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Spangdahlem firefighters compete in European FFCC: The final races and results

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
BERLIN --  Editor's note: This is the third in a series of articles about Spangdahlem firefighters competing in Berlin

On the second day of the Berlin Firefighter Combat Challenge, Team Spangdahlem had already qualified for the quarterfinals and was ready for the remaining relay and individual races.

Day two started off at 10:00 a.m. with the first set of relay races. Spangdahlem's first opponents of the day, Feuerwehr Fritzlar, proved to be no match, and by the end of the race, the members were urging their team's last leg of the relay to slow down and save his energy for later that day.

The energy proved to be well saved, as Team Spangdahlem's next challenge was Lion-Power Goettingen, the previous day's top ranked team.

As the race began, disaster struck Lion-Power Goettingen when their first runner tripped climbing the tower's steps, giving the Spangdahlem firefighters a formidable lead. However, the men from Goettingen powered through and nearly caught Spangdahlem by the end of the keiser sled.

The make-or-break portion of the race occurred when the two teams prepared to drag the 185 pound dummy the last 100 feet and Staff Sgt. Chastin Warner, 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron fireman, once again left his competitors behind.

Though Team Spangdahlem received a two second penalty for not completely placing its hoisted hotel pack in a basket at the top of the tower, it defeated the competitors with a final time of 1 minute, 35 seconds to 1:37.

Spangdahlem's firefighters moved on to face Team Berlin-1 in the championship relay, but only after running individual races.

The first individual race of the day was run by Senior Airman Aaron Anderson, 52nd CES firefighter. Beating his competitor with a finish time of 2:07, Airman Anderson's time earned him fourth place in the under 30 age group.

Next in the lineup was veteran competitor Gerd Mueller, 52nd CES fire crew chief. With a time of 2:08, Mr. Mueller took second place in his age division of over 40 - only one second behind the first place winner, Joerg Kappei, of Team Berlin-1.

Senior Airman Brennen Cornett, 52nd CES firefighter, was Spangdahlem's third fireman in the day's event, finishing with a time of 2:16; fast enough to rank him eighth in his age division of under 30.

The last competitor for the day was Airman 1st Class Mitchel Blackwell, 52nd CES firefighter, placing third in his age group with a final time of 1:05.

The highlight of the individual races for the day, however, had to be Sergeant Warner in his race against Alexander Meyer of Lion-Power Goettingen.

"I think Sergeant Warner did outstanding," Airman Blackwell said. "That was definitely awesome."

Sergeant Warner and Mr. Meyer sprinted through the course with incredible speed not yet seen in the two-day event. Mr. Meyer was two paces ahead of Sergeant Warner for nearly the whole race.

Then as the two firefighters were neck-and-neck at the beginning of the dummy drag, Sergeant Warner showed his relay match skill by pulling ahead to win the race.

Sergeant Warner defeated his opponent with a time of 1:44, earning first place for his age-group of under 30 and the overall competition, and was named the 2010 European FFCC champion.

Mr. Meyer's time of 1:50 earned him first place for men 30-40 years old and second place in the overall competition.

Afterward Sergeant Warner said he looked around and saw that the other man was still with him, so he told himself he could not lose and pushed even harder to the end.

"I feel great," Sergeant Warner said. "A lot of training, a lot of cooperation with our team and motivating each other helped me get first place. And the fact that I was going head-to-head with another guy who was the top of the list in Europe also kind of helped."

With the team members tired from individual races, it was now time for the competition's grand finale - the relay championship.

Team Spangdahlem raced against Team Berlin-1 in Berlin on the course it practiced on throughout the year.

Team Spangdahlem put forth a solid effort and the race was close, but its time of 1:36 was not as fast as Team Berlin-1's 1:32.

Overall, the men from Spangdahlem returned with three age division winners, a second place team relay, a third place overall team and all of the members in the top 40 of 240 competitors.

"I think we did well today," Airman Cornett said. "Some people stepped up from last year and we did well as a team."

The team will have another chance to qualify for the world competition on Sep. 11 at Ramstein Air Base.

"Hopefully we go to Ramstein and qualify for the [world championship] and then U.S. Air Forces in Europe will fund us to go to the world competition," Airman Cornett said.

A chance to compete in the world event at Myrtle Beach, S.C., is great incentive, but it's not the only reason these firefighters run in these challenges each year.

"The competition itself is great, but I think the highlight is the camaraderie between all these firefighters," Mr. Mueller said. "Here it is two days with over 300 single starts, so if you continue doing this you meet all these guys over and over from all over the world."
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