Email   Print   Share By Sgt. Sean McGuire, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

Facebook Digg Delicious May 17, 2012 | Leisure

Colonel Charles Kibben, 13th ESC chief of staff, and Command Sgt. Maj. Guituad Leandre, 13th ESC senior enlisted leader, pose for a group photo with the Belton Chamber of Commerce leaders May 8 at 13th ESC Headquarters. The Belton community leaders went on to visit various locations on Fort Hood to learn about and experience Army life, including the Engagement Skills Trainer and 1st Cav. Div. Museum. Sgt. Sean McGuire, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

A member of the Belton Chamber of Commerce gets lost in history at the 1st Cav. Div. Museum May 8 during a visit hosted by the 4th Sust. Bde. and 13th ESC. Showing off various aspects of the post, 13th ESC took visitors on motor pool visits and to demonstrations at the Engagement Skills Trainer. Sgt. Sean McGuire, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

Scott Moger, the Belton Independent School District’s director of student services, watches as 4th Sust. Bde., 13th ESC Soldiers demonstrate their talents at the Engagement Skills Trainer May 8. Moger and members of the Belton Chamber of Commerce were hosted by the 13th ESC for a visit across the post, allowing them to experience and learn about the Army and their neighboring communities. Sgt. Sean McGuire, 4th Sust. Bde. Public Affairs

Leaders of the 4th Sustainment Brigade and 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) hosted a day’s worth of events for members of the Belton Chamber of Commerce May 8, intending to incite interaction between the neighboring communities while also educating the visitors about the Army and the Great Place.

Colonel Charles Kibben, the 13th ESC chief of staff, started off the day by welcoming the Belton visitors and by talking to them about Fort Hood and the unit's mission.

"We are just looking for an opportunity to interact with you," Kibben said. "You'll never find another organization, bar none, that is more willing to lend a hand to your community."

The chamber members went on to visit the 180th Transportation Battalion's motor pool to view and learn about static displays featuring heavy equipment trucks and other vehicles utilized within the battalion.

After a stint at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum, the day was rounded off with a hail of simulated gunfire at the Engagement Skills Trainer and a parting certificate of appreciation from Lt. Col. John Hickey, the 4th Sust. Bde.’s deputy commanding officer.

Hickey said the event worked as a special way to show appreciation for the Belton Chamber of Commerce’s support to his brigade’s deploying units over the years.

He said they have provided care packages, pictures, letters and

a “sense of connection” with those efforts.

"Coming here allows us to see Fort Hood and how it impacts our community. We get a chance to learn and have fun while doing so," said Mark Arrazola, a program director for Leadership Belton, the program the various commerce members volunteered for.

Part of their 10-month program is Fort Hood day.

"This worked out great for me today," Scott Moger, the director of student services for the Belton Independent School District, said. "I missed the military day visit in 2009, so being able to come and see Fort Hood was a blast."

Moger, a former Airman in the 1990s, said the most interesting part of his day was engaging targets at the EST on a squad automatic weapon.

Pat Watson, a chamber of commerce member, shared that sentiment with Moger during her first trip to the post, with a weapon on a larger scale.

"I loved being out on the EST lane,” she said. “It was so cool shooting at targets and seeing exactly what I hit. But the .50 cal machine gun was even better."