{"id":196389,"date":"2024-06-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=196389"},"modified":"2024-06-10T17:24:22","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T17:24:22","slug":"inaugural-usag-poland-boss-trip-treks-through-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=196389","title":{"rendered":"Inaugural USAG Poland BOSS trip treks through Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n The Luxembourg Army marched along the International March of Diekirch, May 25, 2024. The march was first held in 1968 by the Luxembourg Army to commemorate the liberation of Luxembourg in 1918 and 1944 by American Soldiers.
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LUXEMBOURG\u2013 United States Army Garrison Poland\u2019s inaugural Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers trip saw more than 50 Soldiers trek through the history of Western Europe and even earn a foreign award by besting the rolling hills of Luxembourg over Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n

The trip, which included visits to historical sites in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, offered Soldiers a chance to relax, explore, and connect with history. Spc. Devin Klecan, President of the USAG Poland BOSS said it was designed to build esprit de corps amongst the mostly rotational Soldiers and to build upon the three pillars of BOSS: Quality of Life, Community Service, Recreation and Leisure.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make this trip possible, we received substantial support from the command team at USAG Poland,\u201d Klecan said. \u201cIt took a lot of initiative and Soldier interest to bring this to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trip began at the Bastogne War Museum in Belgium where Soldiers explored the epicenter of the Battle of the Bulge \u2013 Nazi Germany\u2019s surprise offensive in the waning years of World War II. The next stop included the Luxembourg American Cemetery, where they visited the graves of those who lost their lives during the Battle of the Bulge and in the advance toward the Rhine River. Gen. George S. Patton, whose U.S. Third Army famously relieved the Soldiers in Bastogne and across the Ardennes Forest, also rests there.<\/p>\n

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\n Soldiers attending the first U.S. Army Garrison Poland Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers trip visited the Luxembourg American Cemetery, May 24, 2024. Where they observed the graves of those who lost their lives during the Battle of the Bulge and in the advance to the Rhine River. The cemetery is also the final resting place of Gen. George S. Patton, the commanding general of U.S. Third Army during World War II. The overall trip included visits to historical sites in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, offering Soldiers a chance to relax, explore, and connect with history.
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\u201cMy favorite part was visiting the Luxembourg American Cemetery. I have a great uncle buried there, Cpl. George Houlihan, who died in February of 1945,\u201d said Capt. Ben Kosinski, on rotation at Zagan, Poland, assigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment. \u201cHonoring him and sharing stories with my family has been a humbling experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the weekend progressed, the trip continued in the city of Luxembourg where Soldiers participated in the International March of Diekirch. The multi-day march was first held in 1968 by the Luxembourg Army to commemorate both the liberation of Luxembourg in 1918 by Gen. John Pershing’s \u201cDoughboys\u201d and in 1944 by the American 4th Armored Division. Soldiers who completed the 12K version of the march were awarded the Medaille de Marche Internationale de Diekirch, additional devices and bragging rights were earned by completing up to two consecutive 40 km hikes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis march qualified for a wearable foreign award, giving the Soldiers a unique honor to celebrate their achievements while exploring Europe,\u201d explained Klecan.<\/p>\n

On the final day of the trip, Soldiers toured the city of Berlin with a local guide. The history lesson briefly touched on the end of World War II, providing a comprehensive conclusion to their Western European tour.<\/p>\n

Klecan hopes this inaugural trip is the first of many. \u201cThere are multiple trips that Soldiers can go on, and it\u2019s up to the Soldiers to tell us what they\u2019re interested in,\u201d he said. \u201cSingle Soldiers and Soldiers who are geographical bachelors\/bachelorettes while stationed in Europe qualify for the BOSS Program. \u201cYou\u2019re deployed, you\u2019re away from your family, you\u2019re able to go on these trips too.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Sgt. Maj. Fred Waymire, on rotation with the 317th Military Police Battalion in Poznan, Poland, the timing of the trip coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and Memorial Day weekend, made it the perfect BOSS trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to honor our history and those who went before us while testing ourselves physically and mentally during the march,\u201d said Waymire.<\/p>\n

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\n Soldiers attending the first U.S. Army Garrison Poland Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers trip pose in front of the Berlin Olympic Stadium, May 27, 2024. The overall trip included visits to historical sites in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, offering Soldiers a chance to relax, explore, and connect with history.
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The BOSS Program was activated last year with USAG Poland standing up as a fully operational Garrison in Europe. U.S. Army Garrison Poland is a thriving, growing garrison that through partnership with its Polish hosts, ensures the delivery of services and support for 10,000 American Soldiers based at 11 Garrison Support Elements across Poland.<\/p>\n

Marcus Fichtl, USAG Poland PAO contributed to this report. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Luxembourg Army marched along the International March of Diekirch, May 25, 2024. The march was first held in 1968 by the Luxembourg Army to commemorate the liberation of Luxembourg in 1918 and 1944 by American Soldiers. (Photo Credit: Bethany Huff) VIEW ORIGINAL LUXEMBOURG\u2013 United States Army Garrison Poland\u2019s inaugural Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196391,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-196389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=196389"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196395,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196389\/revisions\/196395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/196391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=196389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=196389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=196389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}