Video from 1 of our unique events

Here in Milwaukee, we're lucky enough to conduct a couple unique pool functions, and one of them is our annual "combat day" at a private paintball park.

More than 100 of our poolees from the Milwaukee, Racine, and Waukesha areas dedicated their Sept. 11 to learning basic squad patrolling techniques and formations, and then they put them into practical use during four scenarios on the paintball fields.

Each pool function I attend I'm reminded of the caliber of young men and women who enlist in our Corps, and this event was no exception.

One of the scenarios required a mock satchel charge to be placed within 1 meter of the other team's home base.

I stood on a ridge overlooking a valley to my left (the "blue" side) and the red team's base on my right. A protracted firefight ensued as blue players made their way through the valley and up the ridge toward the red base.

Once they established a foothold on the ridge, 5 blue players started formulating a plan to deliver the satchel charge to the red base located about 40 meters down a steep hill in front of them. With less than a minute left, the remaining two blue players finalized their plan of one running as fast as he could down the hill to draw fire while the other one ran behind and heaved the satchel charge toward the base.

After a quick count to 3, the pair leaped over the hill with puffs of smoke pouring from their paintball guns, bounded down the hill (ok, so the lead guy actually rolled a couple times down the hill but it still had the effect they were after), and delivered the satchel to the other team's base.

It took us a little bit of "encouragement" to get them going, but once this team put their heads together, they came up with a plan and effectively executed it to win the game. All of us who watched the action were incredibly impressed with their ability to perform under pressure.

Check out the video for some of the action: