ARMY BIRTHDAY

JUNE 14, 2007

FORT MCPHERSON, GA

AAR BY JOHN LU

On June 14, 2007 at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia, the US Army celebrated its 232nd birthday. The birthday celebration is traditionally toasted with historical re-enactment, Army climbing walls and Army shooting gallery truck, but the 2007 birthday debut a new product that left tumble weeds in place of crowds by the more traditional exhibits.

Ladies and gentlemen, officers and enlisted men, behold the new age of military entertainment, Operation Lion Claws Military Simulation Series (OLCMSS) presents AIRSOFT!

OLCMSS’s very own Master Sergeant Howard “Mad Max” Mullen is an operations contractor at Fort McPherson. When the base historical museum relocated to Fort Benning, Fort McPherson was to be left without any entertainment support. MSG Mullen contacted me and asked if I could drum up any volunteers to support the Army Birthday celebration; this would have to be a labor of love.

E-mails went out to some of my staff teams in the region. Team OpForce (5 hours one way by car)-staff team of Operation IRENE responded. Team Strikers (13 hours one way by car)-staff team of OPNW I~III responded, Team Banana (Atlanta based)-would-be staff team for any Atlanta region op also responded.

I flew in from Los Angeles on the afternoon of June 13th, just days after wrapping up my annual A Weekend of Heroes event. Upon landing, MSG Mullen escorted me on to base where our volunteers were already hard at work setting up airsoft booth, airsoft tunnels, and airsoft DVD programs. At the parade ground parked a Cobra gunship, a Blackhawk and a Chinook helicopter; the Chinook would become a part of our combat demonstration on the 14th.

A privately owned up-armor hummvee camouflaged in ACU pattern was on site as a part of our overall prop.

We ran two rehearsals on Wednesday afternoon before breaking for dinner. The scenario concept was taken partly from A Weekend of Heroes 2005’s “leave no man behind”, combined with Operation IRENE-II concept of utilizing POVs (privately owned vehicles) as props.

Here’s how the combat scenario goes: A squad of Rangers would patrol towards a group of five smoking vehicles with locals pleading for help. When Rangers approached, gunfire erupted, wounded two Rangers, killing two others. Wounded Rangers were taken hostage. The QRF (quick reaction force) staged inside the Chinook helicopter would disembark the bird, secure their safety perimeter, and then conduct a high-speed search and rescue mission; ending with dead terrorists and rescued Rangers.

All is well in theory; we shall see what transpires on the actual day of event.

I was fortunate to be situated in an officer’s quarter on base. Walking down the flag row I couldn’t help but feel privileged to be a part of this age-old tradition. Our airsoft exhibit area was literally right outside of the homes of the base’s Command Sergeant Major Ash and base commander Col. Garrison.

0800 hours, Thursday, June 14, 2007, our men were hard at work, making sure demo AEGs function. Mr. Sean St. Cin from Spartan Imports was busy pulling out his Class Army ware for Kentucky National Guard who would use them for recruitment functions.

We ran four dress rehearsals, then, it’s was time for the opening ceremony. After a series of heart-warming speeches, a series of demonstrations began with OLCMSS’s airsoft combat re-enactment scheduled at high noon.

Our boys were ready.

Smoke grenade signaled the start of the evolution and boys did their job like clockwork. MSG Mullen himself even dressed as a CIA man and led the rescue assault. I was extremely proud of them! At the end of the evolution I announced that this demonstration was a tribute to men and women serving in harms way, and the crowd went wild. Evidently no one had ever thought about paying tribute to the modern Army.

Curious officers, soldiers, NCOs and their family members gathered around the shooting tunnel setup by Team Strikers to test fire SAWs, M4s, Aks, each walked away with a big smile.

Base commander Col. Garrison brought her son to give airsoft a shot and was sufficiently impressed with the firepower of a 249.

I passed out pamphlets and Operation IRENE-IV DVDs to officers and introduce them to the value of airsoft as the most effective recruitment tool.

Col. Garrison and Sgt.Maj. Ash each presented me with a Base Commander Award and Command SgtMaj. Award challenge coin; but the honor truly should go to my men, men of Team OpForce, Team Strikers, and Team Banana who selflessly donated their time and effort to help celebrate the Army’s 232nd birthday and to bring airsoft to another level!