Men's Basketball Visits Fort Drum
10/6/2006 11:00:20 AM | Men's Basketball
Watertown Daily Times Multi-Media Presentation
The Syracuse men's basketball team had a slightly different training regimen on Monday, October 2. Instead of running sprints and layup lines in Manley Field House, the Orange was running with jugs of water and pushing a Hum-V up a hill. The team was at Fort Drum in the North Country of New York State, spending a day with the 10th Mountain Division to learn how they stay in shape.
The team awoke at 5 a.m. and arrived at the base at 6:30. Shortly after 7, they began a 4.5 mile "combat run", a traditional training session for the troops. The run sent the players through the woods for the most part and had them carrying jugs of water, weapons, and stretchers loaded down with dummies to simulate casualties. For the remainder of the morning, the players took part in team building, decision making and crictical thinking exercises. Included in that was a race against the soldiers up a hill, with each group pushing a Hum-V. While the soldiers took an early lead, the Orange was able to come from behind for victory after some encouraging words from a platoon leader. In the afternoon, the Orange took part in weapons training and then held a basketball clinic for the soldiers' children.
"The experience we had as a basketball team at Ft. Drum helped each of us individually realize what these soldiers and their families sacrifice for us each and everyday of their lives," said Todd Forcier, the men's basketball strength and conditioning coach. "What we also realized was that no matter how tough life gets, nothing is as real as the life and death situations these guys prepare for. The lessons we learned in the classroom from the commanding officers were illustrated in the field during our Physical Training sessions with the soldiers which are: Never leave a man behind and never quit. We truly learned what great role models the men and women of our Armed Forces are to our guys; this was truly a life-changing experience. We are indebted to the men and women of Ft. Drum for allowing us to have this experience."
At the end of the day, the players fell in line and were commended by the squad leader for their perseverance. Each player was given a brigade coin, which documents the 1-87th's recent tour in Iraq.
