Published: February 01, 2007 12:13 am         

B-Sides: Deployed Hoosiers do whatever it takes to watch football

TERRE HAUTE — Everything in the first paragraph of the news release made sense.

Mitch Hunt, a fellow product of Prairieton Elementary School, was mentioned along with several other Wabash Valley folks serving in Iraq with Task Force Indy 38th DISCOM, an Indianapolis-based unit of the Indiana Army National Guard. That unit of 130-plus Indiana Guard men and women supplies life support services to more than 50,000 multinational soldiers, U.S. Department of Defense civilians and contractors around Baghdad International Airport.

The release then explained how the soldiers have tried to follow the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl through the Armed Forces Network television broadcasts. Soldiers wanting to see the playoff games live had to stay up all night, thanks to the eight-hour time difference between Iraq and the U.S. Eastern time zone.

The line in the press release that caught my eye, though, explained that many of the Task Force Indy soldiers — Indianapolis Colts fans — “slept through the NFC [Championship] game and set their alarms for 2:30 a.m. to wake up to watch the Colts come from behind to win the AFC Championship.”

Now, I remember Mitch — who played backyard football with me in our ’hood in Prairieton — growing up as a Chicago Bears fan. So when Sgt. 1st Class Hunt e-mailed me that Army news release, I had to respond and ask him, “You didn’t actually sleep through the Bears’ game, did you?”

His answer virtually climbed off my computer screen and slapped some sense into me.

“No,” Mitch wrote, emphatically. “I did not sleep. I had staff duty that night, so I was up for 24 hours and watched all the games.

“And yes,” he added, “I am still a BEARS fan.”

Obviously, the service men and women overseas deal with issues more serious than professional football. For Mitch, providing those “life support” services in Iraq comes naturally. He joined the Guard at 20, was activated during the first Gulf War, served in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, began a career with the Terre Haute Fire Department 18 years ago, and earned the department’s Firefighter of the Year award two weeks ago, reports his proud mom, Pat Hunt of Prairieton. He and the Task Force Indy unit (which also includes Wabash Valley soldiers David Piper, Joseph Earley, Donald Hancock, Brandon Humphries, Geneva York, Mary Tarrh and William Cowan) help supply electricity, sewage disposal, phone service, zoning boards, dining facilities, building contracts, fire departments, police departments and medical facilities in the middle of a war zone.

The chance to follow the Colts and the Bears into Sunday’s Super Bowl gives them and other U.S. service people around the globe a hint of the normalcy of home.

Even that small slice of exported Americana can get complicated. Take Sarah Osborn and Brandi Larson, for example.

They’re the two senior airmen from the Terre Haute 181st Fighter Wing Medical Group deployed in southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi and the Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Osborn and Larson are also the only two Colts fans among the unit they’re now serving, the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Medical Group.

In fact, they’ve only counted five Colts backers on the entire base, which houses 1,700 U.S. military personnel.

“We get people in here every day giving us so much grief for being Colts fans,” Osborn said by telephone Wednesday, laughing.

Tracking the Colts’ exploits takes “real dedication,” according to Master Sgt. Rebecca Roady, public affairs chief for the 380th.

Their Asian location is nine hours ahead of Indiana. Osborn, a 20-year-old Terre Haute native, and Larson, a 25-year-old who moved to Terre Haute from Reno, Nev., are emergency medical technicians who work 12-hour shifts. So they must either forfeit sleep to watch the games live on the Armed Forces Network, or see ESPN replays later. Osborn and Larson wound up relying on a rerun of the Colts’ 38-34 victory over New England in the AFC title game Jan. 21.

That meant the two Indiana Air National Guardsmen also had to beg all of those non-Colts fans not to spoil their suspense.

Maybe beg isn’t the right word.

“The morning after the playoff game, I heard Larson tell everyone within earshot at the chow hall, ‘DON’T tell me the score! DON’T tell me the score! I haven’t watched the game yet!” Roady recalled.

To ensure secrecy, “we just walked around with our ears plugged,” Osborn said.

But they’re planning to watch their Colts take on the Bears in Super Bowl XLI on live TV. The kickoff will be at 3:30 a.m. Monday for Osborn, Larson and their fellow troops. Their tailgating party — complete with burgers, hot dogs, brats and a little beer — starts even earlier.

“We’re going to eat the hot dogs at 3 o’clock in the morning and hope nobody comes into the clinic for heartburn,” Osborn said.

Though the two women are vastly outnumbered by Bears fans and pseudo Bears fans (the Patriots supporters are now apparently rooting for Chicago to do what their team couldn’t), they won’t be shy about backing the Colts. Larson will wear a Colts jersey and carry a Colts poster — both sent by her family — “to shove in other people’s faces,” she said, with a chuckle.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, the folks in the 38th DISCOM hope to cheer on the Colts (and the Bears). Their Super Bowl festivities are scheduled to begin around 1 a.m. Monday.

“Hopefully, it will be a peaceful night,” Mitch wrote.

Mark Bennett can be reached at mark.bennett@tribstar.com or (812) 231-4377.