Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Rich plays paintball during a tournament at the Crystal Palace in London last year. Rich has played at a number of tournaments throughout his three years in Europe and had played in many more over the past decade in the United States. (Courtesy of Aaron Rich)
For someone trained in saving lives, Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Rich has spent a lot of time shooting people. The Naval Hospital Sigonella, Sicily, corpsman has even shot people in the back while they weren’t looking.
But as an experienced paintball player who’s competed on semiprofessional teams in both the United States and Europe, that shooting is integral to the sport.
Rich started playing paintball about 10 years ago when he bought a gun and equipment from a roommate’s friend. He shelled out $200 on gear for a game that he’d never played before.
“The first time I played I was hooked,” he said. “It’s like the worst drug you can take — it’s expensive and addictive.”
Rich tried to play as often as he could, scraping together as much money as he could for trips to central Florida paintball fields.
As his skills progressed, so did the sport of paintball.
“Early in the ’90s there were no concept fields,” he said. “It was all in the woods.”
A French company, Rich said, designed inflatable obstacles that were set on a playing field. The Sup’Air obstacles, as they are known, are now standard in the many tournaments held throughout the world.
“It’s way more structured, especially over the past few years,” Rich said about paintball’s evolution. “This is all spectator-friendly.”
Rich started playing in tournaments while he was stationed in North Carolina in the mid- to late 1990s. Teams carry rankings that allow them to be set in play brackets
Rich has mostly played at Amateur A level, which is one step down from the sport’s professional ranking.
When he transferred to Sicily in 2002 he expected to continue playing paintball regularly.
Unfortunately, he said, paintball is virtually unknown on the island.
“If you go outside the borders of Italy (it’s big),” he said. “I’ve played Russian, English, French, Japanese, Brazilian (teams), but not Italian.”
He’s played in a few tournaments since arriving in Sicily, including one in Lisbon, Portugal, where his team took fourth of 50 teams in the Amateur A level, and also has refereed two tournaments in Germany.
He said he doesn’t expect to play much during his remaining six months in Sigonella, but hopes to at least help get a paintball field set up on base.
The base did have one, he said, but paintball on Sigonella “came to a screeching halt after Sept. 11, (2001).
“We’re still waiting for something,” he said. He wants to ensure that when the base does get paintball up and running again, it has proper, up-to-date equipment and is run along tournament lines.
He understands that it will cost money to get it started, but believes if it’s run correctly — and safely — it could be economically viable for Sigonella.
“At Lejeune we had one on base and that even with two (fields) out in town,” he said.
The benefit won’t just be monetary, he said, as paintball is a sport that can appeal to anyone.
“I’ve seen whole families playing — mom, dad, brothers and sisters,” Rich said.
