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Sal Interdonato
Award-winning writer Sal Interdonato has been on the Army football beat since 2007. He'll take you inside the huddle and into the lives of the Black Knights. Read FullCategories
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Army’s patches
The Army football team meets every Sunday.
Players and coaches spend most of the time, watching and critiquing
game film. And for 10 minutes, Col. Gene Palka, the team’s head officer
representative, has the team’s attention.
Palka gives a history on the patch, each Army player will wear on their jerseys the following Saturday.
In the past, Army players had worn patches off different units during games.
This season, Army first-year coach Rich Ellerson decided that every member of the team would wear ta patch from the same unit for games.
On Tuesdays, an officer, who served in combat with that unit, would come and speak with the team at the end of practice. This week’s patch is Special Forces and Lt. Col. Gus Heurter addressed the team.
“They (the players) aren’t wearing the patches for decoration,” Palka said. “It means something to wear the patch and with that comes higher expectations.”
Army wore the patch of the 82nd Airborne for its second game against Duke. Outside linebacker Andrew Rodriguez’s father, David, a 1976 West Point graduate, was a former commander of the 82nd Airborne. David Rodriguez is a high-ranking Army official in Afghanistan.