Our unit (the 1-167th) is a Cavalry Troop. I don't have the knowledge or the time to go into a big history lecture on the Cavalry, but most folks should recognize a Cavalry trooper as a soldier riding a horse, wielding a saber. Click here for a better explanation of Cavalry history. The Cavalry trooper has a long, rich history in the United States military. Aside from the saber, another weapon that the Cavalry trooper was known to carry on occasion is the tomahawk. I believe this goes back to the Cavalry troopers close ties to various Indian tribes - but don't quote me on that (like I said, I'm no history buff). Anyways, the point of all this is that our Squadron Executive Officer, Major Eric Teegerstrom, is a big fan of the tomahawk and it's ties to the cavalry. While our unit was conducting pre-mobilization operations at Camp Shelby, MS, MAJ Teegerstrom ordered a few tomahawks and was determined to share his love of tomahawks with the 1-167th soldiers. One thing led to another, and tomahawk fever spread throughout the Squadron. Once we arrived to LSA Anaconda, one of MAJ Teegerstrom's priorities was to build a tomahawk range, where proud tomahawk carrying soldiers could go to polish their tomahawk throwing skills. I would rate my skill level at this time as "novice", and that is being generous. On Saturday evenings, MAJ Teegerstrom holds a weekly tomahawk gathering, where tomahawk owners can get together and throw their trusty tomahawks, discuss their love/obsession with tomahawks, check out all the different types of tomahawks, and so on. The main attraction of this event is the tomahawk HORSE competition, a game that most should be familiar with (most normally played on the basketball courts). I recently purchased my own tomahawk and participated in my first tomahawk night last Saturday, and I'm already looking forward to tomorrow evenings festivities.
Below you can check out some pictures I took yesterday, when SPC Kane and I went out to the range to practice and brush up on our skills. We played a practice round of HORSE, and SPC Kane came out on top. I look forward to seeking my revenge in the future.
SPC Kane throwing his tomahawk towards the center target.
Removing my tomahawk from one of the targets after a solid stick (tomahawk lingo).
Up close shot of the head of my tomahawk. You can make out the "167 CAV" that was hand stamped into this custom made, hand-fabricated tomahawk. MAJ Teegerstrom's contact does an excellent job of making these tomahawks - they are of the highest quality.
I will try to take some more pictures tomorrow night at the weekly tomahawk get-together to give you a better idea of how the whole thing works.
3 comments:
Quit trying to fool the people at home Jon. Everyone knows you can't hit the center of that target!
Jon, Enjoyed reading your comments on Tomahawk throwing. As one of MAJ Teegerstrom's favorite older sisters, I felt compelled to give you some background on his obsession with throwing. I believe it may have started at the tender age of 3 when he hurled a fork at me driving a tong about an inch and a half into my thumb! I was 14 at the time so of course he couldn't out run me:)In all honesty he cried his heart out because he felt so bad. (As an older sister, I'm sure I bled it for all I could get:)) From forks he moved to Japanese throwing stars (which were legal to buy back then) but fortunately realized the damage they could do so didn't chance thowing them at anything but a target. Jon, know that all of you are in our thoughts, prayers and hearts everyday. I miss Eric (MAJ Teegerstrom) terribly and look forward to him -- and all of you coming home safely. Keep throwing, you never know one of these days we may see the WTF on TV instead of the WWF!! Love from Nebraska, Leslie Teegerstrom Kess
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