CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind., - When
Soldiers return from a battle zone, they can have trouble adjusting from the
fast-paced, combat environment to the caterpillar-crawl of their everyday
lives.
The Army has since introduced Warrior Adventure Quest, an extreme sports
program that helps Soldiers transition from a combat environment to life
back home.
The WAQ program, funded by the Army's Family and Morale, Welfare and
Recreation Command, introduces Soldiers to high-adventure, high-adrenaline
recreational activities such as skydiving, rock climbing, and bungee jumping
to replace combat stresses.
Currently, only active component units are participating in the program, but
Camp Atterbury will soon become a testing ground for participation of Army
National Guard and Reserve units.
At least two Soldiers at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center seem
to already have the jump on these stress relieving sports.
Sgt. 1st Class Walter Butt, formerly the non-commissioned officer in charge
of the Range Training Team, and Sgt. Nicholas Adams, the non-commissioned
officer in charge of Outdoor Recreation here, are enthusiastic supporters of
extreme sports, specifically skydiving and racing.
Butt - who has been to Airborne, Pathfinder, Sniper and Air Assault schools
- is a bull rider, scuba diver, race car driver, and has 256 jumps as a
skydiver.
To say he has done it all is an understatement.
"I lifted weights competitively, I raced cars, but nothing gave me the
satisfaction like skydiving," he said.
"I don't have to drink, and I do not have to smoke to calm my nerves.
Once that door opens up everything goes away," Butt said. "As I freefall I
am free. It is one of the greatest experiences of my life."
During a jump at Jerry's Skydiving Circuit in Franklin, Ind., Butt sat
calmly through the turbulence while the plane's engine roared as it climbed
9,500 feet, almost seven times higher than the Empire State building.
When they reached the desired attitude, the door swung open and Butt leaped
out, plunging through the air at about 120 mph for almost a minute before
deploying his parachute.
Once on the ground, Butt said the reason he encourages Soldiers coming off
of a deployment to skydive is that it helps to release built up adrenaline.
"Give it a try," he said. "It will fill the void and the rush you are
striving to get, and besides the stress relief, the camaraderie from other
jumpers will remind you of the close relationships you made when you were
deployed."
Like skydiving, pure stock car racing fills the void for Adams when he
speeds by other stock cars at up to 80 miles per hour around a dirt track.
Pure stock racing is similar to regular race car driving except in pure
stock racing the drivers only use street vehicles that can be bought by the
general public and the racing is on a dirt track.
Adams said it's the purest form of car racing, because there are no high
performance parts alterations to the engine.
"It is almost like being back overseas, being outside the wire," he said.
"It is an adrenaline rush, from your head to your toes."
Adams said his father encouraged him to give racing a try after demolition
derby, hunting big game in Canada, and four-wheeling were not suitable
substitutes compared to the fast-paced environment of his overseas
deployment.
"When I came home from Iraq and I did not have that adrenaline any more, it
messed with me a little bit," he said. "I went from being nervous and
constantly on edge, to feeling sad and down, and you really do need
something to replace those feelings with.
"I definitely suggest looking into racing. It is an easy way to replace the
rush so you are not down on yourself. But if not racing, do something to
help the transition from constant adrenaline to nothing," he said.
While it may seem like a crazy way to relax, extreme sports are therapeutic
for those who need an outlet for energy that doesn't die down.
For Butt and Adams, extreme sports are just a way to leave your worries and
stress in the wind.