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Taking the lead: 18th ASOG squadrons compete for top spot

  • Published
  • By Lisa Terry McKeown
  • Editor
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Joint Tactical Air Controllers are used to training and working in the field. It's part of their life whether deployed or at home. A select few of the 18th Air Support Operations Group got to prove their skills in the field May 18 through 22 at the group's Dragon Challenge competition.

Sixty competitors met at Avon Park Air Force Range, Fla., to prove they were the best. They came from Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Campbell, Ky., Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Polk, La., Shaw AFB, S.C., and from Pope. In the end, all eight of the 18th ASOG's squadrons were represented and Pope's 14th Air Support Operations Squadron came out as the best overall team.

In the past, Dragon Challenge was composed of two-man events and didn't include any Airmen in support positions. This year, the 18th ASOG decided to mix things up.

"We built six-man teams that included two JTACs, two weather guys and two support guys," said Capt. Richard Reyna, from the 18th ASOG and the main organizer of the event. "They competed in individual events and also team events for a total score. You had five different events — the obstacle course, live fire, field skills testing, the ruck march and the M-4 walk and shoot."

The teams are chosen by their squadron commanders - usually based on their physical training scores and field skills abilities. Those who win at Dragon Challenge are selected to represent their squadrons at Lightning Challenge in a few months - "best of the best" annual competition held at Hurlburt Field, Fla. for all JTACs.

"It's a big deal for the guys to go to Lightning Challenge," said Captain Reyna. "This was almost like prepping them - like a weeding out process. But ops tempo is so high now that even if you get your winners from this, by the time Lightning Challenge comes around, they may be deployed somewhere."

This year's Dragon Challenge was designed to not only test the Airmen's skills, but to also build camaraderie.

"It was set up for the guys to get to know each other," said Captain Reyna. "There were guys from different squadrons and support guys. Sometimes there's a big divide between the support guys and the JTACs. But at the event they could really build relationships."

As it turned out, the Airmen ended up not only battling each other, but they also battled the elements. Mother Nature turned up the heat during the five-day event. If the Airmen weren't careful, they would fall victim to dehydration.

The five days began with a PT test, field skills test and a map test. The second day got the men into the field with various live fire exercises. The rest of the competition included land navigation where they had to find as many locations, or points, as possible within five hours; an obstacle course that they had to run twice — once by themselves and once as a team; and a five-mile run while packing a 50-pound rucksack.

"I wanted to see how they would get through obstacles as a team," said Captain Reyna. "We didn't tell them they couldn't do things. It was good to see them work together through the obstacles. As a team, it didn't matter who was the strongest because you had to finish as a team, so they all helped each other out."

At the awards ceremony, some of the support troops outdid the JTACs — earning them serious bragging rights. Overall, the 14th ASOS team came out on top.

"It makes me proud to be in a unit where you know the other guys are going to be there with you," said Staff Sgt. Kelly Totten, one of the winning members of the 14th ASOS team. "In the end, no one quit and everyone did their part. Because of that, we excelled."