Legacy of excellence

  • Published
  • By Arlo Taylor
  • 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  The 314th Airlift Wing's Legacy C-130 maintenance team is set to continue its tradition of excellence at the Air Mobility RODEO 2011 competition from July 24-29, 2011, at McChord Field at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

The Air Mobility Command competition pits the world's best of the best in competition and will test the maintainers' ability to keep command aircraft ready to meet operational commitments. Preflights, post inspections and fueling operations will also be evaluated.
This year's 314th AW Legacy C-130 team consists of Capt. Jason Lugo; Master Sgt. Jonathan Merced; Tech. Sgts. Nathan Walsh and James Russell; Staff Sgts. Shawn Larson, Luke Masterson, Ronnie Backus, Michael Ligus, Justin Haynes, Jordan Leonard and David Schnable; and Airman 1st Class David Jackson.

"We selected the best of the best from each of the (Legacy C-130) career fields. Among the criteria used was: level of experience, background, teamwork, leadership and dedication as Legacy C-130 maintainers," said Lugo. "Past performance, as well as going above and beyond the call of duty, were also very important factors we examined when selecting the team."

The team members are ready to roll up their sleeves and show the world what it takes to keep the proud C-130 legacy mission flying.

"The most important attribute for a legacy maintainer is the pride that you get working on these aircraft that have been involved in all major conflicts our country has faced in the past 50 years," said Merced. "Additionally, the Hercules is a blue collar aircraft and our team is built on blue collar maintainers willing to do anything to ensure the mission is executed as planned.

"The biggest challenge we have is having the oldest airframe in the competition ... This proud team has worked extremely hard to ensure we have a well-maintained aircraft that is ready to battle during the RODEO competition," Merced added.

They've sweated the small stuff while practicing in one of the hottest Arkansas summers on record, and now they're ready to turn up the heat on the competition at RODEO.

"We have done all the preparation required to ensure we are ready to compete for the big awards," said Lugo. "We will give it 100 percent, while also enjoying the experience that comes with this important AMC competition.

"We have a team that has grown really close," Lugo said. "All team members understand their roles and are fulfilling their roles perfectly. We fully expect to compete very well at the RODEO."

RODEO is the U.S. Air Force's and Air Mobility Command's premier air mobility competition. It's an international combat skills and flying operations competition designed to develop and improve techniques, procedures, interoperability with international partners to enhance air mobility operations, optimizing mobility partnerships.