Soldiers form teams for 16-game football season
Published 11:13 am Thursday, November 10, 2011
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Team Bear Dragon, made up of troops from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Division, plays during a 36-32 loss to Delta 1/44 AMD, an air defense artillery regiment from Fort Worth, Texas. Troops started a 16-game football season in mid-September. — Kelli Lageson
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — Men from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry Division, playing as Team Bear Dragon, lost 36-32 to Delta 1/44 AMD, an air defense artillery regiment from Fort Worth, Texas, during a football game Tuesday evening at Camp Buehring in Kuwait.
1st Lt. Dan Gurtner, of Rochester, said the team originally marked down their team name as “TBD,” meaning to be determined, but a team member made up the name Team Bear Dragon, so they stuck with it.
The football season started mid-September, and there are 16 regular games before the playoffs begin. They play on a makeshift field near the softball field on the base, and there is no grass to break their falls — it’s all gravel.
“People miss some skin, mostly from elbows, knees and hands,” Gurtner said.
He said it’s a good distraction from their daily work, and something to which they can look forward. Pick-up games like these are also not something they can always organize back in the States, as they have jobs, families and other responsibilities, Gurtner said.