Fort Bliss Monitor

1-1 holds competition to gain pertinent skills

Capt. Teresa K. Kelley

The reload crew works together in order to complete the drill.

Capt. Teresa K. Kelley
31st ADA Bde. Public Affiars

During the second week of December, when most people were preparing for the holiday season, the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment prepared its launcher reload crews for war.

Throughout the week of Dec. 12, launcher crews across the battalion participated in a reload competition at Eagles Dare field in order to better their skills and join in some friendly competition with each other. Ultimately, E Battery came out on top, with C Btry. finishing in a close second.

The week started with a written exam taken by each member of the primary and alternate crews from each battery. The exam consisted of general information each crew member must know in order to conduct a crew drill efficiently and safely. The written exam was worth 100 points, which was be averaged between the crew members.

The next two days of the competition consisted of maintenance checks and the evaluation of each battery’s two crews. The maintenance portion of the competition was worth 200 points. Once the evaluators arrived to the battery’s site, if they found something wrong with the equipment, that team was disqualified. Once each team passed the maintenance checks, the crews proceeded with the crew drill.

During the crew drill, the evaluators checked that all steps were completed in order, in a set standard amount of time, and for overall safety. The crews could have points deducted for completing steps out of sequence, safety violations, and running over on time. All evaluations were conducted in accordance with the air defense standard. Each battery was also given a score for overall site set-up, which could amount up to 100 more points. Once the crew drill was over, the evaluators tallied the scores for the battery.

The competition gave each battery a chance outside of regular Gunnery Table VIII certifications to show off their expertise in their field. In most cases, units only train to the Table VIII, take it, and start training for the next Table VIII. With competitions like these, the Soldiers got a chance to participate in friendly competition, while still training and staying proficient at their trade at the same time. At the conclusion of this reload competition, the winners received the 1-1 ADA competition trophy, a battalion certificate of achievement, a Commander’s coin, and a four-day pass, along with the bragging rights that came along with winning. The runners up received a battalion certificate of achievement and a three-day pass.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	January 12, 2006

<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>	1-1 holds competition to gain pertinent skills Capt. Teresa K. Kelley The reload crew works together in order to complete the drill. Capt. Teresa K. Kelley 31st ADA Bde. Public Affiars During the second week of December, when most people were preparing for the holiday season, the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment prepared its launcher reload crews for war. Throughout the week of Dec. 12, launcher crews across the battalion participated in a reload competition at Eagles Dare field in order to better their skills and join in some friendly competition with each other. Ultimately, E Battery came out on top, with C Btry. finishing in a close second. The week started with a written exam taken by each member of the primary and alternate crews from each battery. The exam consisted of general information each crew member must know in order to conduct a crew drill efficiently and safely. The written exam was worth 100 points, which was be averaged between the crew members. The next two days of the competition consisted of maintenance checks and the evaluation of each battery’s two crews. The maintenance portion of the competition was worth 200 points. Once the evaluators arrived to the battery’s site, if they found something wrong with the equipment, that team was disqualified. Once each team passed the maintenance checks, the crews proceeded with the crew drill. During the crew drill, the evaluators checked that all steps were completed in order, in a set standard amount of time, and for overall safety. The crews could have points deducted for completing steps out of sequence, safety violations, and running over on time. All evaluations were conducted in accordance with the air defense standard. Each battery was also given a score for overall site set-up, which could amount up to 100 more points. Once the crew drill was over, the evaluators tallied the scores for the battery. The competition gave each battery a chance outside of regular Gunnery Table VIII certifications to show off their expertise in their field. In most cases, units only train to the Table VIII, take it, and start training for the next Table VIII. With competitions like these, the Soldiers got a chance to participate in friendly competition, while still training and staying proficient at their trade at the same time. At the conclusion of this reload competition, the winners received the 1-1 ADA competition trophy, a battalion certificate of achievement, a Commander’s coin, and a four-day pass, along with the bragging rights that came along with winning. The runners up received a battalion certificate of achievement and a three-day pass.