Wrench-turners battle for top spot in Rodeo 2011 maintenance competition

Published July 26, 2011
By Airman 1st Class Michael Battles
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. -- Crowds cheered as the competitors of the maintenance skill competition, or MSC, entered the hangar July 25 during the Air Mobility Rodeo 2011 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

The event, which is new to Rodeo, tests a four-person team on normal daily maintenance activities that would be performed during a shift at home stations.

For the competition, participants were given 30 minutes to complete eight tasks, which need to be executed with proficiency and under Air Force guidelines such as inspections, vehicle movement and aircraft maintenance to receive optimum points.

"Since this was a new event we had no idea what to expect," said Master Sgt. Lottie Walker, 19th Airlift Wing maintenance team lead from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. "This competition shows our day-to-day operations and our Airman really got to show off their skill."

One of the main areas of competition required a member of each team to repair components on an aircraft, which was simulated on a maintenance lift.

While participants completed the tasks assigned to them, Rodeo umpires verified no competitor incurred any safety violations, deviated from the technical data or completed a task in a way, which was deemed unsatisfactory. Each of the violations would add a penalty to the overall score of the team for the competition.

"We really had to think in a different way to complete the tasks assigned to us because we were kept in the dark until the second the competition started," said Tech Sgt. Edward Simmons, 130th Airlift Wing C-130 Hercules crew chief. "It was a challenge, but it gave us a chance to prove our knowledge and maintenance training." Each base and international partner competing in the Air Mobility Rodeo must compete in the MSC or forfeit an automatic 700 points from their overall score, officials said.