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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
Dec 3, 2008 - 11:51:18 PM |
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Blackanthem Military News
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| Spc. James Meadows of Fort Waldon Beach, Fla. ground-guides a pallatized load system, or PLS during the 41st Transportation Company's truck rodeo, held here earlier this month. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt Aaron LeBlanc, 165th CSSB, 1st Sust. Bde.) |
CAMP TAJI, Iraq - Gravel was thrown and rubber traffic cones were crushed without mercy on Friday, August 1st, as Soldiers of the 41st Transportation Company, aka "Out Front," took their best shot at taming the 88,000-lb. beast known as the Palletized Load System, or PLS during the Unit's "Truck Rodeo."
"The purpose of the Truck Rodeo is to allow the Soldiers an opportunity to showcase their driving skills and technical and tactical knowledge of their equipment, and of course to create esprit de corps and teamwork within the company," said Sgt. 1st Class Debra Ford of Hot Springs, Ark., the truck master of the 41st, and orchestrator of the rodeo.
Categories of competition included three different backing events, a tire-change race against the clock, a trailer hook-up event, various uploading and downloading contests, and a PMCS event. The two-day rodeo also included a slew of ‘field day' activities such as kickball, dodge ball, and tug-of-war. Un-scored activities included the butchering of various popular musical numbers via a Karaoke machine.
"I hate to admit it, because it was not one of the [scored] events, but the Karaoke between events might be my fondest memory of the rodeo, especially Sgt. Koetje's rendition of the Pussycat Dolls song "Don't Cha". I just can't figure out which Doll he resembles the most," commented Cpt. Larry Johnson, commanding officer of the 41st.
The outdoor portions of the competition were scheduled with the summer heat in mind; the Rodeo kicked off at 5:00 AM, and broke for several hours during the heat of the day.
"Being from Germany, the heat was the biggest challenge for us. The heat forced us to split the competition between the morning and the night. The mission itself also makes it hard, trying to find the time to conduct a rodeo. We were blessed in the fact that we had no missions happening at the same time," said Johnson.
Despite the heat, and a light dust storm that rolled in during the first day of the competition, the enthusiasm and competitive spirit of the 41st's Soldiers remained high throughout. Ironically, many commented that the most enjoyable event, during a contest centered on driving skills, was the dodge ball tournament.
After the last traffic cone fell Saturday evening, the overall leaders in points and victors of the Rodeo were the members of 3rd Platoon, led by 1st Lt. Jennifer Kraus, and the two-day event was declared a resounding success by organizers and participants alike.
"Instead of having a company Truck Rodeo, next time we should have a battalion-wide Truck Rodeo, to give the other companies a chance to compete against the best transportation company in the battalion: 41st Transportation, Out Front," said Ford.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
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| Staff Sgt. Jason Oberman of Skwentna, Alaska serves as an official at the 41st Transportation Company's truck rodeo held early this month. Pictured is a palletized load system, or PLS, during a backing maneuver competition. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt Aaron LeBlanc, 165th CSSB, 1st Sust. Bde.) |
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| Pvt. 1st Class Randall Leach of San Bernardino, Calif. prepares to compete in the 41st Transportation Company's truck rodeo. Points are awarded for safely and efficiently navigating the palletized load system, or PLS, through a variety of standard maneuvers. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt Aaron LeBlanc, 165th CSSB, 1st Sust. Bde.) |
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Comments
SGT Koetje
13 Sep 2008, 22:47
I would tend to agree with Cpt Johnsons comments about the Pussy Cat Dolls
song...it was probably the highlight of the entire event...not just for me.
I try to break up the manotony from time to time with a little humor and I
think I was successful in doing just that!
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