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Shaw firefighters place at national competition

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LEXINGTON, KY. --  Seven firefighters from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. competed in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge here Aug. 14-15. The team placed 11th out of 138 teams and it qualified them for the world championship for the first time.

The Team Shaw competitors were Staff Sgt. Steven Thomas, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter team captain, Tech. Sgt. Travis Mills, Senior Airman Garrett Pope, Senior Airman John Niedrick, Senior Airman Daniel Thompson, Airman 1st Class Cody Nelson and Airman 1st Class Adam Moriarity, all 20th CES firefighters.

Sergeant Thomas explained that he started the team three years ago and each year they have progressed to be a stronger competitor.

The Challenge, which attracts municipal fire departments from across the U.S. and Canada, is held in over 25 locations and is now expanding to countries around the world and airs on many popular sports networks.

The competition is also considered "the toughest two minutes in sports" and seeks to encourage firefighters fitness, as well as demonstrating the challenges of the profession to the public.

Pairs of competitors race head-to-head, wearing full bunker gear, and the Scott air-pack breathing apparatus, as they simulate the physical demands of real-life firefighting by performing a linked series of five tasks: climbing the five-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175 lb. dummy "victim", while racing against themselves, their opponent and the clock.

"The Firefighter Combat Challenge is a true testament to physical fitness. You can't just show up to the event and compete without being in top physical condition," said Sergeant Thomas. "In preparation for the challenge, the team practices three days a week. One day a week is at the Sumter County fire training grounds to try to emulate the five-story tower. Two days a week are at the fire department parking lot, where we set up the bottom half of the course."

Due to the high deployment rates, Shaw firefighters have had to shuffle personnel around to different work schedules to accommodate for practices.

"When I came to Shaw, I brought the idea of starting a team to my supervisors, and they have been 100 percent supportive," added Sergeant Thomas.

All of the hard work and dedication paid off for the team at the Challenge.

The first day kicked off with the individual team event, which required three to five competitors and took the three fastest times and added them together.

In order for the team to qualify for the World's competition, they needed a combined time of less than 6 minutes and 30 seconds.

Sergeant Thomas, Airman Neidrick and Airman Nelson pushed out a combined time of 6 minutes and 20.44 seconds.

"This is a great competition because it introduces a lot of physical fitness," said Airman Neidrick. "This is our third year in the competition and our best time ever. We just keep progressing."

Team Shaw also set personal records in the five-man relay, which tests competitors' speed and accuracy by dividing the course into five obstacles and racing head-to-head against other departments.

On the final day of the competition, Sergeant Mills, Sergeant Thomas, Airman Pope, Airman Neidrick and Airman Nelson competed against 32 other relay teams. They advanced to the quarter finals in a single round elimination by defeating Team Stihl, the 2005 World Champions, from Virginia Beach, Va. with a time of 1 minute and 21.89 seconds.

This victory gave Team Shaw the second fastest overall time in the competition and beat the qualifying time of two minutes.

Team Shaw faced the firefighters from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio in the quarterfinals and had a comfortable lead before slipping on a hand-off and giving away the lead.

According to Sergeant Thomas, both teams performed exceptionally well, representing the Air Force and established Shaw as a serious competitor.

The next step is the National competition at Kissimmee, Fla. Oct. 22 and 23 where they will be competing for National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball bracket style seeding in the World's competition Nov. 8 through the 13 at "Broadway at the Beach" in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

(Article contributed to by Staff Sgt. Steven Thomas)