Determination and excitement lit Tyson Moore’s face as he crawled under the white engineer tape toward his target. He paused and aimed his Nerf gun at the Soldier at the end of the lane and fired. The seven-year-olds first shot just went wide of the target, but he kept pushing forward and managed a clean shot on his next try. At the end of the course he was a little bit winded, but the smile on his face showed that it was worth it.
This Nerf gun assault course was one of several events at the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment’s Wee IB. Modeled after the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, the Wee IB aimed to give the Soldier’s children a chance to experience a little of what their fathers do at work.
“This is awesome. All of the events are similar to what we do in real life. It gives the kids a chance to kind of see what we do for our jobs,” said Specialist Nathan S. Lowe, C company infantryman. “They get to actually see it and do it instead of just hear about it.”
The battalion organized several activities to go along with the theme of the day, which included a physical training test scaled for various age groups, a grenade assault course with water balloons, camouflage face painting, static Stryker displays, and an inflatable pugil stick arena.
“The kids are having a blast. This is nice because the kids feel left out a lot of the time. It gives them a chance to play Army and see what dad does,” said Jacquie Moore, mother of three children who attended the day.
Pfc. Enrique Avila, 5/20th Infantry headquarters and headquarters company medic, scooped up his two- year-old son Jude after watching him complete the water balloon assault course. “It is nice for my family to see where I work and to meet everyone,” he said.
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