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Alamo Stampede tests mobility abilities

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Lindsey Maurice
  • 433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  Excitement was in the air as maintenance crews geared up for the first leg of the 433rd Airlift Wing's Operation Alamo Stampede competition Feb. 7 here.

The all-day event, which pitted two teams of maintenance, operations and aerial port Airmen against one another, was designed to exercise and improve their C-5A Galaxy operational and tactical employment techniques. This first-of-its-kind event for the wing included everything from servicing the aircraft, uploading vehicles and equipment onto it, flying a mission in the local area, aerial refueling and offloading the aircraft with engines running upon its return.

The first victor to claim the trophy and bragging rights was Team Pelican, made up of Airmen from the 433rd Maintenance Group, 68th Airlift Squadron and 74th Aerial Port Squadron. Team Pegasus, the other team in the competition, was comprised of Airmen from the 433rd MXG, 356th Airlift Squadron and 26th Aerial Port Squadron.

"This was a huge operation that we initiated planning for in early November of last year," said Maj. Daniel King, 68th AS assistant director of operations, pilot and event organizer.  "Although our wing is constantly performing real world missions around the globe, we aimed to bring 'real world experience' right here to Lackland in a friendly competition in the name of training -- two teams, generated from multiple squadrons, with over 16 different specialties, competing to safely prepare, load and operate one of the world's biggest and most complicated aircraft in a simulated harsh, tactical environment."

"The entire event was graded throughout by experts and seven levels from each of the different specialties," he continued. "The competition was decided by a narrow seven-point victory. Altogether it was a huge success with training and a fun event for all participants."

While most people were sound asleep in their beds before dawn, the maintenance crews for teams Pelican and Pegasus were hard at work, kicking off the event with preflight inspections, maintenance and servicing of the aircraft at 4 a.m. 

By 5 a.m., the judging began, as clipboard-wielding subject matter experts oversaw the teams' every move with special emphasis on efficiency, safety and teamwork. Each team's maintenance side included 12 Airmen specializing in various aspects of the aircraft.

"We were looking at how teams conducted themselves during an inspection with a sense of urgency, pride and completing the job safely," said Senior Master Sgt. John Pearson, 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron production superintendent and competition judge. "There were some lessons learned and areas of improvement, but overall the event was a success. It was great to see the esprit de corps and teamwork displayed by both teams in the arena of competition."

Several hours after the maintenance judges broke away to discuss their findings, the spotlight turned to each team's aerial port experts as they finalized the cargo to be uploaded onto the aircraft later that morning. The cargo included two vehicles and one pallet of equipment each, while each team included 15 aerial port Airmen. Team Pegasus' aerial port specialists were from the 26th APS.

"This allowed Aerial Port to practice what they have trained to do," said King. "They get limited opportunity to exercise their training in this environment."
The aerial port portion of the competition ended with all-hands-on (including operations and maintenance Airmen) performing an engine running offload of the cargo around 3 p.m.

"The engine running offload was definitely a highlight," said Col. Lee Merkle, 433rd Operations Group commander and event organizer. "Mission cargo was offloaded while the aircraft engines were running using teamwork and coordination from aerial port, maintenance and operations. It was great to see competitive spirit bolster readiness while challenging Airmen in wartime skills."

The final piece of the each team's challenge was accomplished by its seven-person operations team, which included pilots, flight engineers and loadmasters from the 68th and 356th Airlift Squadrons.

During the event the operations teams were tasked with successfully executing an aerial refueling by a KC-135 from Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, unfamiliar airfield approach, tactical arrival and engine running offload.

"The operations side did an outstanding job as did their aerial port and maintenance teammates,'" said  King. "This event really highlighted the 433rd AW's ability to execute a mission and focus on a team effort from beginning to end. Team members were presented a complex problem and given minimal preparation time to perform the tasks.

"These tasks are rarely practiced at home station and more often than not, crews are expected to execute them during a real world mission or deployment. The Stampede provided a great training environment to practice individual skill sets before facing these problems on an operational mission."

Team Pelican was presented with a special wood and bronze plaque at the 433rd Airlift Wing Annual Awards Banquet later in the evening.

"It was inspiring to see an idea spark into such an outstanding event," said Merkle. "Feedback was extremely positive and the wing will likely plan an extended version of this type event next year."