Fort Bliss Monitor

All-women firefighting team competes in combat challenge

Spc. Steve Baack
Monitor Staff

Firefighter Michelle Shipley drags a 175-pound dummy 100 feet to finish off the event.

A team of five women firefighters from the Fort Bliss Fire Department is slated to compete in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, which started Tuesday and will end Thursday, in Las Vegas to put their training to the test against 15 other female firefighting teams.

Despite the fact that the team has only been training together for less than five weeks, they are confident they will do well with a strong qualifying time. “I personally believe that we are first place caliber, said Michelle Shipley, a member of the team. ìWe’ve been together four and a half weeks, and our times are so good right now that we’ve been told that can put us in top-five contention.”

The firefighters show off their skills for the competition by performing a five-person, five-station relay as fast as possible with full protective gear and a self-contained breathing apparatus. The full weight of the gear is between 50 and 60 pounds. The first competitor runs up a 41-foot tower while carrying a 42-pound high-rise pack. At the top, the competitor deposits the pack into a box, and hands off a stream line to the next person who will then perform a hoist.

Next, the firefighter hoists up a three-inch doughnut roll of hose and deposits it into the box. Then the competitor runs down the tower and “hands off” to the person at the Kaiser sled – a 160-pound steel beam that competitors must move five feet by pummeling it with a nine-pound mallet.

“And then, depending on who’s doing it, we either run the cones - which is 140 feet to the person who’s going to pull the charged line - or she hands off to the person that will run the cones and pull the charged line,” said Shipley. “It depends on who’s competing that day.”

The next competitor pulls the charged line 75 feet through the swinging doors and “shows water” to hit a target, and then turns off the hose completely. The last person drags a 175-pound rescue dummy 100 feet to finish off the event. The requirement to qualify for the challenge in Las Vegas is within three minutes. The women performed the tasks with a time of 2:41 last month at the Amigo Airsho.

“The people who compete in the combat challenge, they’re very supportive,î said Shipley. ìPeople outside the community who don’t really understand what the combat challenge is, are supportive, but they don’t really understand what’s going on.”

Firefighter Margaret Mondragon pummels a 160-pound Kaiser sled during the combat challenge.

“It’s actually very rare for females to be in this service,î said Margaret Mondragon, the team captain. “We had a little bit of trouble getting some gear due to the fact that everything’s made for men, but we’re happy to represent DoD. We’re happy to represent Fort Bliss.”

“It’s such a great fraternity,î said Shipley. ìNo one becomes a firefighter for glory or for pain or to get a pat on the back. It’s the love of the job, it’s the love of the people you work with. It’s a fraternity that is indescribable. The more you’re with these people, the more they become a family. And with it, you get all the dynamics of a family. Sometimes you love each other, sometimes you hate each other, but you know that when the chips are down, that if you go down that they’ll either come out with you, or they’re not coming out.

“The fun parts are awesome, but the hard parts are so fun, rewarding and gratifying that I can’t imagine doing anything else,” said Shipley.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	November 10 , 2004

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	All-women firefighting team competes in combat challenge Spc. Steve Baack Monitor Staff Firefighter Michelle Shipley drags a 175-pound dummy 100 feet to finish off the event. A team of five women firefighters from the Fort Bliss Fire Department is slated to compete in the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, which started Tuesday and will end Thursday, in Las Vegas to put their training to the test against 15 other female firefighting teams. Despite the fact that the team has only been training together for less than five weeks, they are confident they will do well with a strong qualifying time. “I personally believe that we are first place caliber, said Michelle Shipley, a member of the team. ìWe’ve been together four and a half weeks, and our times are so good right now that we’ve been told that can put us in top-five contention.” The firefighters show off their skills for the competition by performing a five-person, five-station relay as fast as possible with full protective gear and a self-contained breathing apparatus. The full weight of the gear is between 50 and 60 pounds. The first competitor runs up a 41-foot tower while carrying a 42-pound high-rise pack. At the top, the competitor deposits the pack into a box, and hands off a stream line to the next person who will then perform a hoist. Next, the firefighter hoists up a three-inch doughnut roll of hose and deposits it into the box. Then the competitor runs down the tower and “hands off” to the person at the Kaiser sled – a 160-pound steel beam that competitors must move five feet by pummeling it with a nine-pound mallet. “And then, depending on who’s doing it, we either run the cones - which is 140 feet to the person who’s going to pull the charged line - or she hands off to the person that will run the cones and pull the charged line,” said Shipley. “It depends on who’s competing that day.” The next competitor pulls the charged line 75 feet through the swinging doors and “shows water” to hit a target, and then turns off the hose completely. The last person drags a 175-pound rescue dummy 100 feet to finish off the event. The requirement to qualify for the challenge in Las Vegas is within three minutes. The women performed the tasks with a time of 2:41 last month at the Amigo Airsho. “The people who compete in the combat challenge, they’re very supportive,î said Shipley. ìPeople outside the community who don’t really understand what the combat challenge is, are supportive, but they don’t really understand what’s going on.” Firefighter Margaret Mondragon pummels a 160-pound Kaiser sled during the combat challenge. “It’s actually very rare for females to be in this service,î said Margaret Mondragon, the team captain. “We had a little bit of trouble getting some gear due to the fact that everything’s made for men, but we’re happy to represent DoD. We’re happy to represent Fort Bliss.” “It’s such a great fraternity,î said Shipley. ìNo one becomes a firefighter for glory or for pain or to get a pat on the back. It’s the love of the job, it’s the love of the people you work with. It’s a fraternity that is indescribable. The more you’re with these people, the more they become a family. And with it, you get all the dynamics of a family. Sometimes you love each other, sometimes you hate each other, but you know that when the chips are down, that if you go down that they’ll either come out with you, or they’re not coming out. “The fun parts are awesome, but the hard parts are so fun, rewarding and gratifying that I can’t imagine doing anything else,” said Shipley.