KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The
http://www.authenticsteelersstores.com/ernie-stautner-jersey-c-1_15.html annual Port Dawg Challenge was in full force during the October Unit Training Assembly here Oct. 14 as members of the 41st Aerial Port Squadron competed in teams against one another.
The competitive training scenarios highlighted knowledge, training and teamwork during five events completed by five teams of air transportation specialists from the 41st APS.
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The Port Dawg Challenge events are critical training used to prepare our Airmen for deployments, while at the same time having friendly competition throughout the unit, which benefits unit cohesion,” said Tech. Sgt. Derek Turner, 41st APS air transportation craftsman assistant noncommissioned officer in charge of special handling. The teams competed in five different timed events: cargo pallet build-up, chains and devices, forklift obstacle course, trivia, and a fit-to-fight relay race.
In the pallet buildup challenge, each team was required to correctly, safely and quickly place cargo nets on a pallet and secure the items to the pallet for transport using a four-person group from their team.
The chains and devices event consisted of securing a Humvee inside of a C-130J aircraft. Four members of each team competed in being the fastest, safest and most accurate in completing the event.
During the forklift obstacle course challenge, a two-member team, with one driver and one spotter, was put to the test. The forklift was driven through a path of cones, which represented obstacles, in both forward and reverse, while carrying a loaded pallet. Each team had to complete the course with two different drivers.
For the trivia event, all team members were required to participate in a question-and-answer session to test their aerial port knowledge.
The final challenge was the fit-to-fight challenge, in which the team members competed with their team to achieve the highest score. The challenge consisted of bear crawling, carrying 100-pound barriers, completing 100 burpees, and a quarter-mile run.
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This is a great team building exercise for our Airmen,” said Master Sgt. James Comstock. “We are a family in APS. So when we are competing, we talk ‘smack’ to each other, but we all work together as a team. And at the end of the day after the competition was over, we gathered together for a fish fry and fun.”The Port Dawg Challenge winners were
http://www.enks-des.com/27-eddie-lacy-jersey-c-1_39.html determined based off the points they received during each event. This year, however, a tie for first place occurred during the challenge between Team Entrekin and Team Landry, so the tie-breaker was a head-to-head challenge between the team captains. The captains were put to the test on the forklift obstacle course challenge to determine whose team earned the right to be called the
“Top Dawgs”. At the end of the tie-breaker, Team Landry emerged victorious. The team captain was Tech. Sgt. Taylor Landry. His team members included: Senior Master Sgt. Mary Adamson; Master Sgts. Brad Perry and Jeffery Sutton; Tech. Sgt. Tamara Gray; Staff Sgts. Krekel Eckland and Lindsey Caldwell; Senior Airmen Alton McGrew, Cameron Rice, Peter Hollman and Thyrone Williams, Jr.; and Airmen 1st Class Tarryn O
’Cain and Heather Strang.
