Guardsman kicks his way to Egypt

Dick Benoit

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

Nevada Army National Guard 2nd Lt. John Krueger will be on his way to Egypt next summer, but not for a military exercise.

The 25-year-old University of Nevada, Reno, graduate is a key member of the U.S. All Forces Team that won the right to compete at the military World Cup Soccer Championship to be played in Cairo in June.

Krueger scored one of the three goals it took for the U.S. team to shut down the Barbados military service team 3-2 to win the gold medal and capture the North American Regional Soccer Championship held at Fort Eustis, Va. He also scored three goals to lead his team to a 6-0 win over the Canadian military team in a preliminary round.

Krueger, the operations and training officer for the Nevada Headquarters State Area Command, is the only guardsman on the team, which is made up of members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. The Nevadan had to compete against active-duty soldiers from all branches of the military to secure his position as forward.

Krueger says he has always loved the sport and has been playing since he was 4 years old.

Krueger, who stayed in Virginia for a month and a half to train and compete, expressed his gratitude to his home command.

"For all the people back in Nevada and all the people in my office in Carson City who have been picking up my slack, it's been an outstanding opportunity and I really want to thank them for that," he said.

The military games are sponsored by the Conseil International Du Sport Militaire to encourage military sports and development of friendly relations between the armed forces of 115 member nations.

In brief

Army Pvt. Barrett Carl, son of Julie Gagnier of Mesquite, recently participated in experimental Army maneuvers at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La. Carl, a cannon crew member with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment of Fort Drum, N.Y., is an assistant gunner and advance party member.

In the "Joint Contingency Force Advanced Warfighting Experiment," Carl and his fellow soldiers joined other Army units from Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Hood, Texas, as well as Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., in testing new field equipment and tactics against the Training Center's highly trained opposing forces.

The soldiers were tested with battlefield challenges learned from recent urban conflicts such as in Bosnia and Kosovo.