An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

86th Flying Training Squadron sweeps 2009 AMC Rodeo

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sara Csurilla
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  A lone T-1 Jayhawk quickly taxies down Laughlin's flight line, July 26. A small crowd anxiously waits to greet those on board who were recently named the winners of Air Education and Training Command's portion of the Air Mobility Command's 2009 rodeo.

Once the three instructor pilots, Captains Aric Wagner, Richard Galsterer and Aaron Gill, and their squadron commander, Lt. Col. John Cinnamon, parked their T-1 in front of the 86th Flying Training Squadron, they were greeted with hugs and cheers by their families, friends and base leadership.

The team was returning home from this year's rodeo, took place at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., from July 19 to 24.

The rodeo is a competition where more 2,500 participants from around the world in more than 100 teams compete by showcasing air refueling, low-level airdrop and instrument procedures.

"On top of flying, Laughlin's team was also required to compete in a Fit-to-Fight challenge where they were also named best in AETC," said Colonel Cinnamon, a flying umpire in the rodeo who helped grade pilots throughout the competition.

To show-off their sweep, they brought three trophies home, the largest one for "Best Low-level Airdrop Crew" and two smaller trophies for "Best T-1 Air Refueling Crew" and "Best T-1 Aircrew," making it the second rodeo in a row where the 86th FTS swept all categories in which they participated.

"There were great pilots from all over the world at the competition, we competed against the best pilots from Columbus, Vance and Randolph," said Captain Galsterer. "But because of how prepared we were, that's what really helped us to sweep our competition."

Captain Galsterer said even though all three of them participated in the competition, he wanted to make sure everyone knew Captains Gill and Wagner were the ones who did all the flying while he participated as the team leader.

"This was such a great experience," said Captian Gill. "The fact that it was a competition made it so much fun, but also that we were able to validate what we do every day and take it to another level, a competitive level that made it so much more exciting."