Giddyup: competition kicks into gear at Rodeo

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kristen Rohrer
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The forecast was gray skies with showers, but that didn't stop the 2007 Rodeo Competition from an exciting kick off here July 22.

Teams from across the Air Force, as well as participants and observers from more than 34 different countries, took part in the opening ceremonies.

Gen. Duncan McNabb, Air Mobility Command commander, and Brig. Gen. Kip Self, Air Mobility Rodeo 2007 commander, each took the stage to greet and welcome each team and to officially commence the competition.

Travis' Rodeo teams arrived with hundreds of hours of training under their belts to prepare for their upcoming events. And the events started as soon as the aircraft touched down.

Once the teams landed, the first event they were judged on was how closely they landed to their scheduled arrival time.

All three aircraft landed within one minute of their respective times, with the KC-10 Extender making it within eight seconds, and the C-17 Globemaster III making it within three seconds of their scheduled arrival time.

The next event, held only hours after landing, was the Fit-to-Fight competition. Various team members were chosen at random to participate in the event, which is designed to build morale between the teams and test their physical fitness.

With Travis teams competing from the 60th Air Mobility Wing Security Forces Squadron, the 60th Aerial Port Squadron, the 60th, 660th and 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadrons and the 615th Contingency Response Wing, Travis participated in many events.

Both the 60th SFS and 60th APS competed in an obstacle course that tested their physical abilities. The 60th SFS and the 615th CRW also took part in a weapons and a tactics course. During the tactics course, the team had to rescue an individual and get them back to their aircraft while under enemy fire.

The 60th APS and the 615th CRW competed in the engine run on/off load event where the teams needed to load and unload a C-5 Galaxy with equipment in the shortest amount of time without any mistakes, while the maintenance crews focused on flight inspections and aircraft refueling events.

Each Travis team put in hours of preparation with hopes of coming home victorious, but besides demonstrating air power, the Rodeo is also about building camaraderie, and learning from each other and our international partners, explained General McNabb.

"The fact that we had so many allies and friends that came to join us in this great competition, I can't tell you what that means to me as the leader of U.S. mobility forces," he said.

The Rodeo runs through July 27 and final scores will be available in Aug. 3 Tailwind edition and at http://public.travis.amc.af.mil/