Altus RODEO Team named best in 4 competitions

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clinton Atkins
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The 2009 Air Mobility RODEO at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., wrapped up July 24 and when the dust settled, the Altus RODEO Team was standing tall holding four awards.

The KC-135 maintenance team came away with two individual team awards and the Logistics Readiness Squadron team nabbed one as well, but the biggest news of the competition (for the 97th Air Mobility Wing anyways) was the Best Tanker Wing award given to the Altus RODEO Team. The team won the award with the combined scores of the KC-135 aircrew, KC-135 maintenance and Security Forces Squadron teams along with the "fit to fight" competition.

The RODEO tested the KC-135 maintenance team's ability in categories such as pre-flight, home station check, refueling and launch and recovery procedures. The umpires also made daily observations to check for safety and technical data errors.

Civilian savants

According to Larry Melton, KC-135 maintenance team chief, his team performed outstanding.

"All of our events combined we had 1,800 points available and we only lost 147 points, which is outstanding," he said. "I couldn't be more proud of the performance from my maintenance crew. They did an amazing job.

The maintenance team's high performance garnered them the Best KC-135 Pre-flight Team and Best KC-135 Maintenance Team awards.

"It shows that (the 97 AMW) is doing its job and doing it well," he said. "We had 161 years of experience in total on the KC-135 amongst the 10 team members. Our performance showed we have the experience and knowledge to keep these planes flying. We almost dominated."

The KC-135 maintenance team brought home trophies, but just as important was the spirit of fellowship in which they and all other teams competed with.

"Another important thing about (the RODEO) was the camaraderie everyone showed each other," said Mr. Melton. "The Fairchild AFB team had a broken jet and needed a full jack job and we went over to help them so we could get their airplane fixed and back into the competition. At another point, we need a light bulb. We had a navigation light go out on us and we didn't have a spare but another team did and they gave us their light bulb.

"There is a lot of friendship and hard work at (the RODEO) and everyone has a lot of fun competing with one another," said Mr. Melton.

Young guns

The Security Forces Squadron team, which was the youngest team at the RODEO, contributed to the overall score by competing in the fit-to-fight, combat tactics, combat weapons, sniper and combat endurance competitions.

The team faced adversity before the RODEO even began with the team roster changing within days of the competition.

The SFS team had a last-minute cancellation from one of their original teammates due to a health concern, said Senior Airman Christopher LaBerge, SFS team member.

In need of a fifth member, the SFS team turned to Airman 1st Class Chris Aldridge, who returned from a deployment in Iraq just two weeks ago.

"We called him up and he said he would go," said Airman LaBerge. "Even though he didn't get a chance to train with us for the RODEO he was able to perform at a high level.

With no one higher ranking than a staff sergeant on their team, the SFS's combined youth was a double-edged sword, he said.

"It gave us a little bit of an advantage I think when we did the (combat endurance competition), but you're going to suffer from the lack of experience in combat tactics."

Though the SFS team didn't bring home any hardware, Airman LaBerge is happy with his team's performance.

"I feel really good about how we did," he said. "Our squadron really supported us out by giving us plenty of time to train and that helped us out a lot."

Readiness redefined

The Logistics Readiness Squadron team began their RODEO experience on a high note by winning the Best C-17 Engine Running Offload Team award.

"Our team did an amazing job," said Tech. Sgt. Nolan Jones, LRS team chief. "We uploaded and offloaded a humvee trailer and K loader in seven minutes and seven seconds with a five-man crew plus a loadmaster."

The RODEO continued to test the LRS's driving skills in the 10K forklift and 60K Tunner loader challenges in which crew members had to complete various tasks while negotiating an obstacle course without touching the cones.

The LRS performed well by meeting adversity head on as they competed in simultaneous two-man competitions: the joint inspection and in-transit visibility challenges. Their hard work and professionalism caught the eye of Brig. Gen. Kenneth Merchant, Air Mobility Command director of Logistics, who coined them after the events.

Throughout the RODEO, the LRS team was put to the test mentally and physically, but everything paled in comparison to the Aerial Port Challenge Course.

The course consisted of various challenges and running from place to place; the five-man team had to perform an M-16 function check, memorize information, run with a gas mask on, conduct an unexploded ordinance search, complete a 20-question Airman's Manual challenge, push a vehicle 100 yards and throw 20 bags (60 pounds each). They also had to administer self-aid and buddy care, do a litter carry, pallet build up, pallet restraint move, recall the memorized information, move 25 pieces of dunnage (40 pounds each) and move five large coolers 50 yards followed by a dash to the finish line.

"We did all of that in 61 minutes," he said. "Running from place to place was a total of 3.7 miles and it was not on flat terrain. Before the challenge even began we had to do two minutes of pushups and two minutes of sit-ups."

LRS may not have won the challenge but team member Senior Airman David Thompson did 115 pushups - the most out of all U.S. competitors.

"It's very refreshing to know that we were able to push other teams to work harder," said Sergeant Jones. "Coming from AETC, no one knew we would be such strong competitors. A lot of people were really impressed by us. I am very proud of my team mates."

Lessons learned

Maj. Donald Landgrebe, KC-135 aircrew team chief, led his team to an impressive score of 6,781 points out of a possible 8,800 points. The team score was determined by a combined score of time on target, cargo load, instrument approach, orbit, rendezvous and two air refueling events.

According to Major Landgrebe, the score would have been even better if it wasn't for the receivers (from a different team) during the air refueling events.

"We executed everything on our side perfectly but the way the judges score the event both the receivers and refuelers are affected by each other's performance," he said.

Despite the bump in the proverbial road, the KC-135 aircrew team surpassed many with their performance, ultimately leading to winning one of the top three awards at the RODEO. Major Landgrebe feels none of their accomplishments would have been possible without support from home.

"Our leadership, squadron and families backed us up 100 percent and that's the only way we could have done it," he said. "The RODEO is the premiere air mobility competition and to win (the Best Tanker Wing trophy) is quite an honor."

The RODEO was more than a competition for the KC-135 aircrew team - it was a learning experience.

"We've developed a couple of different things we are going to incorporate into our TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) for the entire KC-135 community because of RODEO," said Major Landgrebe. "We developed an Excel spreadsheet that does some cargo restraint calculations automatically, so instead of 10 to 15 minutes it's now down to 30 seconds to a minute."

Preparation pays

"The 2009 RODEO was a rewarding experience for everyone involved," said Maj. David Patterson, Altus RODEO Team leader. "The team chiefs trained, prepared and led their individual teams and that's why we did so well.

"Prior to the RODEO we sent our KC-135 and C-17 aircrews along with our LRS guys to train at Travis AFB for a week," he said "That gave the air refueling receivers a chance to train with KC-10s, which is something we never see here at Altus and there's a big difference between the two tankers. Going to Travis also gave the KC-135 crews to practice cargo loading, which we don't do much of here and it gave them a chance to refuel something other than a C-17. Even the LRS guys got to practice on a system they never used before."

However, when the team went to the RODEO the aircrews only faced KC-135s and C-17s.

"We didn't know which aircraft we were going to see," he said. "We could have probably gone without some of the training but you can never know that with this competition." 

Physical and mental preparation is key, but what about food and drinks? That question was answered by Altus' local community.

"The economical development corporation and the military affairs committee along with the chamber of commerce downtown helped us out huge with contributions," said Major Patterson.

"Bar-S donated over 1,000 hot dogs and hot links," he said. "We were fed well."

All of the team members received cowboy hats, and the community donated a cowhide, longhorns and boots to decorate the team tent at the competition as well.

"Everybody loved the Altus tent," which was managed and hosted by Tech. Sgt. Doug Kuhn and Master Sgt. Matt Calisi, said Major Patterson.

"This whole thing was just one big team effort," he said.