Division dresses up for Halloween, uh, PT.

[ColeGyreneJROTC]

Division dresses up for Halloween, uh, PT




Staff report
Posted : Thursday Nov 1, 2007 9:23:45 EDT
They were dressed to go trick-or-treating, but they did PT instead.

About 3,800 soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, donned costumes Wednesday as part of a divisionwide training exercise, partly to celebrate Halloween and partly to prepare for an upcoming deployment to Iraq.

Commanding general Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond and division command Sgt. Maj. John Gioia — dressed as Captain America and “Sgt. Rock,” respectively — and their company of superheroes led the Ivy Division on the five-miler.

“This was something that the commanding general wanted to have as we’re preparing for our upcoming deployment,” she said. “It’s more of an event that will build morale — esprit de corps,” said Sgt. 1st Class Guadalupe Stratman.

About 700 soldiers from the division will deploy to Iraq in November and December; about 20 left Tuesday, Stratman said.

Each company had its own theme, which ranged from pirates to firefighters to football players, Stratman said.

So what was she?

Stratman said she didn’t participate.

“I was taking photos throughout it all,” she said. “I was cheering.”