MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron coordinated a bowling event for service members and their families at the Strike Zone Bowling Center aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, April 12, 2015.
These events are part of H&HS’s Family Readiness Program and their goal is to bring everyone in the squadron together to have fun and strengthen unit morale.
“These events are intended to make service members feel at home,” said Lt. Col. Karl Schmidt, commanding officer of H&HS. “We provided free pizza, free bowling and we also had some gift giveaways.”
Schmidt said H&HS tries to do at least one event per quarter, either for single Marines, families, or spouses and this one was a combination of them all.
Prior to the bowling event, H&HS hosted was the Holiday Family Day at the end of December 2014, inside the IronWorks Gym aboard station. Schmidt said it was the highlight of last year and that both events had a great turnout.
“There are a lot of Marines from different departments within H&HS that may not get many chances to hang out and this is an opportunity for them to all come under one roof and build unit cohesion,” said Schmidt.
Lance Cpl. Kevin Buxton, flight clearance with H&HS, said he doesn’t go to all of the squadron events but every time he did he had a good time.
“I’m not that great at bowling, so I just went to hang out with some good friends of mine,” said Buxton. “There was more than enough food and drink for everybody and it was all free. While I was there I won some men’s cologne, which made it that much more worthwhile.”
H&HS is continually planning and preparing for future events. There is a burger burn for the single Marines and a spouse event coming up in April.
“I’m looking forward to future events,” said Buxton. “Hopefully it’ll be something I’m good at so I can participate, but either way I know it’ll be fun.”