Shooting hoops with the troops

Ed Conroy flew in a Blackhawk helicopter near the Iraqi border and drove a tank at high speeds across the Kuwaiti desert.

But those things don't compare to the heartfelt pride he experienced last month while coaching a basketball team made up of our troops serving in the Middle East.

"The games are part of a good-will tour, but the competition is as serious as any you've ever seen," The Citadel basketball coach said this week after his return from a nine-day USO stint in Kuwait City where he coached a squad of U.S. servicemen. "They fought hard to get on that team."

In a part of the world where entertainment is not taken for granted, members of our Armed Forces serving at Kuwait Naval Base started competing for positions on these basketball teams weeks before the coaches arrived from the states.

Along with The Citadel's Conroy were Mike Brey of Notre Dame, Jim Crews of Army, Dennis Felton of Georgia, Mike Lonergan of Vermont and Skip Prosser of Wake Forest.

"These troops were representing their bases, so we as coaches felt their intensity," Conroy said. "Dennis Felton held a midnight practice one night in the desert on a tennis court."

Which was not a bad idea since the average temperature during the day was more than 120 degrees.

Game face

For Conroy, this was his second tour of duty with Operation Hardwood, having coached in a similar tournament last summer in Japan.

Conroy said most of the players had some high school or college experience, so the level of competition was pretty good. On and off the basketball court.

"During the day we would go visit the hospitals or troops who couldn't get in to see the games," said Conroy, a Citadel grad and a top cadet during his undergraduate days. "We went through some of their training at their last staging area before they go into Iraq. So that's a whole different definition of game face."

Some of Conroy's memories include driving a tank at 60 miles per hour across the desert and flying close to the Iraqi border in a Blackhawk helicopter.

"We sat with the commander of the Third Army in his command room," Conroy said. "That's an awesome experience from which you get a better understanding of what's going on in the Persian Gulf."

No politics

Still, the biggest impression made on all the coaches was getting to know the men and women who serve our country in what has become a very controversial war.

"You cannot describe the feeling as you get to know our troops," said Conroy. "Their resolve is phenomenal. They truly believe they are making a big difference.

"They completely want to be left out of the political process. Just tell them what the job is and they will get it done."

Meanwhile, they assured Conroy and the other coaches they were in no danger while visiting the war-torn region.

"One female soldier asked if my wife was nervous about me going over there," Conroy said. "I said she was. And the female soldier said for me to call my wife and tell her not to worry because 5,000 American soldiers had my back."

Conroy said he never felt safer and was proud to participate in this morale-lifting operation.

"In our last game the coaches came out in BDUs (battle dress uniforms) and the troops went wild," said Conroy, whose team went 3-2. "By the end of the week, you feel like part of them and they feel like part of you."

Reach Ken Burger at 937-5598 or kburger@postandcourier.com.