Here at Airway, there's been a push for behavior-based incentives. For the most part, many of these efforts are met with a shrug at best and a middle finger at worst.
But Field Day? Nah, it's all hands on deck.
Last year, between the medium and minimum units, about 400 people qualified to attend the iron-man event by remaining major infraction-free for 12 months. The unofficial numbers for this year's attendance were closer to 600. I'll have an official tally in the coming weeks.
The day started at 07:30, with all of us volunteers assembling out at the yard. Several little electric trucks with trailers, loaded with event gear, arrived simultaneously, and we all got to work. The first thing to do was inventory EVERYTHING.
Me, Gor, and our duly elected event leader, Dutch, have years of experience working and playing together back at Walla2 (we won numerous softball and football tournaments together). Despite over a decade of not working together, we had three trailers of supplies inventoried in less than ten minutes.
Softballs, basketballs, footballs, stopwatches, whistles, cones, cornhole boards, picnic tables, bean bags, and more rapidly spread across the area, finding their places, but more was soon to come.
The yard cage held some of the items needed for the race I was coordinating, but none of the staff had the keys... That guy was in the chow hall running breakfast. Which, by the way, none of us attended. He made it back less than a minute before the yard opened for minimum, but it worked out fine...
I just had to hustle two 40-pound smash balls about 100 yards to their station and get four 50-pound carry-bags in place at the starting line. No biggie. (Pant! Pant! So much for just running a stopwatch)
I wasn't the only volunteer hurrying to get everything ready, but we made it just in time. Soon, there was a flurry of sign-ups, brackets, and explanations of the day's events flying about:
"Where's the relay sign-up?" "Is this the hundred-yard dash?" "Can I sign up with you guys for the tug of war?" "When's lunch?" "Wait, THIS is the Iron Man? What's the course?"
See, we had no signage, and the yard staff wouldn't let us use the PA, so we had to operate by word of mouth, but again, it worked out pretty well. I don't believe anyone missed an event they wanted to participate in.
All of the events were well received. From ADA games like chess, checkers, Jenga, and innumerable card games to the grueling tug-of-war and Iron Man events, we had a ton of positive feedback and some incredible moments.
One was watching the Iron Man record of the day get crushed by almost an entire minute (everyone who participated was a fitness monster, too, BTW).
The other standout moment for me was watching Diesel (if you know who I'm talking about, you're likely not surprised ^_^) ADVANCE while the rest of his tug-of-war team slipped.
Seriously, there was nothing but slack behind him on the rope, and he PULLED the other eight-man team forward while his teammates reset. It was incredible.
When lunch arrived (burger, hot dog, mac salad, and watermelon), it was accompanied by pallets of soda and sherbet. Due to some weird distribution clause, we can't get Coca-Cola or Pepsi on commissary. Instead, we have to settle for the liquid ashtray of the soda world, RC Cola. But not today. ^_^
Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Mt. Dew, and all the diet versions were available AND there was enough for everyone to have a couple. I mention this because it's not required in the event's planning, but our superintendent wanted it and found a way to make it happen. So thanks, Haynes. That simple extra is incredibly appreciated.
After lunch, minimum left the yard, we inventoried everything again and reset for the medium units. There were about half the people as that morning, but it made the bathroom lines tolerable and most of the events run a bit smoother. Why half? The simple answer is minimum tends to avoid trouble more.
One thing I haven't mentioned is the weather. It was a beautiful sunny day, yes, but we were under a wind advisory as well. I fought my hat flying off for about an hour in the morning until I just turned it around...
Did I say sunny? Yeah, I'm lucky they provided us long-sleeved volunteer shirts. As it was, I got a ridiculous sunburn on my forehead where my hat didn't cover AND my hands look like I dipped them in red paint. Sigh.
For several days post-event I was asked if I’d take off my hat by just about everyone. I know, I know, use sunblock, right? Anyway...
It was a hell of a good day, and everyone's been talking about it ever since. People are already discussing and training for the next event. It's amazing how such a simple thing like a field day can promote positive attitudes and behaviors. 12 months infraction free is no small effort for some of these guys, so kudos to all who qualified.
I hope we can do more.