ANDREWS AFB, Md. –
While on duty, 1st Lt. Sergio Padilla, 316th Wing Protocol duty officer, greets the nation's top leaders and foreign heads of state. Off-duty, he is a predator among prey. He runs through the valley of snipers and fears no Flatlines as one of the elite paintball players in the country. As is said in the paintball community, "Welts heal. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever."
A Guaynabo, Puerto Rico native and a 2007 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Lieutenant Padilla is credited with bringing paintball to Andrews.
"When I was at the Academy, that's when the whole paintball thing started for me. There was a paintball club, but it wasn't really going anywhere," Lieutenant Padilla explained. "A couple of buddies of mine and I wanted to compete at a national level, but as a cadet, we were only earning $100 per month - paintball is a very expensive sport, and $100 per month wouldn't even begin to cover it. So, we were able to get some sponsors and the club at the Academy grew from there."
The USAFA paintball club started out small, but Lieutenant Padilla said that because of his team's positive attitude and hard work, the club was soon able to get the Colorado Springs', Co. paintball businesses and community to support their fledgling group.
With USAFA logos on their new, donated paintball jerseys, they were able to get coaches from the local community and semi-pro teams who strove to make the small group even better. Soon Lieutenant Padilla's team was ranked fifth in the nation by the National Collegiate Paintball Association.
For a guy who picked up paintball only a short three years earlier, this was not bad. Before then, he only played once when he was 12-years-old. As a boy in Puerto Rico, Lieutenant Padilla had dreams of a better future, and by joining the Air Force, he hoped to open new doors of opportunity.
"I wanted more out of life than what was offered to me in Puerto Rico," Lieutenant Padilla explained. "On a small island, employment opportunities are slim, and I really wanted to get an education to better myself and my chances for a better life."
Now that Lieutenant Padilla is at Andrews, he wants to introduce people to the sport.
"I think people have this perspective that it's just a bunch of guys running around in the woods shooting paintballs at each other," Lieutenant Padilla said. "They don't think about how paintball is a business - you can make some great money out there in tournaments, and it's very competitive. For instance, first place in tournaments can earn $1,000, which helps sponsor tournaments and equipment. Not only that, it helps keep you in shape and your shooting skills sharp - which also helps with the mission. It's kinda fun, too."
Outdoor Recreation is currently working with the 316th Civil Engineer Squadron to procure land for an actual paintball field. In the meantime, paintballers from around base are using the base's 100-foot by 50-foot Mega Paintball Arena, an arena which Lieutenant Padilla's expertise was instrumental in setting up.
"We wanted a paintball field at Andrews and didn't really know too much about it. Lieutenant Padilla came by and said he heard we were going to start having paintball here and that he was willing to volunteer his time to help. To put it mildly, we absolutely could not have set up the paintball field without him," said Maddie Bogacz, Outdoor Recreation specialist. "I give him the ultimate credit. Lieutenant Padilla knew exactly what we needed in order to make our paintball field a success."
Lieutenant Padilla doesn't take all of the credit himself, however, he acknowledges that Outdoor Recreation funded the arena and offers lessons.
"They've got some great equipment," Lieutenant Padilla said. "They've spent nearly $50,000 in equipment, so they've got some great stuff. We're going to start some paintball clinics to get Airmen in the dorms interested, playing paintball and into a new hobby."
Lieutenant Padilla has high hopes for the Andrews paintball team.
"We're going to start local, from the bottom, get really competitive and get it going somewhere. There's an Air Force boxing team and an Air Force wrestling team. Hopefully, we can get an Air Force paintball team together," Lieutenant Padilla said. "Plus, paintball's a great recruiting tool for the younger generation - they really get into it. The average paintball player is 18-years-old. The greatest player in the world started playing when he was 13-years-old. Simply put, if we market the game the right way, we're going to be going places."
For more information on the paintball field or the team at Andrews, contact Ms. Bogacz at Outdoor Recreation at 301-981-5663.