession of a soccer ball during a friendly match Sept. 22 at Fort Hood, C... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Multi-national soccer game builds partnership
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The goalie for the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division soccer team guards his post during a match Sept. 22against Royal Netherlands Army soldiers assigned to the 11th Air Mobile Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas. Sgt. 1st Class Ivan ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Multi-national soccer game builds partnership
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A Royal Netherlands Army soldier assigned to the 11th Air Mobile Brigade kicks a soccer ball during a match against Soldiers assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division, Sept. 22, at Fort Hood, Texas. "It was a (really) ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas -- Partnership and international relations are not foreign concepts for Phantom Warrior Week's champion soccer team, the 1st Brigade Combat Team "Ironhorse," 1st Cavalry Division.

To celebrate their victory in the recent post-wide competition, 1BCT Soldiers practiced camaraderie through competition Sept. 22 during a friendly soccer match against Royal Netherlands Army soldiers assigned to the 11th Air Mobile Brigade attached to 21st Cavalry Brigade here.

Since the host team's mission this year revolves around multi-national partnership through a series of overseas exercises, it was fitting they play against a European counterpart right in their own backyard. This fall, 1BCT will be training in five European countries alongside NATO allies during Atlantic Resolve and Combined Resolve III.

Sgt. 1st Class Ivan Alvira, a Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, native assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company "Hammer" of the Ironhorse Brigade, said the game was a good experience and could be a precursor for similar opportunities to play against European counterparts in Germany later this year.

"We got to meet people from other battalions within the brigade, and we also got to make some friendships with other units," said Alvira, 1BCT's assistant coach. "I think overall we did well."

Command Sgt. Maj. James Put, the senior noncommissioned officer of the 11th Air Mobile Brigade, said he enjoyed having the opportunity to build camaraderie not only between the teams but also across Fort Hood units.

"I organized the whole game … to get our footprint out there, show people (that) Dutch soldiers are over here and show camaraderie between the soldiers after the game," Put said. "It was a good game, a fair game and a fast game."

Although 1BCT ended Phantom Warrior Week as the American soccer champions on post, their Dutch competitors came out on top with a 6 -- 2 win.

"It was a (really) good game, and I thank the unit," Put said. "I especially know how busy they are, and its great for (them) coming out over here and helping us to have a good game."