Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
9/30/2014 - MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Hearts pounding, sweat dripping, trying to catch their breaths as they run the final lap around the obstacle course before the end of the challenge, motivating each other along the way and finally finishing as a team.
In conjunction with the Air National Guard, Minot Air Force Base sent a joint team of defenders to represent the 91st Security Forces Group. The team, known as the Coyotes, put their best foot forward during the Global Strike Challenge 2014, competing against eight other teams.
"We got up here and it wasn't exactly as we thought it was going to be off the back, but it turned out to be a pretty decent competition," said Airman 1st Class Marty Gray, 91st SFG GSC team member.
The competition was held at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming, Sept. 23-25, and was divided into three separate portions: weapons firing, tactics, and a mental and physical challenge.
The first challenge the Coyotes tackled was tactics.
"Day one was the tactics portion," Gray said. "We had an objective, a point we had to get to in under certain amount of time."
Gray stated the team used team base tactics and the training they learned before the competition to make it to the objective, spot it and radio it in, secure it while fighting off opposing forces and then make it back down the hill safely.
The next day the team competed in the firing portion of the competition, consisting of several different weapons.
"Day two was all about shooting," Gray said. "We shot the M9 pistol, the M203 grenade launcher, the M240 machine gun. As a team we all shoot well on the M4 rifle. It was a good competition."
On the last day, the Coyotes went through an obstacle course during the mental and physical challenge.
"We had to go through all the obstacles," Gray said. "They had certain stations set up in between for weapons assembly, reassembly and self-aid and buddy care.
They had items along the route that we had to memorize. Once we crossed the finish line, we had to write them all down and it gives us a bonus toward our time."
The competitors' individual skills were put to the ultimate test, but they worked together as a team to complete the challenge.
"We trained really hard," Gray said. "We had a lot of fun competing. It was a good time."
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