2-377th PFAR spouses try hands at Soldier skills

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Austin Willhoit
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  As screams of excitement and fear filled the air, spouses of 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment Soldiers got a first-hand experience of what their spouses do on a daily basis during the unit's "G.I. Jane Day" July 17 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

The events began with a climb up the Airborne Sustainment Training Area's 34-foot tower used to simulate jumping out of an aircraft. The spouses were equipped with a harness, a quick motivational speech and a few "good lucks" from their Soldiers. While the paratroopers excitedly watched their spouses jump, several of them were yelling "Airborne!" and "All the way!" to show their support.

"The responses were wide-ranging," said Army Lt. Col. Christopher Ward, the 2-337 PFAR commander. "Some of the wives were very excited and some were in tears, but everyone made it out, everyone was very happy and a lot of them asked to do it again."
The next event was the M240B machine gun range where the spouses were lined up, familiarized with the weapon and shown how to fire from the prone position.

Although the Soldiers are trained to fire the nearly 28-pound weapon, many spouses said it was tougher than they expected.

"The firing range was hard," said Heather Ward, wife of the commander. "Those guns have a lot of power and I did not hit the target once. That's kind of embarrassing to say, but I left my target clean for the next person."

The day culminated in a trip to the obstacle course where the wives were tasked with navigating a tri-level balance beam, climbing a rope and more.

"Thank you to all the Soldiers who organized this event," Heather Ward said. "As a family member, I really enjoyed it and I hope we can do it again."