What did you do down Range during your down time to pass the time or release some stress?

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 20:36:56 -0400

We all try to find something to help pass the time in Theater. I'm a big fan of Corn Hole and Darts. I also liked to step out in the evening for a good Cigar. What helped you pass the time or release stress in Afghanistan or Iraq?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 10:19 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:19:54 -0400

Cigars, movies, pool, and ping pong. Lots of ping pong.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 10:37 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:37:45 -0400

I alternated socializing with my German MP counterparts and volunteering at the USO.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 10:52 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:52:05 -0400

I was lucky enough to have an Xbox in Iraq and a Playststion in Afghanistan. That and watched a lot of movies.

Response by SPC D Flynn made Jul 21 at 2015 11:06 PM

SPC D Flynn — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 23:06:13 -0400

Lifted some serious fuckin' iron

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 21 at 2015 11:55 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 23:55:54 -0400

Camel spider fights and my sacred hard drive and laptop :)

Response by COL Charles Williams made Jul 22 at 2015 1:33 AM

COL Charles Williams — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 01:33:53 -0400

That is great question... OIF 06-08... we hit golf balls into lost lake... we got thousands of golf balls shipped to us month... Many days... I wrote the Commander's name on the balls...

Response by SGM Steve Wettstein made Jul 22 at 2015 5:27 AM

SGM Steve Wettstein — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 05:27:16 -0400

Lifted weights, read books and slept.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Jul 22 at 2015 9:31 AM

COL Mikel J. Burroughs — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 09:31:17 -0400

1SG Private RallyPoint Member The Seabees got bored one day and came down to our Command Tent and asked my CSM if there was anything they could do to provide relaxation or stress relief for the soldiers and CSM said yes, build me a driving range into the desert and they will come! They built it with scrap wood hat was let over and old sandbags no longer being used. We added a light set for night when the temperature was too hot, with sandbags around wood chips and flag at 50 yards, 150 yards, and 300 yards. The CSM got Callaway to send over some drivers and irons at no cost to support the troops, so in the evenings when the sun was going down they would drive some gold balls and retrieve them - great stress reliever!

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 22 at 2015 10:33 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 10:33:51 -0400

I read a lot of books. I mean, A LOT of books. Played some violent shooter games. Certainly smoked a lot of cigarettes. And I spoke with the chaplain a lot, as well.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Jul 22 at 2015 10:35 AM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 10:35:58 -0400

Phase 10 and Spades. Had my wife send me 3 deck of phase 10 cards!

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 22 at 2015 10:42 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 10:42:17 -0400

Downtime?
The biggest demotivation I ever had in theatre was when We had worked for 6 months as a Company holding 2 OP's by ourselves. No downtime ever. Groundhog day style. Then I came to Camp Kalsu where our support unit worked out of, and I met support personnel that went on their third rec trip to Qatar. 3 trips in 9 months. When we did missions, I thought everyone did as much and as hard as we did. I truly did everybody worked themselves to the bone.

We had no gym. We didn't even sleep in hard shelters. We made traps for the local vermin. We showered a few times a month. We even ran out of drinking water... not once, but twice. Good thing I didn't know about the personnel they sent to Qatar at that time.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 22 at 2015 10:55 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 10:55:03 -0400

Plyometrics, P90x, .....

Response by SGT Christopher Churilla made Aug 8 at 2015 4:00 AM

SGT Christopher Churilla — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 04:00:58 -0400

On my last "deployment" (Kuwait), I volunteered at the USO and accumulated over 500 hours.

Response by Sgt Matt Koeneman made Aug 8 at 2015 4:27 AM

Sgt Matt Koeneman — Sat, 08 Aug 2015 04:27:36 -0400

Toss the bones.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 9 at 2015 2:55 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 02:55:13 -0400

In this deployment, Saturday nights we play volleyball and have Ping-Pong tournaments and some corn hole. Cigars whenever we get the notion

Response by SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA made Aug 9 at 2015 3:57 AM

SGT Hector Rojas, AIGA, SHA — Sun, 09 Aug 2015 03:57:03 -0400

I bought probably 20 hadji watches. That was my weekly thing, go to the Green Leaf Restaurant, watch some turkish soap operas and talk shows and then walk around the bazaar.

I have 5 that are still running.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Dec 9 at 2015 11:34 AM

SGM Mikel Dawson — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 11:34:50 -0500

While deployed during OJE, on Cowboy TOC one of the guys, CPT JIM RUF (now Ret COL), brought a golf club. We got some slow times up on the bridge over the Sava river, so we played combat golf. It was required to be in full battle rattle to include weapon. Attached is a pic of then CPT Ruf hitting the first ball. If you look real close, in the bottom of the pic, you will see he didn't get a good hit! If anyone out there knows COL Ruf (Ret CA), I'd like to know if he's still got this good swing.