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Guardsmen Assist with International Competition

      Fifteen Georgia Army National Guardsmen lent a hand in early December to coordinators of the American Open international weight lifting competition held at Savannah’s Jenkins High School.
      A team of 14 soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 118th Field Artillery in Savannah, assisted with getting the more than 212 competing athletes from Savannah International Airport to the high school. The Guardsmen also served as ushers for the event and changed out weights between each of the scheduled events. 
      Staff Sgt. Robert Hodgson supervised the soldiers during the three-day competition.
      Chief Warrant Officer 3 Shelly Huber, a budget analyst at Headquarters, STARC, sang the National Anthem during the event’s opening ceremony.
      Capt. Randall Simmons, Battery B’s commander, said the American Open provided his unit, the 118th and the National Guard a “great opportunity to be involved in with the community,” while affording the public to see Guardsmen outside the usual military setting.
Simmons said that, during the competition, more than 15 people talked with his soldiers and expressed an interest in becoming Guard members.

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