Hold right there

Staff Sgt. Matthew Raesly, 301st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron load team chief and Air Force Reservist, signals the driver of a weapons loader to hold his position while preparing to secure and lift an AIM-120 missile for upload on a 301st Fighter Wing's F-16 during a recent weapons load competition at the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Station, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chris Bolen)

Making a final adjustment

Master Sgt. David Hatton (kneeling left), Staff Sgt. Wilfredo Rivera, Jr. (center) and Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Irby demonstrate a sense of urgency in “hanging” a GBU-12 practice weapon on the wing pylon of a 301st Fighter Wing's F-16 while under the watchful eye of an evaluator during the recent weapons load competition. All load team members are Air Force Reservists assisgned to the 301st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chris Bolen)

Details secure a fine alignment

Staff Sgt. Wilfredo Rivera, Jr., load team member (center), and Master Sgt. David Hatton, load team chief (right), direct Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Irby, load team member, as he positions the weapons loader to lift and align a missile for placement on the 301st Fighter Wing's F-16 wing tip station. All load team members are Air Force Reservists assisgned to the 301st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Chris Bolen)

301st AMXS Weapons load competition shows who's top dog

Published March 4, 2013
By Tech. Sgt. Chris Bolen
301st Fighter Wing Public Affairs

NAVAL AIR STATION FORT WORTH JOINT RESERVE BASE, Texas -- In a competition resembling the Air Force Gunsmoke weapons competitions of long ago, 301st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron members spent a brisk Sunday morning demonstrating the same competitive spirit.

In a match to decide which AMXS team would take load crew of the year, four three-person load teams worked feverishly uploading weapons on 301st Fighter Wing F-16s while evaluators observed their assigned teams.

"Normally we do a load crew of the quarter competition four times a year but the Operational Readiness Inspection took priority," said Senior Master Sgt. Ken Stasny, 301st AMXS assistant NCOIC.

"With the ORI behind us, we are back on schedule with the competitions," said Stasny.

Gunsmoke was a world-wide flying and weapons competition held every two years, designed to demonstrate the skills of the air and ground crews in bombing and aerial gunnery. The competition sharpened the team work and skills of Airmen and was intended to demonstrate the best of the best.

"Since regular competitions were not possible last year we held this one competition with the winner named load crew of the year," said Stasny.

The competition came in two parts. In part one the crews took a 20-question written test on their assigned load the day before the hands-on competition.

Part two was the actual loading evaluation. Points were deducted for errors in the loading process.

The points from the test and the load competition were tallied to get a numerical score. The highest score determined who was top dog.

This time, when the dust had settled, and the points were added up, it was the team led by Tech. Sgt. Sid Suarez with Airman 1st Class Robert Adams and Senior Airman Carl Pratt who took top honors.

"The cool thing about this team is that it had traditional reservists and active duty Airmen working together," said Stasny. "This is a great example of the integration of active-duty and Reserve Airmen."

"This was a great opportunity to put our experience and skills to use that we gained from the [Operational Readiness Inspection] ORI," said Airman Adams, 301st AMXS load team member.