Pacific 'Port Dogs' take on Rodeo 2011

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Carolyn Herrick
  • Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  Seven aerial porters from throughout the Pacific came together to represent the 515th Air Mobility Wing during the 2011 Air Mobility Rodeo here July 24 to 20.

The 515th AMOW is a geographically-separated wing composed of six squadrons throughout the Pacific. These 'port dogs' were hand-selected to compete in the Rodeo, which is a biennial competition hosted by Air Mobility Command.

"Our team was composed of the best of the best from the six squadrons throughout the Pacific that make up the 515th AMOW," said Capt. Edmond Blanquera, 515th AMOW Rodeo team manager. "The units across the Pacific fit into the en route structure. They provide maintenance, aerial port services and command and control to AMC airlift that transit to those locations."

Team members from Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, Japan, and Korea were hand-selected after a week of try-outs, Blanquera said.

"From 13 folks trying out, they picked the best seven - they went through a fitness challenge, cargo buildup and joint inspections, in-transit visibility scenarios, a driver's course with both 10k and Halvorsen 25k loader - everything they'd have to do during the Rodeo," he said. "They tried to use a whole-person concept - Airmen who are smart in subject matter areas, not just athletes."

The team trained for seven weeks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, the 515th AMOW headquarters, to get used to working with each other on the various events, the captain said.

Although the unit didn't come away with any of the coveted Rodeo trophies, working together as a team, being with their peers, sharing information and best practices, and meeting new people was extremely beneficial, according to Blanquera.

"Competing in the Rodeo pushes the individuals to try to get the most out of themselves, challenge themselves to be the best," he said.

"I think the biggest thing is that we took folks from across the wing and brought them together - they don't work together every day, but they're all from the same career field and trained on standard aerial port tasks. They gelled together as a team very, very well; they had a lot of pride; and they worked tremendously hard," said Col. Stephen Oliver, Jr., the 515th AMOW commander, who watched his guys work hard all throughout the week at Rodeo. "The team chief, Master Sgt. Tito Bigornia, had never been to Rodeo before, but somehow he managed to figure out what was really behind the textual description of each event. He trained the guys very realistically in Hawaii to succeed."

"I think they did very well," Oliver said. "They were in the top five or so in all the events out of 34 aerial port teams, which was the highest number of teams in any particular Rodeo competition area. I think that's a huge accomplishment, particularly given that we pulled these guys from across our wing."

The teamwork and pride in what these folks do is what most impressed the colonel.

"I think on a day-to-day basis moving missions through the system is not something that gets a lot of attention," Oliver said. "It does when you do something like Operation Tomodachi or when we evacuated that contractor from Antarctica to New Zealand - those things get a lot of attention, but day to day it doesn't. But when you come to this competition you realize how hard these guys work and how complicated it is to make these day-to-day missions work. And they make it look easy."

He also expressed appreciation toward the 15th Wing.

"Our two wings are closely associated, and we partner together every day," he said. "The Rodeo is a great example of that partnership."

The exposure the team's presence at Rodeo brought to what the AMOW brings to AMC and the Air Force, especially as a new unit, is invaluable, according to Blanquera.

"It reinforces our presence in the Pacific theater," he said. "We're already talking about the next Rodeo. We will definitely be ready for the next go-round in two years!"