Rodeo umpires offer critical eye Published June 20, 2005 MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- There is a room in Hangar 4 where only a select few are admitted, but every competitor at Rodeo 2005 wants access. It is the room where scores are recorded and winners are selected for every event this year. Providing the raw data for that room will be 250 umpires, men and women who are exceptionally skilled at the events they will judge, said Royal Air Force Wing Commander Martin Walsh, the chief umpire at Rodeo. The umpires will be looking for checklist compliance, he said. In the cockpit there may be one umpire but for each ground event, there will be more, looking at the activities from different angles. Once an event is complete, the winner will be announced that night at Rainier Ranch (tent city). However, were not publicly revealing the ongoing scores, said Wing Commander Walsh. The clever ones would start adding up the scores and have a good idea of where the teams stand. We want some surprises. At the end of Rodeos closing ceremony June 24, competitors will learn how each team racked and stacked for each event, said Maj. Scott Saunders, the AMC staff coordinator for Rodeo 2005. Scores will be tracked behind locked doors. Members of the Studies and Analysis Division at Headquarters Air Mobility Commands Plans and Programs directorate will crunch the numbers. Should a competitor disagree with an umpires score, it can be appealed. If you think youve been unfairly judged, take your case to the senior umpire for that event, said Wing Commander Walsh. What cant be resolved at this level will be decided by the chief umpire. I am the final authority. However, competitors will not argue directly with the umpires. Both sides will have different perspectives. Thats why we will need the impartial senior umpire to adjudicate, said Wing Commander Walsh. By virtue of being an expert in their Air Force specialty, our competitors will have strong opinions, said Major Saunders. We expect to hear some spirited discussions around tent city in the evenings. Many of the people selected to be umpires will come from standardization and evaluation jobs. And that will be their greatest challenge. These guys are evaluators, said Wing Commander Walsh. They are used to jumping in when they need to. However, during Rodeo competition, they must sit there and observe. The only time an umpire will interfere is when safety is compromised. Umpires can call a game-over if they believe it necessary. Other than that, we expect the umpires to have no interaction with the competitors so as not to influence competitor actions and adversely impact their score, said Wing Commander Walsh. That may be impossible, he admitted. An umpire can inadvertently influence a crew by the simple act of writing something down, said Wing Commander Walsh. His advice to the competitors is to take no notice. The umpire may just be writing down a lunch appointment Air Mobility Command News Service is a service of the Internal Division Office of Public Affairs 503 Ward Drive, Room 214 Scott Air Force Base, Illinois 62225-5335 618-229-7821