Photo By Sgt. Aaron Leblanc | Pvt. 1st Class Randall Leach of San Bernardino, Calif. prepares to compete in the 41st...... read more read more
By Sgt. Aaron LeBlanc
1st Sustainment Brigade
CAMP TAJI – Gravel was thrown and rubber traffic cones were crushed without mercy, on Aug. 1, 2008, as Soldiers of the 41st Transportation Company, aka "Out Front," took their best shot at taming the 88,000-lb. beast known as the Palletized Load System, during the Unit's "Truck Rodeo."
"The purpose of the Truck Rodeo is to allow the Soldiers an opportunity to showcase their driving skills and technical and tactical knowledge of their equipment, and of course to create esprit de corps and teamwork within the company," said Sgt. 1st Class Debra Ford of Hot Springs, Ark., the truck master of the 41st, and orchestrator of the rodeo.
Categories of competition included three different backing events, a tire-change race against the clock, a trailer hook-up event, various uploading and downloading contests, and a PMCS event. The two-day rodeo also included a slew of 'field day' activities such as kickball, dodge ball, and tug-of-war. Un-scored activities included the butchering of various popular musical numbers via a Karaoke machine.
"I hate to admit it, because it was not one of the [scored] events, but the Karaoke between events might be my fondest memory of the rodeo, especially Sgt. Koetje's rendition of the Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha". I just can't figure out which Doll he resembles the most," commented Cpt. Larry Johnson, commanding officer of the 41st.
The outdoor portions of the competition were scheduled with the summer heat in mind; the Rodeo kicked off at 5:00 AM, and broke for several hours during the heat of the day.
"Being from Germany, the heat was the biggest challenge for us. The heat forced us to split the competition between the morning and the night. The mission itself also makes it hard, trying to find the time to conduct a rodeo. We were blessed in the fact that we had no missions happening at the same time," said Johnson.
Despite the heat, and a light dust storm that rolled in during the first day of the competition, the enthusiasm and competitive spirit of the 41st's Soldiers remained high throughout. Ironically, many commented that the most enjoyable event, during a contest centered on driving skills, was the dodge ball tournament.
After the last traffic cone fell Saturday evening, the overall leaders in points and victors of the Rodeo were the members of 3rd Platoon, led by 1st Lt. Jennifer Kraus, and the two-day event was declared a resounding success by organizers and participants alike.
"Instead of having a company Truck Rodeo, next time we should have a battalion-wide Truck Rodeo, to give the other companies a chance to compete against the best transportation company in the battalion: 41st Transportation, Out Front," said Ford.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2008 02:56 |
| Story ID: | 23107 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 64 |
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