The Dartmouth men's rugby team is the first collegiate rugby team to adopt a troop through the Adopt-a-Unit program, John Kordahl '12, who assisted in spearheading the program, said in an e-mail to The Dartmouth.
The rugby team raised "a couple hundred" dollars to assemble and send care packages which included household staples such as snacks, magazines and baby wipes to the unit, Jack Boger '13, who worked with Kordahl to lead the program, said. Players also shipped team memorabilia to the troops, including a Dartmouth match jersey and a ball signed by the team.
Big Green rugby players said they hoped the packages would boost morale among the servicemen.
"Everyone on the team was very receptive of the project," Boger said. "A lot of the players were really generous with their time and money."
Boger and Kordahl both have strong connections to the military. Boger spent last summer at the Officer Candidates School of the United States Marine Corps in Quantico, Va. Kordahl's brother, James Kordahl '10, recently became a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
"Without [Boger] and [John Kordahl] doing this, it simply wouldn't have happened," captain Chris Downer '11 said. "They were really leading the charge, and for all their efforts we are all very thankful."
Boger and John Kordahl said they were inspired by military veterans on the Dartmouth men's rugby team, including Michael Burbank '14 and Julian Sarkar '13, who both served in the Marine Corps. There are also a number of recent rugby alumni who are currently involved with the armed forces.
Boger emphasized that the project should serve as a way to raise campus awareness towards military issues.
"Dartmouth is very divorced from military life and military ideas [Reserves Officers' Training Corps] is only a small part of campus," he said. "But the fact is there are young men and women just like us fighting around the world. I hope [the project] raises awareness to what they're doing over there, what purpose our military serves and perhaps may inspire people to want to join the military themselves."
Downer said that the project helped the team step out of its "Dartmouth bubble," and allowed players to gain a greater understanding of the work that servicemen perform overseas.
"We take for granted a lot of the things that the people abroad do for us," Downer said. "Being able to hear about the sacrifices [servicemen] are making over there gives us a good dose of reality."
Delta Troop serves as a support unit to the 1-75 Cavalry Regiment and provides assistance including repairing equipment and transporting supplies to soldiers engaged in combat operations in Kandahar.
Boger said that many team members gained a greater understanding of the worldwide military situation, especially the conditions of those servicemen in Afghanistan.
"I think as a whole the team really learned not to take for granted the opportunities we have here," Boger said. "It was a good learning opportunity for all of us and reminded all of us what is going on in the world."
The team will aim to maintain contact with the troop throughout its deployment scheduled to end in May and hopes to make the project an annual service opportunity for the team.
The Dartmouth men's rugby team has recently found much success on the field. This past fall, the team outscored opposing teams 436-35 in the overall season to clinch its fourth straight Ivy League title. The team which is ranked eighth in the nation is currently preparing for the inaugural Premier League season this spring.
