JBLM readies for clash with Navy

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – It may be only a flag football game, but the Army team from Joint Base Lewis-McChord is preparing like they’re getting ready for a military operation. Its sole mission – sink the Navy.

“This team right here is like no other I’ve coached,” said JBLM’s fourth-year head coach Robert Pierce. “We’re definitely more cohesive as a unit and as a team compared to our other teams. The players are more disciplined, on and off the field, as ever before. The players have clear eyes and clear hearts to play.”

JBLM is riding a three-game win streak as they enter the 24th Army-Navy flag football game at Lumen Field in Seattle Dec. 8 at 11 a.m. The Navy leads the series 14-9.

Normally, the game rotates each year between JBLM and Naval Base Kitsap in Kitsap County. This year’s Army-Navy flag football game takes place at the NFL's Lumen Field – the home field for the Seattle Seahawks. Playing in an NFL stadium takes the series to a new level of intensity.

“When I found out we’re playing at Lumen Field, all of the nerves fired off at once,” said Dylan Tillman, one of JBLM’s wide receivers and a team captain. “It’s so exciting to think about, and it will bring out a whole new level of competition to an already competitive series.”

Playing for JBLM has been a touch of deja vu for Tillman. Before coming to JBLM’s 3-364th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 189th Infantry Brigade in 2021, the staff sergeant was assigned to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and played in the Army-Navy flag football battle there.

Both Army teams he played on ended seven-year losing streaks to the Navy. And after last year’s 35-28, triple-overtime, win over the Navy at JBLM, the Army's small winning streak continues.

“I feel very good about this year’s team,” Tillman said. “In my opinion from the last three years, this year’s team is far more tightknit and excited to play.”

This year’s Army team has 41 players – three come from the Air Force. One of JBLM’s new players this year is Garret Sytsma, a 6-foot-5 former high school quarterback from New Jersey.

“We have good athletes on both sides of the ball,” Sytsma said, a first lieutenant from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. “We have great depth across the board and some really big guys on defense. And being able to play in an NFL stadium should be pretty fun for all of us.”

Pierce said Sytsma is one of three Army quarterbacks that will rotate throughout the game. He said each of the three quarterbacks have unique styles he hopes causes trouble for the Navy.

Last year’s JBLM quarterback Jon Taylor retired from the Army and came back to help coach the team, serving as the offensive coordinator this year.

“Believe it or not, we’re a very strong, united team,” Taylor said, a retired staff sergeant from the 46th Aviation Support Battalion, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade. “We’re all on the same sheet of music like one band – with one sound.”

Pierce has been conducting that band from JBLM for the last three years – and hopes to continue year after year. He retired as a sergeant first class from the 593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command last year.

“I’m not working yet after my retirement,” Pierce said. “And while I don’t get paid to coach here, this is my only job right now. And I’ll do it for as long as I can – or until they fire me.”

The game will be played before the Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals game in Glendale, Arizona, and that game will be shown live on the stadium screens after the flag football battle. While tickets are free, you still need to sign up for tickets via https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-army-vs-navy-flag-football-game-watch-party-tickets-1090137563799.

“Do I wish I could play in Lumen Field? Absolutely!” Taylor said. “Playing at Lumen Field will be such a great opportunity for the guys. We’re treating it much like a Super Bowl. It’s going to be intense.”