Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston –
The morning was dark and the birds still quiet in the trees
as more than 2,000 Soldiers filed onto a parade field at Fort Sam Houston to
prove a point: in the Army, you can eat cake … but you have to earn it.
With a burst of cannon fire and a call to double-time, Fort
Sam Houston began its celebration of the Army’s 241st Birthday Friday with a
motivational two-mile run led by Lt. Gen. Perry L. Wiggins, U.S Army North
(Fifth Army) commanding general.
The “Earn Your Cake” campaign is part of a week-long Army
birthday celebration led by Under Secretary of the Army Patrick. J. Murphy and
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey, in which Soldiers can record and submit
15- to 30-second videos of their own workouts – a demonstration of how they
will “earn” the cake they will eat to celebrate the Army’s birthday.
“Everybody loves cake,” Murphy said. “But you have to get
after it physically, so you aren’t packing on the pounds. ‘Earn Your Cake’ is
something we are pushing out there to make sure people know that while we are
going to take time to celebrate on our Army birthday, that doesn’t preclude the
fact you have to earn it. You have to get after it every morning, before the
sun rises, and push yourself so you are physically fit, so that you are a
warrior and ready to answer the call against our enemies.”
Following the run, Wiggins invited the oldest and youngest
Soldier in the formation to the front for a traditional saber cutting of the
cake, then invited the formations to enjoy the cake they had earned.
“A day in the Army without PT is like a birthday without cake,”
Dailey said. “The campaign is a great way to show Americans our commitment to
being fit to fight anytime, if they need us.”