Winter Games in the sandbox
March 4th, 2010 | Afghanistan Army Hockey Iraq | Posted by Alan Lessig
Inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan held their own athletic competitions. At COB Speicher in Iraq, U.S. Division North held a “biathlon” for 40 soldiers, one sailor and one airman. The event had them run 3.7 miles out to a firing range where they had to shoot for score and then the same distance back to the finish line at COB Speicher. They were scored by a combination of run-time and their shooting score. The event was won by:
• Spc. Douglas Long (US), Male Winner, 2/25th AVN Bn., 25th ID CAB
• 1st Lt. Valerie Aquino (US), Female Winner, 209th ASB, 25th ID CAB
At Kandahar Air Base, it was more of a team effort as the USA (Army) took on Canada (Army) in a hockey final rematch. There wasn’t any ice, but there was plenty of sand for them to slide around on.
Tags: 25th ID, Afghanistan, Army, biathlon, Douglas Long, Hockey, Iraq, Kandahar, US Division North, Valerie Aquino