Competition builds teamwork and enhances driving skills

Photo By Master Sgt. Paul Tuttle | A Soldier manuevers a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck through a serpentine under the watchful eyes of his graders during the Logistics Task Force 10 Battalion's truck rodeo competition at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Jan. 11. The Soldiers participated in the event as part of the unit's organization day activities.  

CAMP ARIFJAN, KUWAIT

01.17.2008

Courtesy Story

1st Theater Sustainment Command

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – When one hears the word "rodeo", men on horseback usually comes to mind, but Soldiers from the Logistics Task Force 10 Battalion out of Fort Eustis, Va., held a rodeo, Jan. 11 and 12, that had nothing to do with horses.

The Soldiers competed in a truck rodeo in conjunction with their organization day to promote morale, espirit de corps and professionalism among the units and the Soldiers within the battalion. Competitors showed off their road-warrior know-how and the driving skills they use on a daily basis.

"It's more of a refresher of the Soldiers' skills and I hope that they enjoy themselves while having some friendly competition between the companies of the battalion," said 1st Lt. Angela M. Anderson, 24, the executive officer for the 546th Transportation Company and the officer in charge of the truck rodeo event.

Prizes went to the first, second and third place winners in each event. The prizes included Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medals, four-day passes to Qatar, gift certificates, plaques and coins from the brigade and battalion command sergeants major.

The winning team for the Heavy Equipment Transporter competition came from the 546th Transportation Company. The 7th Chemical Company came ahead of the pack in the gun truck competition, while 2nd Transportation Company walked away with first place in the maintenance wrecker competition.

The 2nd Transportation Company, 1175th Transportation Company, 546th Transportation Company and the 7th Chemical Company competed in the event, consisting of three timed events, broken down into 10 two-man heavy equipment transporter teams, 10 two-man wrecker teams and 20 three-man gun truck teams.

Participants in the HET competition were graded on their ability to maneuver through a serpentine course, to straight-line back the M1070/M1000 HET system comprised of a trailer and a tractor, to conduct proper tie-down procedures with a Bradley fighting vehicle on a trailer and to do preventative maintenance checks and services on the HET, Anderson said.

The gun truck competition required each team to go through a serpentine course in an up-armored gun truck. Each team had to assemble a crew-served weapon and mount it on top of the vehicle, then dismount the weapon and disassemble the weapon. They had to properly change a tire in the shortest time possible and use a TriMax fire extinguisher effectively on a simulated burning tire.

The final event was the maintenance wrecker competition in which each team used a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck to maneuver through a serpentine course, then hook up the entire HET system to the wrecker and pull it through another serpentine course. Finally, the participants had to change out an alternator in the shortest amount of time, Anderson added.

"The competition was harder than it looked," said Sgt. Timothy M. Porter, 22, a heavy equipment transport operator and a native of Peru, Iowa. "With the rain and everything else, it got kind of slick and it was pretty tricky. It looked different at the starting line than it does when you go through the barrels and maneuver the corners."

The truck rodeo displayed what the Logistics Task Force 10 brings to the fight in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. The Soldiers agreed that even though the rain posed a bit of a challenge for the competition, it was good, clean fun and a chance to train as they fight.

"It turned out to be a good day even though we had some hiccups," said Anderson. "I didn't think that the Soldiers would be as excited as they are now, seeing their counterparts out there doing the course and cheering for them. It was a pretty good turn out."

"It was good idea and I hope we get to do this again before we leave because it was a lot of fun," added Porter.

• Date Taken: 01.17.2008
• Date Posted: 01.17.2008 15:12
• Story ID: 15542
• Location: CAMP ARIFJAN, KW