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III Corps and Fort Hood Commanding General Lt. Gen. Don Campbell Jr. (far right) and Command Sgt. Maj. Arthur L. Coleman Jr. (far left), III Corps and Fort Hood command sergeant major, present the Commander’s Cup to Col. Mark Simerly (right) and Command Sgt. Maj. Rex Ray (left), the commander and command sergeant major of 4th Sust. Bde., 13th ESC, May 24 on Sadowski Field at the conclusion of Phantom Warrior Week. The unit won five of the week’s 11 events, including flag football, racquetball, softball, soccer and the golf scramble. 36th Eng.Bde. finished in second place and 4th BCT, 1st Cav. Div. finished in third place. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

4th Sust. Bde. quarterback Chris Hines jukes around 89th MP Bde. defenders in the championship game May 23 as part of Phantom Warrior Week. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

ames Holeman, 89th MP Bde., tries to escape a 4th Sust. Bde. defender in the second half of the championship game May 23. Holeman scored one of his team’s two touchdowns. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

Pfc. Brian Labombard, 13th ESC Public Affairs

John Magana, goalie for 36th Eng. Bde., knocks the ball away from Gary Romero, 4th Sust. Bde., before he can send a header toward the goal. Spc. David Hauk, 14th PAD

By Daniel Cernero

Sentinel Sports Editor



The 4th Sustainment Brigade, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) won the III Corps Commander’s Cup May 24 as the post’s top unit during Phantom Warrior Week.

Taking first place in five of the week’s 11 events – flag football, softball, soccer, racquetball and the golf scramble – while also placing in two more events – boxing, second place; basketball, third place – the brigade commander, Col. Mark Simerly, acknowledged the great source of pride this is to his Soldiers.

“I wasn’t surprised by what they did, but I’m overwhelmed by it,” he said on the III Corps parade field after being awarded the Commander’s Cup. “The teamwork that they showed, the sportsmanship that they showed, it instilled great pride. And they demonstrated the Warrior Ethos throughout the competition.”

Simerly said that he and the brigade’s sergeant major, Command Sgt. Maj. Rex Ray, were able to witness many of the different sporting event first-hand, standing side-by-side fellow commanders of other units competing.

“This was a tremendous week not only to build teams within your own unit, but also to forge partnerships with other units that we support day in and day out here at Fort Hood,” he said.

On the gridiron, 4th Sust. Bde. pounced on the 89th Military Police Brigade early in the championship game May 23, stringing together three unanswered touchdowns on consecutive series to take a 20-0 lead into halftime.

While 4th Sustainment quarterback Chris Hines had time and space to move around, oftentimes depending on his legs and mobility to evade pressure, 4th Sustainment’s defense gave 89th MP quarterback Ryan Humes all he could handle.

“We knew who we were playing,” Marlin Williamson, 4th Sustainment’s coach, said, referencing the team’s scouting ahead of the championship game, “and we knew what to do to shake up their offense.

“We did our homework on their quarterback, and we knew that he wouldn’t be able to handle two guys rushing in, so we sent two guys in to force him to make bad plays or just try to run the ball.”

“They were really trying to get at me,” Humes said.

As everything appeared to be going 4th Sust. Bde.’s way, receiver Daniel Bradwell cautioned his team at halftime to not become lax. He said that while the lead gave his team flexibility, it was perhaps too much flexibility.

“I just like it when it’s tied up and then we can bust out in the second half,” he said.

Williamson added, “We took it as 0-0 going into the second half. It’s the start of a new game. We don’t let up and don’t get excited because we still have some football to play.”

4th Sust. Bde. burst out of the gate with a score on the first possession of the second half, when running back Demarquis Mathis rushed for a touchdown, but the 89th MPs began to find some consistency of their own on offense.

“The line gave me a little bit more time,” Humes said. “I was able to step up into the pocket, which gave me a little bit more time to let me see my receivers run their routes. That extra time allowed us to run deeper routes.”

Humes connected with receiver Williams Lowe for the unit’s first score, and later in the half, James Holeman ran one in for a touchdown to bring the 89th MP Bde. as close as they would get to catching 4th Sustainment.

“36th Engineer (Brigade) pushed us,” Williamson said referencing 4th Sustainment’s quarterfinal opponent, “and then 89th MPs, playing those guys, they just made us step up another level. That’s a good squad. We like competition.”

“I know we put our piece in to help our unit bring it home,” Williamson added about Phantom Warrior Week.

The soccer championship belongs to 4th Sust. Bde., as well, after they defeated 36th Eng, Bde. 1-0 in penalty kicks May 23.

4th Sust. Bde. dominated possession of the ball in the first half, finding gaps in the 36th Eng. Bde. defense and exploiting match-ups. However, repeated shots on goal failed to find the back of the net.

“We had a lot of opportunities, and we just couldn’t seem to get the shots to go,” said Gary Romero, the team captain for 4th Sust. Bde. “Just too many missed shots.”

The biggest reason for the shots not going in was John Magana, the 36th Eng. Brig. goalie. Saving shot after shot, Magana relentlessly protected the goal.

The 36th Eng. Bde. defense played better in the second half, forcing 4th Sust. Bde. into low-percentage shots, but they couldn’t do much against the dribbling skills of Romero and his squad.

“Being on our side of the field the whole time was a little unexpected for me,” Magana said. “We were playing a little bit more of a high kick ball and no matter how we tried to push the ball up field, we just couldn’t seem to get a lot going.”

With the pressure building, Magana and his defense held steady to force the game into penalty kicks.

In the penalty kicks, 4th Sust. Bde. tallied three to 36th Eng. Bde.’s two goals.

Romero said he couldn’t be happier with his team.

“We worked a lot and practiced a lot, and I guess it really paid off cause the team played great,” Romero said. “It feels really good to win.”

Indoors, after three grueling days, Phantom Warriors across Fort Hood finally know who the top dog of racquetball is. Guitaud Leandre, 13th ESC, took home first place for the Phantom Support team in the tournament May 23.

Leandre defeated Edward Osborne, 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, 2-0 in the final match of the day.

During game one, both players started strong, bringing the game to 8-7 with Leandre in the lead. Leandre quickly turned up the heat with a four-point rally. Osborne wisely took his first 30-second timeout of the match, but he was unable to recover, loosing game one 11-15.

Before the start of the next game, Osborne quickly changed shirts and returned to the court to receive the serve from Leandre, who went on to score game’s first nine points.

Visibly shaken, Osborne used his second timeout of the match. After scoring twice, Leandre Z-served to Osborne bringing the game to 13-2.

After a hard-to-reach kill shot, Leandre scored the match point with a light bounce off the front right corner wall.

“You can’t go into the playoffs using all your energy in the first round,” Leandre said, giving a piece of advice after the match. “Save some for the finals.”

Following III Corps and Fort Hood Commanding General Lt. Gen. Don Campbell Jr.’s first pitch on the diamond to kick of the softball championship game, 4th Sust. Bde. again found themselves matched against 36th Eng. Bde. in a first- and second-place showdown and again emerged on top, winning by a sizeable margin, 20-2, May 23.

The heavy hitters for 4th Sustainment scored four runs in the first inning, while allowing only one run.

The championship game became a runaway after the fifth inning, with 4th Sustainment scoring 13-combined runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

“We played real good,” Mario Heat, 4th Sust. Bde., said. “We did what we had to do. In the beginning, they counted us out. We overcame a deficit and came out here and won this whole thing.”

Down by 19 runs in the sixth, 36th Eng. Bde. pitcher Pedro Tagle Jr. tried to rally his team, telling them to shake it off, although he said he knew in his heart the game was over.

“We got this far by hitting the ball, and now for some reason we’re not hitting,” Tagle said. “That’s not good.”

36th Eng. Bde. catcher Celest Alvarado provided a highlight in the game, applying a the superb tag at home after catching the throw from first.

“I made the tag and got him out,” she said, admitting things were not going well for 36th Eng. Bde. “We’re trying to open up our bats, but we made a lot of errors.”

After the game, Simerly, 4th Sustainment’s commander, was beaming about his team.

“We couldn’t feel prouder of our championship,” he said. “They played with tremendous pride throughout the tournament, and it’s great to come out on top.”

Joining 4th Sustainment as the top three units of Phantom Warrior Week was 36th Eng. Bde. in second place and 1st Cavalry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team in third place.

(Editor’s note: Spc. David Hauk, 14th PAD; Pfc. Brian LaBombard, 13th ESC Public Affairs; and Gloria Montgomery, WTB Public Affairs, contributed to this article)