Austin Peay State University Baseball team visits the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment

Clarksville, TN – The Austin Peay State University (APSU) Baseball team recently visited the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The September 28th, 2022 visit helped foster a special relationship between the two groups since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented public visits.

“I was wanting the guys to hit pause on their individual self, and I thought it was pretty important for our guys to go walk, meet, feel the presence of that place – how fortunate we have something that special this close to our campus and to have that partnership with Fort Campbell,” said APSU’s head baseball coach Roland Fanning.  
 
Austin Peay State University is home to Newton Military Family Resource Center – the largest military student center in Tennessee. The university also has the largest military-affiliated population in the state, with about 25 percent of the university’s students having some military affiliation.

The Visit

The recent visit provided the team with a new perspective on how leadership, teamwork and perseverance have deemed the regiment a highly qualified and distinguished group.

According to the United States Army Special Operations Command, “these soldiers are recognized for their proficiency in nighttime operations. They are highly trained and ready to accomplish the toughest missions in all environments, anywhere in the world, day, or night with unparalleled precision.”

The baseball team participated in a simulated pre-jump sequence on a mockup C-130, learning how to properly communicate, position themselves and execute the proper airborne techniques, before, during, and after a jump. Then Sgt. 1st Class Reed Knutson, the regiment’s Public Affairs Noncommissioned Officer, gave an exclusive and unplugged hands-on tour of the several flight lines on the 160th compound.

During the tour, Knutson emphasized the connection of team strength to success, saying, “Humans are more important than hardware.”

The Parallels

Fanning noticed a specific similarity between the baseball team and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (a.k.a, “Night Stalkers”). “Austin Peay State University baseball doesn’t quit, Night Stalkers don’t quit, neither do the Govs,” he said.

Even though one specific aspect could not be identified as the best, the most parallel side of the 160^th and the baseball team is how selfless one has to become in order to speed innovation on and off the field.

For more information on the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, visit www.soc.mil/USASOAC/160th.html