Army on Okinawa Week kicks off with barbecue, games
Pacific edition, Thursday, June 4, 2009
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — During a normal weekday morning, Army Spc. Samuel Miller is tinkering with trucks and fixing generators.
On Tuesday, Miller, 22, a mechanic with Echo Battery, 1-1 Air Defense Artillery Battalion, exchanged his tool belt for rubber balls to hurl at fellow soldiers during a friendly dodgeball competition on Kadena Air Base.
The game was among a string of social and sports activities planned for the 1,700 soldiers on the island for Army on Okinawa Week.
"There is no reason why a soldier shouldn’t get out of work to play dodgeball. It builds unit camaraderie," Miller said.
Army on Okinawa Week — which kicked off Monday with a family barbecue — is being held on the island for the first time, said Sgt. 1st Class Chad Bailey of the 10th Support Group, who helped organize the event.
It is a scaled-down version of "All American Week" held annually at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, which features sports competitions and family activities, Bailey said.
"It’s about team building," Bailey said. "It’s a week just to have fun and show that we can work hard and play hard."
In between regular duties, soldiers will participate in a chariot race and a boxing competition, and the activities will culminate Saturday with the 234th Army Ball.
The unit with the best overall score from all the activities will be awarded the Commander’s Cup.
Sgt. Adriana Martinez, 27, of the 505th Quartermaster Battalion said the events allow her to connect with soldiers with whom she typically doesn’t interact.
"I know that throughout the year, we don’t get to talk to the other units, so this is good," Martinez said.
