ROSE BARRACKS, Germany -- Playing the game of football can be very competitive when playing against an unknown team, but the level of intensity rises when Soldiers compete against the same battle buddies they work with everyday.
Troopers assigned to 1st Squadron, 2d Cavalry Regiment made the game competitive and fun as they competed for their unit's championship trophy during the squadron's annual Turkey bowl at Rose Barracks, Germany, Nov. 21, 2014.
The games took on a playoff-like atmosphere, filled with anticipation and excitement, as Troops within the squadron went head to head to start the competition off. Now that the unit championship was on the line, rivalries became prevalent as one team seemed to have a little more cohesion than the others.
"I just came over from Bull Troop and they are already involved in a flag football league," said Sgt. 1st Class Filemon Mendez, an infantryman assigned to 1st Sqdn, 2 CR, who was a referee during the games. "The same guys that were playing for the unit's team are playing together for the Bull Troop team today."
After Bull Troop won the unit championship, the time came for all officers and noncommissioned officers throughout the squadron to meet on the gridiron for their annual Turkey Bowl.
"The purpose of these games are to enhance the 'espirt de corps' and to help build camaraderie throughout the unit going into the Thanksgiving weekend," said 1st Lt. Jefferson Thondique, an operations officer assigned to 1st Sqdn, 2 CR.
That brotherhood was never more evident than when officers, NCOs and junior enlisted alike, lined up against each other on opposing teams and would put just as much effort in to their plays as they would in helping each other up off the ground to make sure no one was hurt.
In the end, the officers were victorious as they defeated the NCOs, 36-12, with the game ending at the 2 minute mark due to the mercy rule, which states that "if a team is losing by 19 or more points, the game is ended due to the point deficit."
After the game, the Dragoons gathered in celebration of all participants with the unit's championship trophy being presented to the players in Bull Troop and the traditional "Shield of Shame" being presented to the NCOs for losing the annual competition.
"This is a troop versus troop competition followed by an officer-versus-NCO game in the good old-fashioned tradition that we have," said Thondique.
Through it all, teams losing, calls being made or not made, everyone left the field in good spirits, cheering and laughing, ready for their upcoming Thanksgiving weekend and the times that they were going to spend with their friends and Families.
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