From the moment the post commander carries the torch through the gate to the departure of the last athlete, Fort Jackson's Soldiers and civilians will work to ensure that this year's S.C. Special Olympics run as smoothly as the 46 that came before it.
"Our athletes look forward to this every year," said Leigh Cheatham of S.C. Special Olympics. "They get treated like rock stars at Fort Jackson.
"It gives you goosebumps when they walk into those hundreds of Soldiers yelling and cheering (on opening night)."
Even though the organizers on post change every year, Fort Jackson has a history of success with the S.C. Special Olympics, she said. She expects that history to continue May 1-3.
Having that happen might seem somewhat remarkable, considering that with each new statewide Special Olympics comes a new chain of command. This year, that's the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment.
"You could say that there's not expertise, meaning there's not a human" to pass on tips from one battalion to the next" each year, said Lt. Col. Derek Mayfield of the 3-60th. What there is, though, is "a giant folder of stuff" -- and accompanying digital files -- listing all the necessary tasks and contacts, both Soldiers and civilians throughout Fort Jackson.
Cindy Keene of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Programs admits that "it's hard when a new unit takes over." But "those of us (civilians) who have been here, we can reassure them.
"That's the hardest past for the Soldiers -- the continuity. It's not hard for us."
Because a battalion knows one year ahead of time that it will organize the statewide games, representatives also can attend one year's events to see how things should go the next.
Then, organizers craft a pages-long task sheet listing every safety inspection to be conducted, legal form to be filled out and chemical toilet to be set up -- where and when.
Crunch time comes in the few days immediately before the games, when Soldier and civilian organizers complete safety walks and music checks, and set up beds, meals and transportation for the events.
This year, the 3-60th graduated its latest batch of Basic trainees on April 16, leaving its barracks empty.
By Opening Ceremonies the evening of May 1 - a Friday - it will have to take down 600 bunk beds, breaking them into 1,200 singles for Olympics athletes, many of whom are physically disabled. Then it will have to make up each bed with mattress protectors and linens.
After the games end the following Sunday, it will have three days to strip and restack those singles into bunks for a new training cycle -- what Mayfield calls "playing Tetris with bunk beds."
Olympians will not be expected to strip their own linens, as those completing Basic must do. So the 3-60th will have to add that chore to its three-day list, too.
During the games, it also will break down and repackage many of 1,200 breakfasts and dinners for athletes and coaches, to make sure every food is appropriate and easy to eat for those with special needs.
And because the 3-60th also will provide 24-hour supervision of the athletes, said First Sgt. Michael Randolph, "everything that happens throughout the three says of the Olympics will come through here."
Mayfield said he expected the Special Olympics to operate smoothly. That's SOP, after all.
Even though the organizing battalions may change, he said, those managing public works, logistics and emergency services on post do not. Those folks have experience in everything from providing trash bins to ice to buses, not only with Special Olympics but with Victory Week and the Fourth of July -- two other occasions when so many outsiders visit Fort Jackson.
An array of departments on post will handle such things as replacing "a light bulb here and there," said Eric Cope, chief of business operations for the Department of Public Works. Many of the tasks designated for the Olympics are things DPW already does, Cope said -- the schedule is just a bit different.
DPW also will provide additional trash containers, large and small, as well as chemical toilets -- many of them for handicapped users. It also will spray athletic fields to eradicate pests.
"Other than the chemical toilets, it's really nothing we wouldn't ordinarily do," Cope said -- the deadlines are just a little tighter. "We're standing by to support (the games) any way we need to."
The Logistics Readiness Center will provide everything from buses to transport athletes to the competition venues to meals to mattress covers.
The FMWR will build the arch under which torch runners will pass, get the sports fields ready for competition and designate air-conditioned areas where a heat-stressed athlete can take a time-out.
And the Department of Emergency Services will handle traffic and parking.
"We'll have to have roadblocks in place" and personnel managing traffic to eliminate issues with traffic and parking, said Master Sgt. Sonya Thomas of DES. "The post is going to be kind of hectic that weekend."
DES is only one department that will be on standby from the first moment of the games to the last, making sure that Fort Jackson puts its best foot forward.
As Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Utz of the 3-60th put it:
"This is a team-building exercise for Fort Jackson -- from our civilian workforce to our military Soldier."
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