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Friday, November 19, 2010
Story by Sgt. Kimberly Johnson
BAGHDAD /PRAvenueNW/ — The 1st Armored Division, United States Division – Center hosted an end of tour celebration Nov. 7 at Camp Liberty, Iraq to commemorate the upcoming end to their yearlong deployment along with other USD-C units preparing to redeploy.
The celebration included softball and volleyball competitions, music by the 1st Armd. Div. bands, The Dirty Hescos, a classic rock band and Misery Loves Company, an R & B band, respectively, and stand-up comedy by Comics Ready to Entertain.
“Events like the [end of tour celebration] bring the units together at the end of a long tour,” said Sgt. 1st Class Bryan Walker, battalion motor sergeant with Company B, Division Special Troops Battalion, 1st Armd. Div., and a New York City native. “It’s great for the morale on [1st Armd. Div.'s] way home for the hard push [to redeploy] and builds camaraderie between the units that have worked side-by-side for 12 months.”
To kick off the day’s events, teams battled it out during a softball tournament while other members of USD-C competed in a volleyball tournament. The winners of each of the competitions were presented awards during the evening portion of the celebration.
“Athletic events are a way for soldiers to let out some steam,” Walker said. “The events that are competitive and challenging bring esprit de corps to the units, as well as the entire organization.”
Master Sgt. Keith Lindsey, one of the event’s coordinators, said organizing the end of tour celebration was not an easy feat.
“The biggest challenge was combining everybody,” said Lindsey, division personnel plans operations non-commissioned officer-in-charge, DSTB, 1st Armd. Div., and an Ashville, N.C. native. “Doing so much in one day; it was a lot of moving parts.”
Lindsey said in order to make the event run smoothly, he relied on the help of several soldiers and non-commissioned officers to make sure everything came together.
“We are not quite done with our tour,” Lindsey said, “but the end of tour celebration was just a special way to say ‘thank you’ to all the soldiers for the hard work they’ve done over the course of this year.”
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