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NCAA Coaches Visit 13th ESC
(June 3, 2010) |
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Harvard University's head
football coach, Tim Murphy, speaks with Soldiers
of the 13th Sustainment (Expeditionary) May 28
at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, during the NCAA
Coaches Tour 2010, sponsored by the USO and
Morale Entertainment. The tour brought football
coaches from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, the University of Oregon,
Harvard University, and the United States
Military Academy to Soldiers in Europe and the
Iraq theater of operations. |
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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (June 8, 2010) — National Collegiate
Athletic Association football coaches visited Soldiers with
the 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) May 28 at Joint
Base Balad, Iraq.
The coaches, visiting from various colleges across the
United States were University of Oregon head coach Chip
Kelly, University of Illinois head coach Ron Zook, Harvard
University head coach Tim Murphy and U.S. Military Academy
head coach Rich Ellerson.
The tour, sponsored by the United Service Organizations and
Morale Entertainment, visited Ramstein Air Base, Germany,
The Kingdom of Bahrain, the USS Eisenhower and several
locations in the Iraq theater of operations.
Soldiers with the 13th ESC turned out in droves to get their
memorabilia autographed by the coaches and gain insight into
some of the minds that drive the popular sport through every
season. |
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First Lt. Sean Devine, a mobility plans officer with the
13th ESC and a Geneva, Ill., native, prepared a list of
football questions for each coach.
"This is a great opportunity to just get their thoughts on
college football," Devine said. "It's a dream come true,
just to meet these guys you see every Saturday on the
sidelines."
For many of the Soldiers, the chance to meet the Army
football coach was about more than just football.
"It's so cool for them to come out here," said 1st Lt. Beth
Sutey, the theater backlog officer for the 14th
Transportation Battalion, 13th ESC, and a 2007 graduate of
West Point. "When I was in school, I never missed a game "
"For the Army coach to come out here is huge," said Sutey, a
Fairfax, Va., native. "For the coach to see his players and
cadets, and see where their careers took them is great."
For Ellerson, Army's head coach, the visit held a special
meaning.
"My situation is a little bit different as a football
coach," he said. "I'm learning to tell this story. I have to
articulate about the game, but also about the ultimate
destination, which for most of my guys is here in Iraq or
Afghanistan." |
Article and photo Army Spc. Naveed Ali Shah
13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)
Copyright 2010 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
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