442nd Signal Battalion Oktoberfest champs

Photos by Bonnie Heater Members of the Air Force 31st Intelligence Squadron block a 63rd Signal Battalion player from gaining yardage during the 2009 Oktoberfest Flag Football Tournament held from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 17 on Barton Field. The 63rd Signal Battalion won the game 18-14. Headquarters and Company A, 442nd Signal Battalion toppled nine hopeful teams in the 2009 Oktoberfest Flag Football Tournament held Oct. 17 at Barton Field. The Fort Gordon Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation sponsored the all-day event.

The double-elimination tournament kicked off at 9 a.m. with Company E, 369th Signal Battalion taking on 63rd Signal Battalion on Field # 1 and 73rd Ordnance Battalion battling Headquarters and Company A, 442nd Signal Battalion on Field #2.

Games on Field #1 took place inside the ¼ mile track, and games on Field #2 were held simultaneously on the field adjacent to the track on Barton Field. Home teams were determined by a coin flip, according to Neil Smith, Fort Gordon’s Recreation Division Sports, Fitness and Aquatics Branch sports coordinator.

( Left) A 73rd Ordnance Battalion’s Cobra reaches for the flags of a Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center player during one of the games held in the 2009 Oktoberfest Flag Football Tournament Oct. 17 on Barton Field. The Cobras won the game 18-13. The 10 teams who faced off were Navy Gold, Navy Blue, Company A, 63rd Signal Battalion, Company C, 63rd Signal Battalion, Company E, 369th Signal Battalion, Company D, 369th Signal Battalion, Air Force 31st Intelligence Squadron, Headquarters and Company A, 442nd Signal Battalion, and Company A, 73rd Ordnance Battalion.

Not one single team forfeited a game despite the bitter cold and rainy conditions they were forced to play in. There were minor injuries during the games, but in one particular game, Air Force 31st In- telligence Squadron against Navy Blue, one Air Force player had to be carried off the field with a knee injury. Fort Gordon Firefighters quickly responded to the emergency as did John Neuton, a paramedic, and Jonas Whitley, an emergency medical technician from the Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center. Spc. Megan Sutherlin and Spc. Robert Quackenbush, both assigned to the 35th Military Police Detachment, took the formal report.

(Right) Family members bundle up against the rain and cold to show their support for their team. While the airman was being examined on the sideline, his team continued playing and won the game against Navy Blue, 13-6.