KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Members of the 41st Aerial Port Squadron competed against one another in their annual Port Dawg Challenge during the October Unit Training Assembly here Oct. 15, 2016.
This five-event challenge which showcased the knowledge, training and teamwork associated with working in the 41st APS, was organized by Tech. Sgt. Danielle Allaire, 41st APS air transportation operations center supervisor.
“Unit members were drafted to be a member on one of five teams, making up a nine-person team,” said Master Sgt. Steve Martin, 41st APS aerial delivery manager. “This ensured that everyone had to work with other section members, which encouraged comradery and teamwork.”
The teams competed in five different timed events: chains and devices, Jeopardy, forklift driving, pallet buildup, and physical fitness.
The air transportation specialists competed in being the fastest, safest, and most accurate in securing a vehicle inside of an aircraft in the chains and devices event. Four members of each team competed during the event. This year the event was held inside the 41st APS building using the training mock-ups.
For the Jeopardy event, all team members were required to participate in a question-and-answer session to test their aerial port knowledge.
The forklift driving challenge consisted of two of the members, driving a forklift through a path of cones, which represented obstacles, in both forward and reverse, with the forks empty and also while carrying a pallet.
The team also needed to correctly, safely, and quickly place cargo nets on the pallet, and secure the items to the pallet for transport using a four-person group from their team in the pallet buildup challenge.
The final challenge was the fit-to-fight challenge, in which the team members competed with their team to complete the highest number of push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, and planks within a 3 minute time limit.
The Port Dawg Challenge winners were determined based off the points they received during each timed event. The winner with the most points won the challenge.
This year’s winners were from Team Echo, whose members were: Master Sgt. Shutasica Irby, Tech. Sgts. Martin Guthrie and Taylor Landry; Staff Sgts. Matthew Bayless, Micah Fitzsimmons, Anthony Gaston, and Tamara Gray; and Senior Airmen Bret Christofferson and Charles Williams.