Electrical engineers compete in international lineman competition

Published Oct. 26, 2011
By By Staff Sgt. Stephenie Wade
375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill -- It's hard enough trying not to break an egg on the way home from the store, but try climbing up a 40-foot pole with an egg in a bag and climbing down carrying the egg by mouth.

Although this sounds like a game, it was one of four competitions held in this year's International Lineman Rodeo in Kansas City. Six electrical engineers from the 375th Civil Engineer Squadron participated and one team placed third.

Senior Airman Jacob Thomas, and Staff Sgts. Joshua Knight, Sean Eline, Austin Hollingshead, Scott Barger and Jared Doyle represented Team Scott at the event.

The Linesman Rodeo was created in 1984 to recognize the profession of electric line work as well as demonstrate the safety, skill and education of the electric linemen. This year there were seven military teams participating and more than 200 teams all together.

Each team consisted of three participants--two linemen and a ground man. Linemen are electricians who work on power lines and the groundman sets up all the tools and helps maneuver the climbing electricians.

Thomas, Knight, and Eline earned a plaque and bragging rights for a year by placing third, scoring a 372 out of 400.

All six members trained together for three months before the competition.

"Every morning we climbed 40-foot power poles for two or three hours while each time training for a different scenario we would encounter during the competition," said Doyle, team chief.

This year's Rodeo consisted of four competitions: "Hurt man" rescue , climbing, and two mystery scenarios.

The rescue scenario centered on securing a simulated injured individual while the groundman held the hand line while the third team member informed the dispatcher.

The climb focused on technical skills and called for carrying an egg in a bag on the way up, hanging the bag and climbing down with the egg in their mouth without breaking it.

The day prior all the teams received a package notifying them of the two mystery events: The first scenario called for two linemen to make the climb using rubber gloves and hand line; the second centered on using "hot sticks" or fiber glass sticks to handle the power line conductors. The sticks prevent electrocutions while handling electric wires.

"A lot of people were surprised that we were even there," said Hollingshead. "They seemed impressed to hear about all the work we do in the military."

Each team had five minutes to prep before each event to get used to the tools and learn expectations. There were many specialized tools the teams encountered -- and some they don't use on a daily basis.

"When it comes to the competition, we came up against different tasks and tools we usually do not use on a daily basis compared to the civilian linemen who do 24/7,"Eline said. "From this event, we learned how to adapt and overcome to certain situations and tasks at hand for the future."