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'Don't get the rear, win it all' at Combat Field Day

  • Published
  • By Erin Blauvelt
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  The 818th Contingency Response Group "took the head" at the 621st Contingency Response Wing's bi-annual Combat Field Day here June 27, winning five of the seven events. The wing was divided into four teams: the 816th Contingency Response Group, the 817th Contingency Response Group, the 818th CRG and the 621st Contingency Operations Support Group.

The day's activities, which were planned and coordinated by Tech. Sgt. Richard Biondi II of the 818th, included a Team Ruck Sack Run, Combat Relay Race, Weapon Assembly Relay Race, Zero and Rifle Marksmanship, Alaskan Mini Tent Building and an Obstacle Course Challenge. According to Sergeant Biondi, these events "were designed to test an individual's psychological, physical, and combat capabilities." They required strength, endurance, knowledge, military skills, and teamwork. Each team member was allowed to participate in no more than two events in order to involve more participants and "represent each group's full combat capabilities to the maximum extent possible." Col. Steve Sorensen, 818 CRG commander, described it as a day of friendly competition and camaraderie.

The 621 CRW holds a field day every six months, once in the summer and once in the winter. Adding a twist to the competition, the losing team is responsible for setting up the next field day. For the past four years the first- and last-place team has switched every other field day between the 818th and the 817th. Colonel Sorenson says each team comes out with two objectives, "First, to not get the rear. Second, to win it all." And by not getting the rear, he means it literally; two trophies are awarded, the winner receiving the front half of the horse and the last-place team receiving the rear.

The competition began at 7:30 a.m. with opening comments from key leadership and quickly got underway with the Team Ruck Sack Run at 7:40 a.m. With the day's temperature reaching into the mid-90s, it was quite a challenge. Sergeant Biondi looked at it as a real-life training situation, saying "The AOR is hot, sometimes relentless, but battles are fought and won regardless."

While the day was overall a fun, team-building day, it was also a good training exercise. With challenges such as weapons assembly, marksmanship and tent-building among many others, it was easy to understand Sergeant Biondi's sentiments in saying, "We may have winners and losers amongst ourselves, but faced with battle, American Airmen are always victorious."

The Field Day ended around 11:30 a.m. with "words of wisdom" from leadership and the Combat Field Day trophy presentation. Overall, everything went "very smoothly," said Colonel Sorenson.

Sergeant Biondi trusts his fellow wing members "gained confidence in their own abilities and more so in their teammates." Proud of the entire wing, when asked to describe the day in one word, Colonel Sorenson said it was "stupendous."