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So this snow that I may have mentioned also got as far down as the Washington, DC area. Which means that my father's interoffice snowball fight actually happened.
The organisers (my father and his normal working partner) were the only members of their division to actually show, but a round dozen or so attended on the IDA side. Among them, the official company photographer . . . .
The IDA team
My father is in the center, with the red scarf and the snowball held proudly aloft. Quotes from two separate reporters on the IDA side follow.
A preliminary report; we will have something official when the casualty figures come in.
Battle was joined at 10:05. The forces of The Center of Naval Analyses were initially represented by a single individual in a red jacket but over time they grew to over a dozen, and exceeded the IDA attacking force. This illustrated the possible advantage of interior lines for one side and the disadvantages of a long logistics tail for the Institute for Defense Analyses. However, IDA claimed the field of battle at 10:00 and their control was never seriously contested. Repeated charges from in front of the CNA door were met and repulsed in disorder. These were usually followed by successful IDA counter attacks.
The red-jacketed hero did punch through the IDA line at some point and maintained himself on the field below the high ground for several minutes before being driven back. This satisfied the technical requirement of an IDA victory, but combat continued until 10:30 AM.
There was one unfortunate incident involving an attack on the Mark Center Bus, which the IDA Snow Commissioners believe should be declared off limits in future contests. However, the individual who stepped from the bus did reach for snow before being driven behind naval lines.
As the Names of the Valiant are collected on both sides, we must do them honor and get the trophy, cup, and web site prepared.
Its all about priorities. IDA had a plan, kept its troops informed and massed at an appropriate time to execute the plan. We conducted a rehearsal enroute, discussed and planned our strategies and then executed the plans flawlessly. At the appointed time to start the war, the other side decided to play a different "wait and see" strategy. IDA quickly moved to the most strategic terrain on the playing field and forced the CNA hand. While CNA attempted to negotiate a settlement, the well prepared IDA team would have none of it.
CNA, to keep from being totally humiliated, decided to piecemeal forces into the fray. All came without organization, no training, no rehearsal and no real motivation. They were immediately thrust into combat against a vastly superior force from IDA and were pounded into submission. Soon the end time for showing on the field came and went and IDA was holding the entire playing field and still located at the front door of CNA. There were a number of questionable attacks by IDA into the front door region of CNA (some might call this a "technical" violation of the playing field border). We decided that a preemptive attack was now allowable under the US Strategic Doctrine so many counter thrusts to the CNA front door were carried out to keep CNA worried about being cut off from their creature comforts and less worried about the strategic objective of taking back the playing field. CNA to its credit eventually had more soldiers than IDA as some of IDA soldiers were already enjoying their first R&R trip back to IDA for some coffee.
Needless to say the few puny counter-offensives from CNA never penetrated our FEBA position on the sidewalk opposite their front door. There was one deceptive attack by CNA when the Mark Center Bus off loaded a CNA employee onto our side of the street. The bus and passenger were quickly ejected from the area by the IDA defenders.
It all ended like a kids t-ball game. Both sides lined up and congratulated IDA for its superior organizational skills, better strategy, superior training, and overall motivation to win. Some at IDA promised the same for their Navy team this Saturday on another field of friendly strife. We all made the long walk back to IDA reminiscing about the values of winning. Many saw the Hummer in the parking lot this morning and are thinking of bringing in better logistical support for next years big match. As we entered the building you could hear the cheers and congratulations from the IDA security staff that had witnessed this historical event
Thus concludes the reporting on the first annual IDA/CNA inter-office snowball fight.
The organisers (my father and his normal working partner) were the only members of their division to actually show, but a round dozen or so attended on the IDA side. Among them, the official company photographer . . . .
My father is in the center, with the red scarf and the snowball held proudly aloft. Quotes from two separate reporters on the IDA side follow.
A preliminary report; we will have something official when the casualty figures come in.
Battle was joined at 10:05. The forces of The Center of Naval Analyses were initially represented by a single individual in a red jacket but over time they grew to over a dozen, and exceeded the IDA attacking force. This illustrated the possible advantage of interior lines for one side and the disadvantages of a long logistics tail for the Institute for Defense Analyses. However, IDA claimed the field of battle at 10:00 and their control was never seriously contested. Repeated charges from in front of the CNA door were met and repulsed in disorder. These were usually followed by successful IDA counter attacks. The red-jacketed hero did punch through the IDA line at some point and maintained himself on the field below the high ground for several minutes before being driven back. This satisfied the technical requirement of an IDA victory, but combat continued until 10:30 AM.
There was one unfortunate incident involving an attack on the Mark Center Bus, which the IDA Snow Commissioners believe should be declared off limits in future contests. However, the individual who stepped from the bus did reach for snow before being driven behind naval lines.
As the Names of the Valiant are collected on both sides, we must do them honor and get the trophy, cup, and web site prepared.
Its all about priorities. IDA had a plan, kept its troops informed and massed at an appropriate time to execute the plan. We conducted a rehearsal enroute, discussed and planned our strategies and then executed the plans flawlessly. At the appointed time to start the war, the other side decided to play a different "wait and see" strategy. IDA quickly moved to the most strategic terrain on the playing field and forced the CNA hand. While CNA attempted to negotiate a settlement, the well prepared IDA team would have none of it. CNA, to keep from being totally humiliated, decided to piecemeal forces into the fray. All came without organization, no training, no rehearsal and no real motivation. They were immediately thrust into combat against a vastly superior force from IDA and were pounded into submission. Soon the end time for showing on the field came and went and IDA was holding the entire playing field and still located at the front door of CNA. There were a number of questionable attacks by IDA into the front door region of CNA (some might call this a "technical" violation of the playing field border). We decided that a preemptive attack was now allowable under the US Strategic Doctrine so many counter thrusts to the CNA front door were carried out to keep CNA worried about being cut off from their creature comforts and less worried about the strategic objective of taking back the playing field. CNA to its credit eventually had more soldiers than IDA as some of IDA soldiers were already enjoying their first R&R trip back to IDA for some coffee.
Needless to say the few puny counter-offensives from CNA never penetrated our FEBA position on the sidewalk opposite their front door. There was one deceptive attack by CNA when the Mark Center Bus off loaded a CNA employee onto our side of the street. The bus and passenger were quickly ejected from the area by the IDA defenders. It all ended like a kids t-ball game. Both sides lined up and congratulated IDA for its superior organizational skills, better strategy, superior training, and overall motivation to win. Some at IDA promised the same for their Navy team this Saturday on another field of friendly strife. We all made the long walk back to IDA reminiscing about the values of winning. Many saw the Hummer in the parking lot this morning and are thinking of bringing in better logistical support for next years big match. As we entered the building you could hear the cheers and congratulations from the IDA security staff that had witnessed this historical event
Thus concludes the reporting on the first annual IDA/CNA inter-office snowball fight.
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From:
*laughter*
From:
Re: *laughter*
And just think: one of those reports was written by an actual retired officer.
From:
Re: *laughter*
From:
no subject
*wishes he could see snow at least once.....*
From:
no subject
If if ever snows here (unlikely) there are now plans for an upstairs/downstairs battle. Production versus marketing.
suzi