The Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1HBCT, Third Infantry Division stand in a horseshoe formation Aug. 26. Although the sun has quite some time before it reaches its zenith, the air is sultry as Coastal Georgia transitions from summer to fall. But the Soldiers stand there all the same, in the middle of their well-kept motor pool. Finally, they are called to attention and with a loud and thunderous boom that rivals their largest artillery shell they yell, “Glory’s Guns, Sir!”

One may think they are fired up for a training exercise, or they just heard about a four day weekend. But lo, these Soldiers are shaking the very earth with their voices for a safety stand down day.

“The safety stand down was actually really good training,” said Spc. Christopher Omeara, Battery A, 1/41. “I’ve been in the Army for four years and this is the first post that has actually done one. A formal safety stand down day, that is. I felt like it really went over the core things that we, as Soldiers, tend to forget. We tend to think that we are more indestructible than we actually are. We learned about boating safety, how to properly use a fire extinguisher in a practical scenario and also had a class on the damaging effects of drunk driving.”

The morning was spent extinguishing fires, demonstrating the proper Personal Protective Equipment for motorcycles, the harsh realities of drunk driving and what a Soldier needs to boat safely. After lunch, they went to Moon Theater for a class on Spice and a presentation from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

“Our Soldiers are our most valuable commodity, and by highlighting the issues and challenges that are most likely to threaten the Soldiers, we preserve our combat power and we help take care of them,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Hawn, 1/41 commander. “With every operation we do a composite risk management and risk assessment; we pay a lot of attention to safety when we are in the field. But when it comes to off-duty time and a Soldier’s personal time, a Soldier is responsible for his own safety. We can manage the risks that exist in operations to a degree, but Soldiers have to manage the risks that he or she takes on. By having a safety day, where Soldiers are engaged and interested, we raise awareness of what risks are out there.”

Every Soldier has a veritable toolbox filled with the necessary tools to stay safe. But for Hawn, one is the most important.

“Have a plan, and think,” Lt. Col Hawn said. “That’s the best tool that we have for safety- our brain. If Soldiers thought about the consequences and thought about the risk before going out on a Friday night, then 99 percent of the incidents I see would not occur. If you’re waiting until after you do something and your judgments are potentially impaired by alcohol then you’re not leveraging your brain. That’s the fundamental, most critical thing we can do to be safe.”

The MADD representative, Gale Brown, took to the stage in the afternoon and a hush fell over the crowd instantly as a picture of a 14-year-old boy was projected onto the screen next to her.

“I feel that talking about my son is therapy,” she said. “It keeps me in touch with him, and that’s something a parent never needs to lose sight of. You can’t push a child in the background, as long as he’s kept front and center with the rest of your family it’s therapy to speak about him.”

A drunk driver killed her son, and she spoke to the Soldiers of 1/41 Field Artillery about the harsh realities of drunk driving and who they affect.

“Honestly, I feel like it’s really going to hit home for the people that think- ‘yeah, I’ve had a little too much, but I can still drive’,” said Spc. Omeara. “It was such a heartbreaking story that I believe they are going to think twice about it. No one wants to be that guy that has it on their conscience for the rest of his life.”

Brown was effervescent in her speech, contrasting starkly with the subject. Every Soldier listened in rapt attention at what most would consider a hard tale to tell.

“To relive the loss of your child time and time again,” said Lt. Col. Hawn. “I know that she said it was therapy for her, but to go through that and to share the joy of being a parent and the pain of losing a child. And to put a face on the effects and the potential impact of drunk driving is valuable. If it just reaches one Soldier it is worth it. But, if it didn’t affect you in that audience you need your heart examined. Here’s a young man pulled from life before he even had the opportunity to be a man, but had a drunk driver not only take everything from him at that time, but also everything he would ever be.”

The 1/41 Soldiers left the theater some time later, their weekend before them. As they filtered to their cars or barracks, it would be impossible to say that they didn’t think at least twice about their plans. The sun sets in the west, trailing across the United States, marking the start of the weekend. As the division disseminates their Marne Pride pledge to units, a new ‘commonplace’ is coming about. There’s a new typical weekend, and it involves Soldiers being more safe and thinking twice about the consequences of their actions.

CROSSFIT COMPETITION GIVES 1/41 TOTAL FITNESS PERSPECIVE WORKOUT
Spc. Jared S. Eastman
1HBCT Public Affairs

The dust flies off the ground as a Hemmitt tire slams against the dirt. Sweat drips onto the black rubber as the pair of Soldiers kneel down toward the tire again. Camouflaged ruck sacks are in the air like winning trophies as men and women in filthy physical training uniforms struggled to hold them overhead, no trace in their faces they feel the ruck sacks are any sort of reward. A whistle blows and with a chaotic swirl of sweat, dirt, and deep struggling breathing, the teams of ten rotate around the open field to their next stations.

As the sun rises from behind the motor pools across the street, the Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team, continue their 40-minute workout, Aug. 19. The morning was designed to show the battalion an alternative way of working out beside the standa"We focus a lot on running, we focus a lot on [physical readiness training], but this is a way to mix it up a little bit, work on other parts of the body and getting a total fitness perspective instead of just working on power or cardio," explained 1st Bn., 41st FA commander Lt. Col. Thomas Hawn, a native of Athens, Ga. "So we broke all the units into ten-man teams and then ran them through a series of ten stations where they worked on their core, upper body strength, speed, agility, and really kept a good intense workout for 40 minutes."

The workout was pulled from a program called CrossFit.

"I have a captain in my operations shop who is actually a CrossFit instructor, and I asked him to put it together about a month ago," said Lt. Col. Hawn. "I just said, 'Hey, what can you do to bring the whole battalion together, make it exciting, make it fun, make it competitive."

The captain was Kha Nguyen, the assistant operations officer for 1st Bn., 41st FA, and a native of Keegan, Ohio.

"I started doing CrossFit at the staff level, and a few times with a platoon, and they liked it, so we wanted to see if we could do it at the battalion level," Nguyen explained. "I think the best thing about CrossFit is it really challenges you. People want to say that [physical training] can de-motivate you, but I think if you give challenging PT and you give people a way to compete against each other, which is what CrossFit is about, people really love it."

Although at the end of the workout there were Soldiers lying on the ground, too exhausted to do anything else, the general consensus was everyone had a great time.

"It's not the same old stuff we do every day," said Spc. Geoffrey Bemiester, a wheeled mechanic with Co. G, 1st Bn., 41st FA, and a native of St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada. "It was a fun change from the usual five-mile run every morning or muscle failure. Even though it was hard, it was something to work for. It was a competition, and I think everyone works a little bit harder when it’s a competition. We should do more of it."

That the Soldiers enjoyed the workout was Lt. Col. Hawn's biggest goal.

"The most rewarding part for me was seeing the Soldiers getting involved, getting the motivation up, then seeing the response after it was all over," he said. "I think all the Soldiers had a good time, everybody was really motivated, and everyone got a good workout and put a lot into it."

At the end of the morning, Lt. Col. Hawn stood in front of the battalion standing in formation, still breathing hard and soaked with sweat. But when he asked which team thought they were the winners, the roar of battle cries echoed through the motor pools nearby, letting the battalion know that on this particular morning, everyone won.

Colt 'Glory Guns' champion Raider Stakes event
Spc. Jared S. Eastman
1HBCT Public Affairs

One platoon from each battalion in 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team competed in events last week to determine who was the best in the brigade. The best platoon competition, entitled Raider Stakes, incorporated events that are part of a Soldiers basic warrior tasks and skills. Although all the platoons were close, Colt Platoon, 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, took the title of the best. “Each battalion represented themselves very well,” said Col. James Crider, 1st HBCT commander, during the award ceremony on Cottrell Field, June 2. The entire brigade formed up to watch the best platoon receive its award. “I couldn’t be more proud or fortunate to serve alongside all the great warriors that are out here in front of me,” Col. Crider said to the Soldiers of 1HBCT.

The Colt platoon sergeant, Staff Sgt. Darrel Mealy, said he couldn’t be more satisfied with the performance of his Soldiers. “I was fortunate enough to have a great group of Soldiers,” he said. “A lieutenant who’s really on the ball and Soldiers who go out and execute every day. I’m very proud of them, they exceeded my expectations and really brought their A-game.” However, knowledge doesn’t cement a win according to Staff Sgt. Mealy. “I think it has a lot to do with how much a Soldier wants it,” he said, “And I think my guys just wanted it more than the other platoons.” Although the event had mostly basic warrior tasks and drills it also included a mystery event- an uparmored humvee push.

“The most difficult event physically had to have been the HMMWV push,” said Staff Sgt. Mealy. “It was a challenge for all of us. Other than that, all the stations were pretty even across the board.”

The Colt platoon leader, 1st Lt. Seth Barrow, also made sure his Soldiers were prepared for the events. “The guys’ brains are like a sponge, they soak up knowledge,” said 1st Lt. Barrow. “For the past month they learned their individual tasks all over again. The competition was fun, challenging and tough. I couldn’t be happier with each and every one of my Soldiers; they had their backs against the wall and came out fighting.” But teamwork was also just as important. “The ruck march was hard,” he said, “We had a Soldier go down pretty early, he didn’t fall out but we had to carry his equipment so we could all finish as a team.” But for 1st Lt. Barrow, every platoon that participated in the competition is one of the best. “Great job guys,” he said. “We were all picked because our chain of command thought we were the best, and everyone showed that they were the best of the best out there. Just because we won doesn’t mean everyone else lost, we just ended up on top.”