Humor is a morale booster in a war zone. And so, it seems, is school spirit. College rivalries are proving to be a welcome distraction and the reason that some battalion offices in Iraq look like tailgate tents during football season. A rainbow of college logos and mascots are emblazoned on everything from director's chairs to boxer shorts as soldiers vie for the title of most spirited alum.
Holding the title in the 530th Battalion stationed in Baghdad is Major Payton Sims (AB '90, speech communication). Care packages sent to him this past summer by the Department of Speech Communication and the U. of I.'s Alumni Association, following his impassioned email pleas about school honor, helped him capture another first-place finish for the Illini.
"Believe it or not, things like this help us to maintain focus and stay loose, even in the presence of our enemies," wrote Sims in an email explaining the reasons for the competition. He and his unit are frequent targets for rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, artillery, and roadside explosives as they deliver supplies to troops in Baghdad, the most heavily contested region in Iraq, and other troops within a 200-mile radius.
The college rivalry began during basketball season when another officer and Louisiana State University alum brandished an LSU-emblazoned director's chair. "The commander started bragging about how any true alumnus of a real school would carry his school colors to any distant corner of the world if the school was worth anything," explained Payton in an email. He says he responded with jibes about the Illini's domination of basketball. But those bragging rights only lasted through the championship.
Soon flags, mugs, and other paraphernalia began arriving in his unit from Syracuse, Notre Dame, and Purdue. With images of boilermakers being burned into his brain, Sims decided to take action. He got the idea of contacting his alma mater for support from a friend in another unit, where a similar competition is raging.
Besides offices and barracks, the other prime real estate for displaying school colors is the dining hall. Not having one's alma mater represented there is considered a slight on the school's reputation.
Holding on to first-place status as long as the basketball team did is going to be difficult, admits Sims. Even so, he says he will still feel like a winner because the gear has made him feel closer to home. When his deployment ends in April, the gear will come, too, unless there are replacements to carry on the rivalry. That's one tradition Sims prefers to see end
