Nearly 100 military spouses got the chance to walk in the combat boots of their soldier husbands Saturday at Hohenfels.

With the Soldier for a Day event, 95 spouses spent the day learning — and doing — some of the things their soldier husbands do day in and day out.

The day’s events included physical training, an obstacle course, a lunch of Meals, Ready to Eat and a military police K-9 demonstration. The spouses were issued – on a temporary basis – sets of black battle dress uniforms used by the Combat Maneuver Training Center’s opposing forces.

The event began with 7:30 a.m. physical training, where the would-be soldiers did push-ups, sit-ups and a dozen other exercises.

“My arms were a little sore on Sunday from the PT,” said Sabrina Cornett, adding that she has been going to the gym every morning since her husband, Staff Sgt. Steven Cornett of Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, deployed to Afghanistan in September. “I think that helped me, but I was still a little sore.”

The obstacle course was built by the Directorate of Public Works specifically for the event, according to Susan Green, the event organizer.

“It will remain there for other events like this to be held in the future,” Green said.

The obstacle course was the most physically and mentally challenging event for the spouses, Green said. The participants were paired into two-person teams for the event.

“It really took a lot of teamwork to get through it,” Green said. “I was pretty wibbly-wobbly afterward. I was so exhausted after doing the obstacle course.”

The spouses had to run through rows of tires, climb a 7-foot wall, cross a set of monkey bars, maneuver across a plank and climb through a tunnel, Green said.

“All of us were cheering each other on for the obstacle course,” Cornett said. “It’s something that I don’t think any of us could have been prepared for. Running after your kids all day is not the same as going through an obstacle course — almost, but not quite. It was a great event for us. We had to use teamwork, and there were a bunch of women cheering each other on, instead of fighting with one another.”

Sgt. 1st Class Matt Michelson, one of the soldiers overseeing the obstacle course, said the spouses performed better than he had anticipated.

“They were highly motivated,” he said. “We were concerned whether they would be able to complete the course or not, especially climbing the wall.

“Safety was a big concern, because the wall was an event that could potentially lead to injury.”

Michelson said several of the wives were able to climb wall without help.

The spouses were treated to a K-9 demonstration in which members of the Combat Maneuver Training Center command group wore the padded “bite suits.”

During the MRE lunch, participants learned how to use the meal’s heating pouch and got a recipe for Ranger pudding (creamer, sugar, hot cocoa mix and water).

“I didn’t care for the pudding, but my husband said when he was downrange, that was all the guys would eat for a while,” Green said.

All spouses who participated in the event got certificates and T-shirts adorned with a BDU-clad Betty Boop as well as a set of dog tags imprinted with the words: “I survived Soldier for a Day,” Green said.

But, Green said, the real reward for the spouses was getting to experience some of the things they hear their soldier-husbands talking about every day.

“I think this gave us a better understanding of what our soldiers do,” Green said. “The demonstrations and the events left me in awe of what soldiers do every day.”

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