Youngstown Airmen saddle up for Air Mobility Rodeo 2007 Published Sept. 10, 2007 By Master Sgt. Bryan Ripple 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR REERVE STATION, Ohio -- About 30 Air Force Reservists from the 910th Airlift Wing represented Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) as the only C-130 competition team from AFRC at the bi-annual Air Mobility Rodeo 2007 at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., July 22-28. Air Mobility Rodeo 2007, sponsored by Air Mobility Command, is the Mobility Air Force's (MAF) readiness competition. This competition focuses on improving our worldwide air mobility forces' professional core abilities. Although the Youngstown team didn't return to home station with any trophy hardware this time, it wasn't for lack of effort. Airmen on the team had been busy practicing for their particular skills for several months. Members of the aircraft maintenance squadron had polished their competition aircraft from nose to tail by hand, cleaning and shining every surface for inspection since May. "It was a great honor to be selected to represent Air Force Reserve Command and Youngstown Air Reserve Station at the Rodeo," said Lt. Col. Lawrence Killpatrick, commander of the 910th Maintenance Squadron. "Our team members are very dedicated to what they do and their pride shows in their work." The Youngstown team was comprised of reservists from the 757th and 773rd Airlift Squadrons, the 910th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 910th Security Forces Squadron, and 76th Aerial Port Squadron. "It was a great experience because of the camaraderie with the other units, including the international units. We were able to help out some of them and it was an honor to represent a fine unit like ours," said Master Sgt. Michael Gomez, the maintenance team chief. More than 40 teams and 2,500 people from the Air Force, and Air Force Reserve, as well as allied nations, participated. The last biennial competition took place in June 2005 at McChord AFB after a five-year hiatus due to the increase in the operations tempo in support of the Global War on Terror. All aspects of air and ground operations for the aircraft as well as the ability of the aerial port personnel to load and unload the aircraft and security forces to protect the aircraft were evaluated during the competition.