Photo By Terrance Bell | Pvt. Kirsten Brown, 508th Transportation Company, 266th Quartermaster Battalion,...... read more read more
FORT LEE, Va. (Nov. 9, 2017) -- Neither wild broncos nor rugged cowpokes were present for this event.
That is not to say, however, skills on par with wrangling and lassoing were not on display at the annual 508th Transportation Company Truck Rodeo and Chili Cookoff Friday at the unit’s motor pool. There were plenty of high-level vehicle skills to go around, said the unit truckmaster.
“This was a good opportunity for Soldiers to match their driving skills against their battle buddies,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tracey Williams. “It also encouraged esprit de corps and camaraderie among the troops.”
About 21 Soldiers participated in the competition. Most were assigned to the unit, but a few hailed from other companies within the 266th Quartermaster Battalion (the 508th’s higher headquarters), and a handful of troops traveled here from the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, N.C., said Williams.
The rodeo was comprised of events featuring a passenger bus, Humvee with trailer, and Light Medium Tactical Vehicle as well as a written exam. Each vehicle event required drivers to maneuver on a course – forward and backward – in the fastest time possible. Competitors were penalized for mistakes.
Sgt. Joshua Barnett, who participated in his first rodeo, said the competitive training event was valuable.
“You’re in a vehicle, you’re operating it and you’re learning all the controls,” he said. “And because it’s a competition, you want to be the best. When you hear someone’s score, you want to go out and earn a better score.”
Williams, the unit’s truckmaster, said the element of competition in a rodeo opens the door to learning in a way ordinary training does not.
“Competition allows you to see where you stand in relation to your battle buddies,” he said. “They may have skills you don’t have, and they can tell or show you how to do it. Peer-to-peer learning sometimes is better.”
Spc. Emilio Martinez, assigned to SWCS, said the rodeo provided his fellow unit Soldiers the opportunity to train on vehicles they are unaccustomed to.
“This was a good opportunity to branch out a little bit,” he said, “because these vehicles are very different than the ones we have in our motor pool. The buses, for example, are longer in the front and shorter in the back so you have to learn how to work with that.”
The winners were all from Bravo Company, Support Battalion, SWCS:
1st place, Spc. Kendall Hollingsworth
2nd place, Spc. Emilio Martinez
3rd place, Spc. Quinten Freeman
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.09.2017 11:11 |
| Story ID: | 254770 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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