Shaw firefighters place in top 10 percent at world competition

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Daniel Phelps
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. --  Shaw firefighters five-man relay placed in the top 10 percent of 175 teams from around the world at the World Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge XIX, Nov. 13.

The 20th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighters included Staff Sgt. Steven Thomas, Senior Airmen Garrett Pope and John Neidrick and Airman 1st Class Cody Nelson.

The team competed in both individual category and the relay consisting of a linked series of five tasks including: climbing a five-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175-pound "victim."

The preliminary rounds kicked off Nov. 8 for NCAA-style bracket placement as Team Shaw began with its five-man relay. Unfortunately, the team earned a five-second penalty for a false start in the race and placed 42nd out of the top 64 teams.

On Nov. 9, the team had their individual races, although that was not their focus in training. The team was very pleased with the results and ranked in the top 30. However, only the top 15 individuals went on to the finals.

"We didn't realize our potential before," Sergeant Thomas said. "Next year, we are going to concentrate more on the individual aspect."

Sergeant Thomas and Airman Neidrick faced off against each other for their individual races.

"We were pushing each other, racing neck and neck the entire time," Airman Neidrick said. "It was an awesome experience."

The team decided to rerun their five-man relay Nov. 11 because of the penalty they received Nov. 8.

Rerunning would allow them to get a better time, and thus earn them a better position in the bracket for the finals.

They ran into a problem during the rerun when the dummy dragger tripped before the finish line, resulting in a worse time than what they previously achieved. Fortunately, the officials allowed the team to keep the faster time.

The relay finals took place Nov. 13. Shaw was lined up against a Canadian team. As the race up the tower began, one of the Canadians dropped a hose, disqualifying the team, and automatically moving Shaw forward to the next round for the top 32.

In the next round, Shaw confronted a U.S. opponent. The two teams raced head-to-head the entire time. Shaw pulled out ahead in the last leg of the race, clinching the victory with a time of 1 minute, 19.06 seconds, achieving a personal record and moving on to the top 16.

"Even though we were eliminated in that round, it was awesome to be able to be competitive at a world event," Sergeant Thomas said.

"We've gone to nationals twice, but this was our first time at worlds," Airman Neidrick said.

The team had many obstacles at this competition it had to work through. Two of its original team members were unable to participate because of family emergencies.

This put their five-man relay at a four-man team. Sergeant Thomas made up for this by taking on two different obstacles in the course -- the tower pull and the rope drag. After pulling the hose up five stories, racing down the steps and passing off the baton, he would sprint across to his next relay position with only a couple seconds to spare before going off again.

"We all stepped up to overcome the challenge of being a man short," Sergeant Thomas said. "We really pushed ourselves and worked hard."

The Shaw team had other disadvantages to the teams that placed above it.

"We are hoping to get the five-story tower," Sergeant Thomas said. "All the teams that beat us have one, thus putting us at a training disadvantage. But we're doing the best with what we have."

He said the team has a lot of workouts it created for training, such as pushing around a golf cart. The team also set up the bottom half of the course to work on.

The team looks forward to competing next year, Sergeant Thomas said.

"Every year we continue to progress," added Airman Neidrick. "We're better than we've ever been, and without a doubt we will be even better next year."

As for now, the firefighters will take some time off from their intense training, but will start off again in February with competitions starting in March.

They will also be holding tryouts at the beginning of 2011 for all Airmen interested in being a part of their team.