Line Swine Competition is back at Malmstrom

MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. -- A missileer in a pig costume is taped to the flag pole in front of building 500, the crews posting to the field are made up of the Operations Support Squadron and Standardization and Evaluation personnel, memorabilia from the 10th, 12th, 490th and 564th Missile Squadron's mysteriously comes up missing, crews from every squadron make multiple critical errors while being evaluated and don't have to get an out-brief with Colonel Finan, the 341st Space Wing Commander. What could all this mean? 

IT MEANS THE LINE SWINE IS IN FULL EFFECT! 

The Line Swine competition took place over the course of two days starting with the Guardian Challenge-style trainer rides on Thursday, and five more events that took place Friday. The idea behind the Line Swine competition was to allow the missile combat crews, chefs and facility managers who post to the field on a regular basis a chance to get out and have some fun while accomplishing tasks similar to, but more extreme than their day-to-day duties and responsibilities. 

"I had high expectations for the Line Swine competition," said Colonel Scott Gilson, 341st Operations Group Commander, "Capt. Dave Galaway, 2nd Lt. Jason Hope, members of the 341st Security Forces Support Squadron and all the others who helped plan and set up the events exceeded all my expectations!" 

While this may have been the first Line Swine Competition many of us have ever seen, it's not the first one to be done here are Malmstrom. 

"I had the opportunity to participate in the Line Swine competition when I was a deputy pulling crew duty," said Lt. Col. Doug Smith, Operations Officer for the 490th Missile Squadron, "My crew partner and I took an hour-long trainer ride and had a chance to see stuff you don't get to see in a regular check." 

The six events that made up this year's competition were: trainer rides, the Par Course, the Build off, the Driving Course, the Live Fire, and the Chili Cook-off. 

The Guardian Challenge style trainer ride kicked off the Line Swine competition Thursday morning. Two-member crews from each squadron found themselves in an unpredictable, worse-case scenario trainer ride that was nearly impossible to navigate through. "It wasn't a case of whether or not we were going to make a critical error during our ride," said Amanda Bender, 12th MS Missile Combat Crew Commander, "It was a case of whether or not we made fewer critical errors than everyone else." 

On Friday morning the four missile squadrons found themselves scattered around base independently participating in the four remaining events. 

The Par Course consisted of a five-member team: one FM, one chef and three crew members. The FM started the event by maneuvering a lawn-mower through a series of cones, then running a bag of linens to the chef who was waiting with a tray of missile alert facility food which he had to carry to several different athletic events, then two crew members were forced to run 1.5 miles, with a "classified" bag, while the third did various calisthenics to reduce the team's overall time. 

A six-member team participated in the Build-off that took place on the parade grounds next to the Grizzly Bend Club. The team's objective was to assemble a tent without instructions or the use of verbal communication. Additionally, only one member of the team was allowed to use both hands, while the rest of the team was limited to only one.
The driving course took place on the flight line and gave crews a chance to see how good or bad their driving really is. Crews had to maneuver, while in reverse, a vehicle through a difficult traffic circle, then going forward, proceed through a series of cones and hit several stuffed animals, and finally parallel park, all while trying to keep a Technical Orders bag on the vehicle's rear bumper. 

The live fire course was a scenario-based event that found five two-member crews posting out to the field when they come under heavy attack from a fictitious hostile sleeper cell that has become active in our region. During the attack two military members are "killed" and two others are "injured." The remaining members have to carry the others 300 yards to the "makeshift" missile alert facility, where they then had to fire on targets. 

"Coordinating and planning took a lot of hard work from a lot of people, but I think it paid off in the end," said Capt. Galaway. "This sets the bar high for events like this in the future." 

The final event for this year's Line Swine competition was the chili cook-off. Each squadron had three of their chefs come together to prepare the best chili they could conjure up. Hands down this was the tastiest event of the competition. 

An awards reception followed the chili cook-off. The reception too place, much to his surprise, in Colonel Gilson's yard. 

The winner of the Line Swine trough trophy was awarded to the 10th MS, for having the best overall total for the six events. The 564th MS came in a close second place, with the 12th MS placing third, and last but not least was the 490th in fourth place. 

"Thanks to the support of all those who were involved in the Line Swine activities for making it such a great success," said Col Gilson, "We had a huge turnout and all that participated in the events had a great time, I look forward to seeing it again in the future."