Shoot the breeze at 'Shooters'

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Daniel Larson, an airborne executive officer, watches a movie at "Shooters," a recreational facility at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 19, 2010. Shooters provides morale opportunities for permanently-assigned members and transient Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines on their way to or from Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson/released).

Shoot the breeze at 'Shooters'

U.S. Army Pfc. Nick Lasky and Spc. Jimmy Minor surf the internet on laptop computers provided by ?Shooters,? a recreational facility at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 19, 2010. Both are from the 101st Airborne Division, 626th Brigade Support Battalion, Ft. Campbell, Ky. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson/released).

Shoot the breeze at 'Shooters'

U.S. Marine Cpl. Julie Nicholson checks out a laptop computer at "Shooters," a recreational center at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 19, 2010. Corporal Nicholson is a supply administrator and is headed to a forward operating base in Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson/released).

Shoot the breeze at 'Shooters'

U.S. Army Sgt. Jacob Daniell and Staff Sgt. Carson Cornell work on a crossword puzzle at Shooters recreational center at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 19, 2010.The sergeants are transiting from a forward operating base in Afghanistan to Ft. Richardson, Alaska. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson/released).

Shoot the breeze at 'Shooters'

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Del Pidio, emergency medical doctor, shoots pool at "Shooters," a recreational center at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 19, 2010. She is en route to a forward operating base in Afghanistan to augment the U.S. Marine Corps. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson/released).

Shoot the breeze at 'Shooters'

U.S. Navy Lt. Catherine Visintainer, emergency medical doctor, shoots pool at "Shooters," a recreational center at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Feb. 19, 2010. She is en route to a forward operating base in Afghanistan to augment the U.S. Marine Corps. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Nichelle Anderson/released).

'Shooting' the breeze necessary, helpful for transients

Published Feb. 22, 2010
By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Viss
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- How is a Soldier supposed to relax on his way into war? Not every military service member is an infantryman tasked to carry munitions and fight on the ground, but regardless of their job or their branch of service, they all have one thing in common: the need to "shoot the breeze," especially on the way to and from Afghanistan.

"Shooters" is a 376th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron recreational center here designed to help Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines unwind while transiting in and out of the area of responsibility.

"Shooters is awesome!" said U.S. Navy Lt. Catherine Visintainer, a Portsmith Naval Hospital, Va., emergency medicine physician deploying out of Camp Pendleton with the Marine 1st Medical Battalion. "The quality of life here is better than what I expected - it looks like you've done great things with what you have."

Shooters features a video game room, movie room with televisions, hundreds of DVDs to check out, laptops, WiFi, a movie theater, snacks, games, books, and morale events on a regular basis.

"I wish the whole deployment was gonna be like this," said U.S. Cpl. Edward Thompson, a Marine Corps Regimental Combat Team 2 supply troop out of Camp Legune, N.C. "These facilities are way better than where we're going - we're building the [forward operating base] up ourselves."

They will literally have nothing when they arrive, so he and his friend, Cpl. Jaime Ledesma, are enjoying their three days at the Transit Center Manas before heading to Afghanistan for about a year.

U.S. Army Sgt. Jacob Daniell, an artillery liaison officer on his way home to Ft. Richardson, Ala., said after a long deployment to a FOB in Afghanistan, he was happy to have a place like the Transit Center to unwind.

"I think it'll be a little bit hard to adapt," Sergeant Daniell said, as he talked about redeploying back to America, where there are the smallest niceties which have been unheard-of luxuries for him for the last year. "Being [at Shooters] definitely made me feel like I am closer to home."

The 376th Force Support Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of Shooters, Tech. Sgt. Bernice Stoffel, said that's exactly why this morale facility exists.

"When they come in and see it, they're really excited, they really like it," she said. "They just enjoy resting. A lot of them, when they're coming back, just really appreciate having a place to relax. Everybody's in a really good mood and really happy."