DVIDS – Information – Enjoyable, sports activities galore for 2025 at The Great Place

FORT HOOD, Texas —The Great Place hosted quite a few morale-raising occasions for the Fort Hood neighborhood throughout 2025, bringing competitors, enjoyable and giving.

Wild West Night
The then-Fort Cavazos Spouses’ Club, now The Great Place Spouses’ Club, hosted its thirty ninth annual Wild West Night March 29, 2025.

The occasion garnered greater than 200 folks in attendance and had line dancing, on line casino video games, food and drinks and a jail cell the place attendees might pay to lock up others at Wild West Night for “offenses” together with having an excessive amount of enjoyable or being a recognized confederate to “offenses.”

The occasion additionally featured over 80 silent public sale objects and 12 reside public sale objects donated by native companies, brigades and Spouses’ Club members.

“Wild West Night is the (then) Fort Cavazos Spouses’ Club’s biggest fundraising event – and it’s for everyone,” mentioned Niki Strong, then-president of the Spouses’ Club. “We love seeing the assist from each our army members and the native civilian neighborhood. Every greenback raised at this occasion goes proper again into the neighborhood via our
grants program.”

For 2nd Lt. Paige Fixemer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, thirty sixth Engineer Brigade, occasions that enable alternatives to donate and fundraise like Wild West Night are nice.

“I think any opportunity we have to give back to the community that does so much for us is super important,” she mentioned. “So providing families and kids with what they need is vital to our survival, but it’s also just building good relationships with everyone around us.”

Ben Hogan Classic
More than 200 folks performed within the thirteenth annual Ben Hogan Foundation Classic Golf Scramble, hosted collectively by the Ben Hogan Foundation and Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation April 25, 2025, at The Courses of Clear Creek.

Participants have been handled to a free, three-person scramble with swag luggage, free breakfast and lunch, video games for prizes between holes, and raffle giveaways.

“It’s one of the greatest things ever put on,” mentioned Chief Warrant Officer Timothy Scott, thirty sixth Engineer Brigade. “… It’s just amazing how (the foundation) comes out here, they take care of all the Soldiers. It’s one of the greatest days for morale and welfare you can have.”

Staff Sgt. Tyler Tamberelli, 418th Contract Support Brigade, agreed.

“Having events like this — this is a very high operational tempo installation — it gives people a chance to detach from their busy schedules and come out, just relax and enjoy a day,” he mentioned. “… That’s beyond important for the welfare of Soldiers.”

Chad Cruson, govt director of the Ben Hogan Foundation, gave remarks earlier than the basic kicked off, talking concerning the pleasure in internet hosting the scramble.

“We’re very thrilled and honored to be here for (the scramble) and, hopefully, the 14th year will be just as great on the weather,” he mentioned. “This is a great way for us to thank you for your service, give you a day to, hopefully, have a blast and enjoy some golf and camaraderie.”

GroundPlay Outdoor Fitness Family Park
The Great Place opened the GroundPlay Outdoor Fitness Family Park, an outside facility that incorporates a group health house, a multi-use courtroom, a playground, exercise stations with varied sorts of sturdy out of doors health gear, a monitor and a seating space with picnic tables, May 16, 2025.

“This park stands as a testament to our enduring commitment to enhancing the quality of life for our Soldiers and families here at The Great Place,” mentioned Col. Lakicia Stokes, then-U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander. “When we began this journey last year, we weren’t just building a facility. We were building a stronger community. This park, the first of its kind in the Army, represents more than just new equipment or courts. It provides a dynamic space for physical fitness, recreation and camaraderie. It embodies our commitment to holistic health, mind, body and spirit.”

The park was funded by Installation Management Command at a value of $2 million and constructed by Kompan, an organization that designs, manufactures and installs playground and out of doors health websites. It was created as a technique to assist family-friendly health.

“What makes me proud of this is that it’s a one-of-a-kind facility that we have here,” mentioned Brad Pittam, gross sales director for answer companions at Kompan. “There’s nothing else like this in the world, let alone the nation. We’ve got over 40,000 square feet of fitness and play ready to be opened up and for kids and families to enjoy.”

GroundPlay is open 7:30 a.m. to nightfall day by day. It is positioned behind Abrams Physical Fitness Center on 58th Street.

Armed Forces Men’s Soccer Championship
Fort Hood hosted the Armed Forces Men’s Soccer Championship July 25-30, 2025, with All-Army soccer additionally holding its trial camp on the set up as properly.

The closing championship recreation was between Army and Air Force, the Air Force prevailing 1-0 for the second yr in
a row.

“We have that camaraderie and that chemistry that’s just been built up over the years, and we’ll always fight for each other, and I think that’s what helped us get the win today,” mentioned Air Force Capt. Max Sole, a defender for the group stationed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, and a member of the championship’s All-Tournament Team.

While Army didn’t have the years of teamwork behind them, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Raul Almendarez, head coach of the All-Army males’s soccer group, mentioned the Soldiers labored exhausting to construct cohesion.

“The hardest part is building chemistry, and I must say that this team built the fastest chemistry in the last four years that I’ve been coming out here,” Almendarez mentioned. “Within a week, the chemistry was built. Cohesion was there. They were supportive of each other.”

The camaraderie is the most effective a part of competing Sole mentioned.

“The biggest thing I’ve enjoyed about soccer is the amazing friends I’ve made playing,” Sole defined. “I’ve learned a lot about leadership and what it takes to be a part of a team and just being able to kind of find your role within a team. So, it’s been an amazing experience getting to play soccer and learn a bunch of life lessons in the process.”

Those who want to see the providers battle it out once more will have the ability to test it out on the pitch as soon as extra at Fort Hood March 27-April 4, 2026.

Thanksgiving basket giveaway
Fort Hood’s annual Thanksgiving basket giveaway supplied about 1,100 meals to Soldiers and households, together with frozen turkeys, luggage of recent apples and potatoes, canned cranberry sauce, stuffing combine and pie.

The occasion initially deliberate to donate 600 meals from Central Texas Food Bank, however after the lapse of appropriations, CTFB elevated the variety of meals to succeed in extra Soldiers and households, in addition to furloughed Department of the Army civilians.

“In all honesty, this could not have been done without the support of the Central Texas Food Bank and their team there,” expressed Chaplain (Maj.) Stephen Ekblad, officer in command of the occasion, 504th Military Intelligence Brigade. “They coordinated to gather all the food, to put it all together, to get it all set for us, to deliver it, so that all we had to do is say, ‘Here’s how many; here are the names.’”

Chaplains, unit ministry groups and different Soldiers from across the set up distributed the meals via
4 lanes.

While the hampers nourished our bodies, the occasion nourished the spirit, mentioned Pvt. Kwanye Jarvis, 2nd Chemical Battalion, forty eighth Chemical Brigade.

“It’s a certain feeling that people get when they know that others care about them, and that others are doing stuff like this because not everyone has homes to go to for Thanksgiving or family,” he mentioned. “So just the environment, the group that we have, the personal family that we have with our brothers and sisters in arms, I feel like that is the most important.”