FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Soldiers and Marines joined together March 15 for a day filled with laughter and friendly competition to celebrate the patron saint of engineers – St. Patrick.
The Fort Leonard Wood Marine Corps Detachment's Engineer Equipment Instruction Company hosted the event on Gerlach Field, where Col. Scottie Redden, the detachment commander, welcomed the assembled service members.
“It is a little breezy and cloudy. I checked the weather this morning in Dublin, Ireland — it is 49 degrees. The same kind of weather we have here, so that is fitting,” Redden said. “It is an exciting day to be an engineer. I am glad we are getting to take part in this tradition here today.”
Redden also explained why St. Patrick is the patron saint for engineers.
“St. Patrick is credited with several things, including the use of lime as mortar instead of dry masonry in Ireland,” he said. “I find it interesting that this tradition of recognizing St. Patrick as the patron saint of engineers started just a few hours from here at the University of Missouri (in Columbia, Missouri) in 1903. The engineering students there cleverly decided that this discovery warrants a celebration and developed a tradition that has found its way to the Marine Corps.”
Redden said tradition is “critically important” to the Marine Corps and recognizing St. Patrick is one way engineers can appreciate and celebrate their heritage.
Master Sgt. James Taylor, 554th Engineer Battalion Maintenance Training Division senior instructor, echoed that sentiment.
“Having pride in what you do and knowing your history helps to instill that sense of belonging to an organization bigger than yourself,” Taylor said.
The Blarney Stone decorating contest kicked off the day’s events, which also included activities, such as ground fighting, stone and log tossing, tire flipping, tug of war, a backhoe pull and something called “Kim’s Game,” a memory competition that involves physical activity.
“(Kim’s Game) involves mental fortitude and physical toughness,” Taylor said. “You have to be physically fit enough to be able to ignore the physical exertion and focus on the mental task. It is a good test of any Soldier or Marine.”
Taylor attended the event with advanced individual training Soldiers from Company D, 554th En. Bn. He said the St. Patrick celebration is a perfect opportunity to build camaraderie with inter-service training partners.
“We work together in the classroom for about six weeks while they are going through their military occupational specialty training. This is an opportunity to interact with each other outside in a different environment and do some competitive team-building events,” Taylor said.
The eight competing teams were divided by their sections of Army, Marines Awaiting Training, Advanced Engineer Equipment Mechanic, Advanced Engineer Equipment Operator, Basic Engineer Equipment Repairer, Basic Engineer Equipment Operator, Technical Engineer and Engineer Equipment Chief.
The Marines Awaiting Training won the competition, with the Engineer Equipment Chief team coming in second.
More photos from the celebration can be viewed on Fort Leonard Wood’s Flickr page.
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