Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Terrance D. Rhodes | U.S. Army Sgt. Tammy Aherns, a native of Seattle and U.S. Army Spc. Alfonso Vega, a...... read more read more
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The sun shines down on the service members’ determined face as their hands sweat with anticipation; their eyes filled with one goal in mind - winning.
Someone yells "Go!" and they’re off to prove to themselves, their teammates, and all Regional Command-East that they’re not training to compete, but to win.
Service members from Task Force Paladin are preparing to compete in the Warrior Team Competition held on Bagram Air Field March 10-11.
The competition is time-based and consists of a variety of performance and physical challenges. The events cover a wide range of task and drills from stress shooting, litter carrying, weapons knowledge, a physical fitness test, foot marches and even a mystery event.
U.S. Army 1st. Sgt. Alicia L. Newton, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Task Force Paladin, is proud to have three different two-man teams representing Task Force Paladin.
“It’s awesome we got three teams to come out to compete in the competition,” said Newton, a Clinton, Md., native. “We had to cut some teams; so having this many people wanting and able to compete is an honor.”
In preparation for the upcoming event, Task Force Paladin is training three teams featuring different branch of service teammates.
The first team, who calls themselves “Team Dominators," consists of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nestor A. Colon, an intelligence non-commissioned officer from Miami and U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chuck Jones, an information system technician from Markham, Ill.
Colon believes this a great opportunity for the two services to unite.
“I thought it was a good opportunity for joint operations between the Army and Navy,” said Colon. “We work in the same office and we work-out together, so I wanted to give it a shot.”
Jones admitted he has an additional motive.
“I want to prove that the Navy can keep up with the Army,” said Jones.
The second team, who are called “YUT Team,” are represented by two of Task Force Paladin’s Marines. Yut is one of the Marines terms of motivation. U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Ricardo Ruano, an administrative non-commissioned officer from San Jose, Calif., and Cpl. Eric Fleming, a financial liability investigation of property loss manager from Durham, N.C., have participated in competitions like this before.
“I’ve trained Marines for competitions like this at Fort Meade, Md., so I feel like I’m ready for this challenge,” Ruano said.
Fleming competed in the Bushido Warrior Challenge in Okinawa, Japan, so he knows the amount of pride that people take away from these competitions.
“I take pride in being a Marine and to come out here and compete with the other branches of service is a challenge,” Fleming said. “It’s for bragging rights,”
The third team, or “‘A’-team,” is all-Army.
U.S. Army Sgt. Tammy Aherns, a human resource non-commissioned officer from Seattle, and U.S. Army Spc. Alfonso Vega, a supply specialist from Merced, Calif., knows that winning would boost their morale.
Aherns and Vega feel if they win, they would know they can overcome any obstacles and challenges that stand in their way.
As the sun sets on the service members preparation for the Warrior Team Competition, it’s clear to see, that their goal is simple ... win.
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2012 02:27 |
| Story ID: | 85074 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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