West Creek Elementary School Students visit Fort Campbell’s 4th Brigade Combat Team

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Written by Sgt. Justin Moeller
4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

Fort Campbell KY - 101st Airborne Division

Fort Campbell, KY – Soldiers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), in conjunction with educators with West Creek Elementary School of Clarksville, Tennessee, facilitated a field trip for the school’s 5th graders, to Fort Campbell on December 10th, 2013.

“We were approached by our partners in education, they arranged this field trip for us,” said Sherri Hamby, the 5th grade lead teacher at West Creek Elementary School in Clarksville, Tennessee. “There is a lot of math and science involved in shooting guns and in flying helicopters,”

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Zilvinas Lapelis, a senior instructor at The Sabalauski Air Assault School, shows students from West Creek Elementary School in Clarksville, Tenn., the Air Assault obstacle course, while on a field trip on Dec. 10, 2013, at Fort Campbell. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Justin A. Moeller, 4th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs)

Furthering education and community outreach is necessary for establishing and maintaining healthy relationships between our service members and the communities that surround Army installations.

“Normally, we send soldiers over to the school to read to them and interact,” said Capt. Brian Dyer, rear-detachment commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th BCT, 101st Abn. Div. “It’s kind of like a big-brother program,”

Mentoring and the use of field trips, like this one, are a great way to show the community what it is the Army does.

“We wanted to incorporate our piece and show them what we do during the day,” said Dyer. “We showed them some of our artillery pieces, gave them some perspective on aviation and our pilots, and culminated the trip with (The Sabalauski) Air Assault School, giving them an obstacle course and repelling demonstration.”

As they got off of the bus, the children were directed to a static display of an M119 105mm Howitzer, a small-arms weapon display where they were educated on the importance of weapon safety, and were shown the uniform that is worn by Soldiers in the field.

The children were then bussed to a 5th Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Abn. Div., hangar where flight personnel showed and let the kids explore a static UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter.

For the last stop on their field trip, the students were bussed to The Sabalauski Air Assault School.

“We started off with our obstacle course, showing them (the children) the nine different obstacles that soldiers (in the school) navigate on a daily basis,” said Staff Sgt. Zilvinas Lapelis, a senior instructor at The Sabalauski Air Assault School on Fort Campbell, KY. “It helps with confidence. A lot of people, regardless of age group, have a fear of heights and by showing them (how to do) these obstacles proves it can be done.”

Showing and teaching these children what we use to accomplish our mission helps maintain not only a healthy image to our surrounding communities, it also shows them why our Soldiers are great.

“Every soldier here has been wonderful,” said Hamby. “They have not talked over the kid’s heads, they’ve explained everything. I really wasn’t sure what to expect when this was arranged but it’s been absolutely wonderful.”

Which is a sentiment viewed by the soldiers who were fortunate enough to help make this field trip memorable for the students involved.

“It’s been fantastic,” said Lapelis. “There is nothing better than supporting our local community and students and being able to show them what we do.”