Samurais edge Black Panthers in weapons load competition

by Senior Airman Derek VanHorn
35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

10/22/2013 - MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- Two U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons rested side-by-side as Airmen streamed into a hangar, slowly breaking into two crowds surrounding the jets. One half of the crowd called themselves the "Black Panthers," the other half are known as "Samurais." Before the timer started and three months of bragging rights were earned, everyone's impatiently wondering the same thing: Who's better?

This time, it was the Samurais, as a three-man crew from the 14th Aircraft Maintenance Unit narrowly edged a team from the 13th AMU during a quarterly weapons load crew competition Oct. 18.

Missile load crew competitions pair teams against each other to evaluate who can prepare the aircraft for combat the fastest with the fewest procedural errors. The missiles the crews loaded included an AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile, an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, and an AIM-9 Sidewinder, a short-range air-to-air missile. The crews are graded on a variety of areas including safety, appearance, speed and accuracy.

While the task at hand is a day-to-day occurrence for these maintainers, the buzz of competition and a cheering crowd brings an added level of intensity.

"As soon as the judges yell 'Crew break', things get pretty competitive," said Airman 1st Class Devin Floyd, 13 AMU load crew member. "It's kind of like being at that football game before the lights turn on and you're preparing to return the opening kickoff."

Floyd's crew fell short, but only by a slim margin. His team, led by Staff Sgt. Ryan Baldwin, 13 AMU weapons load team chief, finished the load in a team-best time just under 16 minutes, but were outdone on overall points.

"It was a close call," Floyd said. "Of course we always think we're going to win, but this time there were some small things we missed the evaluators caught."

Staff Sgt. Gregorio Luis, 14 AMU weapons load team chief, said his only expectation was to win, even though things didn't initially go as smoothly as planned. Luis' team had to improvise with makeshift tools after an equipment malfunction during the first missile load, slowing them down off the get-go.

"I was absolutely worried," Luis laughed. "I expected to finish faster, but when things like that happen you have to adapt and overcome. It was nerve-racking at first, but once our guys got focused in, everything fell into place and we bounced back strong."

Both teams finished with more than 10 minutes to spare on their allotted time, proving why their leadership chose them as the 35th Fighter Wing's top maintainers.

Luis' teammate, first-time competitor Airman 1st Class Jesse Garza, 14 AMU, said while the speed of the load is critical, the execution proved to be the most important facet of the competition.

"You always go in hoping to win, but more importantly want to do the best and most efficient job you can," said Garza.

Both crews swallowed their pride enough to agree the competition was about more than just bragging rights.

"We're all part of the same team in the end," Floyd said. "We need to be able to move as fast, if not faster if called upon in wartime environment."