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Port Dawg Challenge tests skills, strengthens camaraderie

  • Published
  • By Bryan Magaña
  • 419th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. --  Out on the tarmac, noise from a C-130 Hercules drowns out the sounds of morning. Its four engines are still running, with no plans to stop. Five Air Force Reservists brave the hot gusts from the jet's propellers and rush toward the ramp, which they lower to the ground. The Airmen load a humvee and a huge cargo pallet aboard the jet, then, as quickly as they packed them in, they haul them out.

An umpire stops the clock and logs their time.

This event -- known as Engines Running Off/On Load -- is just one of 11 that make up Air Force Reserve Command's inaugural Port Dawg Challenge underway here. The PDC includes tests of speed and accuracy in a variety of scenarios common to aerial porters.

Five Airmen from the 419th Fighter Wing's 67th Aerial Port Squadron compose the team from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It is headed by Master Sgt. Keith Quimby -- a 67th aerial porter since 1999.

"We want to take that home," said Sergeant Quimby, pointing to the robust bulldog trophy centered prominently on a pedestal in a nearby hangar. "But we're up against some good competition."

That includes five-member teams from 24 aerial port squadrons across AFRC, all top competitors hand-selected by unit senior leaders.

In this environment, comrades and competitors are one and the same.

"We've deployed with a lot of these guys," said Tech. Sgt. Justin Adams of the 67th APS. "We look around and see some of our competitors' faces and we know their true abilities, how good they are."

As members of a fighter wing, Hill's aerial porters don't have as much routine contact with cargo jets as those assigned to airlift wings. But 10 deployments among them offers a wealth of real-world experience that they bring to the competition. Having served in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and most recently, earthquake-stricken Haiti, the team feels prepared to face their counterparts from other units.

"We depend on experiences from our deployments to help us," Sergeant Adams said. It helps to have done the same kind of work in extreme temperatures and under stressful conditions, he added.

The 419th aerial porters say the quick pace of the events is typical of real-world deployments, where jets need to be unloaded and get back in the air within moments.

"The whole point behind ERO is to get the jets off the ground as soon as possible," Sergeant Quimby said. "In a deployed environment, getting it done fast protects the aircraft, the aircrew and everybody on the ground."

When the ERO event concludes, the five team members and their leaders gather around a table in a nearby hangar. The 67th APS flagship dangles above them as they wipe sweat from their foreheads and critique their performance. There is a palpable spirit of camaraderie around that table.

"These are great guys," Sergeant Quimby said of his team. "I'd give my life for any of them, and I think they'd do the same for me -- on most days."

With diversity in their ages, ranks and backgrounds, the reservists agree it's a passion for this job that keeps them together, and in the heat of competition, drives them to win.

"A competition like this gives us something to look forward to, something to work for, something that gives us pride in our unit," said Tech. Sgt. Cody De Los Reyes, the team's youngest member. "I've learned a lot from this."

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