Senior Airman Dan Bowers shows 11th Civil Engineer Squadron officers how to swing a 16-pound dead blow hammer to strike a 165-pound steel beam for a distance of five feet across a Keiser sled during a Firefighter Combat Challenge Aug. 29.
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First responders get put through their paces
Officers from the 11th Civil Engineering Squadron participated in a three-day immersion training which included search and rescue in a simulated burning building, rappelling from a three-story building, climbing up a three-story building and flashover simulator training, where firefighters experience intense heat and flames rolling across the ceiling above their heads. The final day was Firefighter Combat Challenge Day, held Aug. 29.
Participants in the timed event scaled a five-story tower with a 42-pound fire hose on their shoulder, hoisting a 45-pound weight simulating rolled fire hose to the top of the five story tower. The participants then descended to the base of the tower and used a 16-pound dead blow hammer to strike a 165-pound steel beam for a distance of five feet across a Keiser sled. Next, the participants negotiated through five cones, dragged a 1.75 inch charged handline a distance of 75 feet, and lastly dragged a 175-pound Rescue Randy dummy victim 100 feet.
Airman 1st Class Stephen Deroche, Senior Dan Bowers, and Matt Brady, all 11th CES firefighters, recently competed in the team's first combat challenge meet in Charleston, W.V. The result was a Third Place Team finish. Joint Base Andrews now holds the new Maryland state record for all fire departments across the state, both paid and volunteer. The previous record was set in 2006.