Firefighters for a Day

Photo By Bradley Clark | Four crew chiefs from the 908th Maintenance Group, 908th Airlift Wing, won the fourth annual Fire Muster competition organized by the Maxwell Fire Department on Oct. 6 at the northeast ramp. (U.S. Air Force photo by Bradley J. Clark)  

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, AL, UNITED STATES

10.06.2016

Story by Bradley Clark 

908th Airlift Wing

Four crew chiefs from the 908th Maintenance Group, 908th Airlift Wing, won the fourth annual Fire Muster competition organized by the Maxwell Fire Department on Oct. 6 at the northeast ramp.
Twelve Airmen, in three, four-person teams, from the 908th Airlift Wing participated in the event.
The fire muster required teams to roll up two fire hoses, then pull two fire hoses, hammer a log in two separate directions, a bucket brigade section, then a hose evolution (connecting the different fire hoses together) then hosing a basketball off of a traffic cone, finishing with a dummy carry to a litter carry.
“Honestly, I just found out we were participating on Sunday (Oct. 2) so we didn’t have a lot of time,” said Staff Sgt. Bryan Renforth, a member of the winning team.
Normally that wouldn’t sound like a recipe for success, but this team was able to overcome that obstacle.
“We know about team work and how to accomplish something when it’s put in front of us,” said, Tech. Sgt. Marlin Kennedy.
As for the most difficult part of the competition, the whole team was in agreement.
“The buckets were the hardest part,” said Senior Airman Victoria Lott. “We watched other teams try a technique that looked like a train. We decided too many people were running into each other that way, so we would just create our own lanes and stay in them. We were able to go at our own pace without running into each other.”
There were adjustments that had to be made throughout the competition, considering half of the team hadn’t practiced at all, while the other half only did a walkthrough the day prior to the event.
“The first time through we had some trouble with the dead man (dummy carry), running into each other,” said Staff Sgt. Kyle Lutsic. “We made some adjustments for the following rounds. That’s what got us through, being able to adjust to the problem and carry on and accomplish the task at hand.”
Even though they had to compete against other members of the 908th, in the end, the two other teams were cheering them on.
“It’s fun competing against everyone,” said Kennedy. “Of course we wanted to beat them and I bet they wanted to beat us. In the end we are a family, and it felt great to have the rest of the other members cheering us on.”
The fire chief for Maxwell was very excited for the winners.
“It was great for them to represent the wing,” said Charles Jorgensen. “Having them out here meant a lot, after all, we are all one team, one fight.”
As for the commander of the 908th Airlift Wing, his thoughts on the win couldn’t be clearer.
“It’s a great day to be a member of the 908th family,” said Col. David Condit. “We had three teams with amazing Airmen competing today. I am so proud of all of them. It’s a great feeling having your family participate and win.”

• Date Taken: 10.06.2016
• Date Posted: 10.27.2016 17:16
• Story ID: 213120
• Location: MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, AL, US