Ellsworth places at AFCOCOMP

Photo By Senior Airman Thomas Karol | Airmen from the 28th Munitions Squadron prepare trainer bombs on a trailer at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., May 16, 2019. Airmen from the 28th MUNS trained for multiple weeks to ensure they were ready to accept the challenge of participating in the Air Force Combat Operations Competition and represent Air Force Global Strike Command and the 28th Bomb Wing. (Courtesy photo)  

ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, SOUTH DAKOTA, UNITED STATES

05.23.2019

Story by Airman 1st Class Thomas Karol 

28th Bomb Wing

Munitions Airmen from Ellsworth Air Force Base competed and placed second in the Air Force Combat Operations Competition (AFCOCOMP) at Beale AFB, California, May 13-19.
The competition had a series of different events. Each category was judged based on safety, time and practicality.
“AFCOCOMP is a multi-tiered competition on munitions, combat and core competencies,” said Master Sgt. Joshua Roberts, the 28th Munitions Squadron section chief of conventional maintenance. “We were building bombs, configuring trailers and setting up the munitions assembly conveyer.”
Leadership from the 28th MUNS picked a team based on their job knowledge. They were all set to go, but first they had to win a competition at the Air Force Global Strike Command level.
“Initially, we picked our team based off of their abilities and experience within our career field,” said Tech. Sgt. Robert Wiley, the 28th MUNS production superintendent of conventional maintenance. “After that, we competed against all the other global strike bases on our core competencies, and we won that. So, we were able to move on to the represent the command and the base at the Air Force level.”
This is Ellsworth AFB’s first time competing at AFCOCOMP. The 28th MUNS had to prepare for the event by constantly practicing and reinforcing the techniques they’d learned on the job.
“We trained as often as we could so we could be ready to go and do our best,” Roberts said. “We worked on everything that would be in the competition and repeated it over and over, and got faster and faster at it to ensure we would do our best.”
At the competition, all the teams did well, Roberts said. But, Ellsworth AFB was in a league of their own.
“We were told multiple times we were the most professional and presented ourselves at a high standard,” Roberts said. “The competition came down to seconds and we were very close to winning. [Royal Air Force] Lakenheath did a great job and they deserved to win, but we are going to go back next year and try even harder.”
Even though Ellsworth got second place, Roberts and Wiley said they were proud to work with their team. They believe in living up to a high standard and are always up for a new challenge.
“I’m proud of the hard work our team put in this year,” Wiley said. “Words can’t describe how much effort and dedication they put in. That’s all I can ask is for them to give me 100 percent. They never hesitated for a second to get out there and hustle. I would take those guys anywhere in the world to do any job and I’m thankful for that.”

• Date Taken: 05.23.2019
• Date Posted: 05.30.2019 18:34
• Story ID: 323785
• Location: ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, SOUTH DAKOTA, US