SAM Squad Represents at Firefighter Combat Challenges

  • Published
  • By Scott Jarmon
  • 17th Training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AFB, Texas --  The nation wide Firefighter Combat Challenge is an event much like our own Rookie Firefighter Challenge held at the Louis F. Garland Fire Academy. The combat challenge involves competitors giving their best effort to finish the obstacles' physical demands of real-life firefighting; the obstacles range from climbing a five-story tower, to hoisting, chopping, and dragging hoses, to rescuing a life-size 175-pound dummy. 

Deemed as the "Toughest Two Minutes in Sports" by the Versus network, the Firefighter Combat Challenge is broadcasted on national television. The challenge attracts thousands of municipal fire departments and more than 30 million people worldwide each year at more than twenty-five locations. Hundreds of teams and thousands of firefighters compete in this event throughout the May through November season.

 It's events like this that are perfect for recruitment; the SAM Squad here, is just the team for that. The SAM squad started in 2001 as a recruitment tool for firefighters through the positive exposure the team brings to the school and all branches of the military. SAM stands for Soldiers/Sailors, Airmen and Marines. Many military bases have their own squad but Goodfellow is the only base with a team having all the military branches, making the SAM Squad unique. 

"The biggest advantage the SAM Squad has is the pool of 200 plus firefighter instructor cadre the school maintains," said William Gates, who works at the fire school and is a member of the SAM Squad. "But with advantages comes disadvantages, the SAM Squad changes face almost every year. It is like trying to start a Division 1 Varsity football team every year. It is a battle that we continue to overcome with success." 

The Goodfellow SAM Squad attends the Combat Challenges frequently. Since the end of May they have competed in three and they are attending another one at the end of July. At the last challenge on June 26th, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, six members of the team competed; only two members had been to previous competitions; the team placed first in the relay competition and first in the tandem competition. 

This was the first time the Firefighter Combat Challenge has been held on a military installation. It was also the highest elevation and was comparably one of the hardest. 

Out of the sixteen total teams at the USAF Academy event, seven of those teams represented the Department of Defense. This marked one of the best showings for the DOD recently.