Murray State University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Racers Learn Leadership at Fort Campbell
8/10/2016 7:22:00 PM | Football
The United States military, through the years, has produced and continues to produce some of the world's greatest leaders. So it's no surprise that when Murray State head football coach Mitch Stewart was looking for experienced leaders to talk to his players and coaches, he had to look no further than 70 miles down the road at Fort Campbell.
"We went down there for two reasons," said Stewart. "The first was I wanted to get their perspective on leadership and dealing with young people and learn something to bring back and apply to our team. Then the second reason, is I have a brother that did a couple of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and I have a great deal of respect for the military and what they do and I wanted to expose our guys to that."
On Tuesday, Stewart took his team to Fort Campbell for those very reasons. The day began with group being split into offense and defense with the first task for the offense being to tackle the 34-foot rappelling tower at The Sabalauski Air Assault School, a training all members of the 101st Airborne division must complete. Sgt 1st Class William McBride welcomed the group and gave them an idea of what those completing the school must endure over the 10-day course.
After the introduction and a brief video, the Racers were ready to take on the tower. Several players and coaches made the climb then rappelled down the side of the tower with no face. Once they were away from the tower, most agreed the trip down was a lot of fun, however, it was pushing off that presented the most problems.
"I had trust issues at first," said senior quarterback KD Humphries. "Just looking back and the ground 30-plus feet below, was something. I just had to trust the rope to hold me up, but I had a lot of fun. However, putting feet on solid ground again was even better."
After the morning session, both groups convened on the mess hall for lunch at the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade's dining facility, Son Café. While at lunch the 101st CAB's commander, Col. Craig Alia and his staff spoke with the coaches on leadership and the parallels between leading in the military and coaching.
The similarities between military and football were mentioned by many of the unit's leaders throughout the day, many of whom were former high school and college football players themselves, a point that was not lost on Coach Stewart.
"The soldiers told us just how many parallels there are between the two from the standpoint of getting into some battles and getting into some bad situations. Obviously, our consequences are much different than theirs, but still you get out here in these games and practices and you can put yourself in some bad situations. You can put your body in situations where it's hot and you're fatigued. Learning how they fight through those things and learning how they keep their focus on the task at hand, with us being so young as a football team, I thought it was very beneficial to us."
After lunch, the two groups switched and the offense went to take a tour of some of the helicopters used by the 101st Airborne. The team got to take a look in and around the HH-60 Black Hawk MEDEVAC, the AH-64E Apache and the CH-47 Chinook.
The day ended with a seminar on leadership by Col. Alia and his staff. The group talked about the difference between climate and culture and the difference between fear and courage. The group was told that while fear is a reaction, courage is a decision. Col. Alia told the story of a pilot who recently received a commendation for bravery and her decision to use her helicopter to take fire for the troops on the ground. The colonel acknowledged that while she was definitely fearful, she had the courage to do what was needed. He would go on to say that courage is not just restricted to one grand act it comes in other ways like asking for help and or trying something different, because what worked yesterday, may not work today. After the speakers concluded, the team returned to the tower for a group picture.
"It was very eye-opening," said junior defensive back Zach Shipley. "As they talked about the team camaraderie and the teamwork that goes into completing a mission and the teamwork that goes into each play on a football field, you start to realize that a lot of the stuff was the same. A lot of the speakers related what they told us to football and, it turns out, a lot of them were ex-football players who now have a leadership role in the military, so I think that aspect was really cool for us to see."
Freshman wide receiver Jonathan Moss had a similar experience. "It was great to hear some of the leaders talk about how they played football and how they transferred what they learned in football to their leadership in the military and how we can take what they do as leaders in the military and transfer it to what we do on the field."
However, for Moss, it was more than just applying things he learned yesterday on the field, he said he also walked away with something even more valuable. "I really didn't know a lot about what people in the military do every day before yesterday. I have always had a high respect for the military, but after seeing what they have to go through first hand and listening to the speakers, my respect for them and what they do is even higher now."
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Respect for the military was something everyone on the trip walked away with Tuesday, according to Sewart. "I think I speak for the whole team, players, coaching staff, trainers, support staff and everyone that went with us, we have a new found respect for what those people do. I can't say enough how grateful I am to Fort Campbell and those soldiers that spent time with us yesterday for everything they did. It was a very unique experience."
When asked if this was just the beginning of a new partnership, Stewart said "I already talked to some of the officials there about coming down in the offseason and spending some time with my staff and they want some of their soldiers to come down and workout with our guys in the offseason. So hopefully this will be a partnership for a long time to come."
The Murray State football team wishes to thank Sgt. First Class William McBride of the Sabalauski Air Assault School and Col. Craig Alia of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade and their staffs for their hospitality, cooperation, and service. They also wish to thank Capt. Kristoffer Sibbaluca and Sgt. Duncan Brennan of the 101st CAB Public Affairs Office for their assistance in the planning and execution of the trip.
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"We went down there for two reasons," said Stewart. "The first was I wanted to get their perspective on leadership and dealing with young people and learn something to bring back and apply to our team. Then the second reason, is I have a brother that did a couple of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and I have a great deal of respect for the military and what they do and I wanted to expose our guys to that."
On Tuesday, Stewart took his team to Fort Campbell for those very reasons. The day began with group being split into offense and defense with the first task for the offense being to tackle the 34-foot rappelling tower at The Sabalauski Air Assault School, a training all members of the 101st Airborne division must complete. Sgt 1st Class William McBride welcomed the group and gave them an idea of what those completing the school must endure over the 10-day course.
After the introduction and a brief video, the Racers were ready to take on the tower. Several players and coaches made the climb then rappelled down the side of the tower with no face. Once they were away from the tower, most agreed the trip down was a lot of fun, however, it was pushing off that presented the most problems.
"I had trust issues at first," said senior quarterback KD Humphries. "Just looking back and the ground 30-plus feet below, was something. I just had to trust the rope to hold me up, but I had a lot of fun. However, putting feet on solid ground again was even better."
After the morning session, both groups convened on the mess hall for lunch at the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade's dining facility, Son Café. While at lunch the 101st CAB's commander, Col. Craig Alia and his staff spoke with the coaches on leadership and the parallels between leading in the military and coaching.
The similarities between military and football were mentioned by many of the unit's leaders throughout the day, many of whom were former high school and college football players themselves, a point that was not lost on Coach Stewart.
"The soldiers told us just how many parallels there are between the two from the standpoint of getting into some battles and getting into some bad situations. Obviously, our consequences are much different than theirs, but still you get out here in these games and practices and you can put yourself in some bad situations. You can put your body in situations where it's hot and you're fatigued. Learning how they fight through those things and learning how they keep their focus on the task at hand, with us being so young as a football team, I thought it was very beneficial to us."
After lunch, the two groups switched and the offense went to take a tour of some of the helicopters used by the 101st Airborne. The team got to take a look in and around the HH-60 Black Hawk MEDEVAC, the AH-64E Apache and the CH-47 Chinook.
The day ended with a seminar on leadership by Col. Alia and his staff. The group talked about the difference between climate and culture and the difference between fear and courage. The group was told that while fear is a reaction, courage is a decision. Col. Alia told the story of a pilot who recently received a commendation for bravery and her decision to use her helicopter to take fire for the troops on the ground. The colonel acknowledged that while she was definitely fearful, she had the courage to do what was needed. He would go on to say that courage is not just restricted to one grand act it comes in other ways like asking for help and or trying something different, because what worked yesterday, may not work today. After the speakers concluded, the team returned to the tower for a group picture.
"It was very eye-opening," said junior defensive back Zach Shipley. "As they talked about the team camaraderie and the teamwork that goes into completing a mission and the teamwork that goes into each play on a football field, you start to realize that a lot of the stuff was the same. A lot of the speakers related what they told us to football and, it turns out, a lot of them were ex-football players who now have a leadership role in the military, so I think that aspect was really cool for us to see."
Freshman wide receiver Jonathan Moss had a similar experience. "It was great to hear some of the leaders talk about how they played football and how they transferred what they learned in football to their leadership in the military and how we can take what they do as leaders in the military and transfer it to what we do on the field."
However, for Moss, it was more than just applying things he learned yesterday on the field, he said he also walked away with something even more valuable. "I really didn't know a lot about what people in the military do every day before yesterday. I have always had a high respect for the military, but after seeing what they have to go through first hand and listening to the speakers, my respect for them and what they do is even higher now."
Â
Respect for the military was something everyone on the trip walked away with Tuesday, according to Sewart. "I think I speak for the whole team, players, coaching staff, trainers, support staff and everyone that went with us, we have a new found respect for what those people do. I can't say enough how grateful I am to Fort Campbell and those soldiers that spent time with us yesterday for everything they did. It was a very unique experience."
When asked if this was just the beginning of a new partnership, Stewart said "I already talked to some of the officials there about coming down in the offseason and spending some time with my staff and they want some of their soldiers to come down and workout with our guys in the offseason. So hopefully this will be a partnership for a long time to come."
The Murray State football team wishes to thank Sgt. First Class William McBride of the Sabalauski Air Assault School and Col. Craig Alia of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade and their staffs for their hospitality, cooperation, and service. They also wish to thank Capt. Kristoffer Sibbaluca and Sgt. Duncan Brennan of the 101st CAB Public Affairs Office for their assistance in the planning and execution of the trip.
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