By Staff Sgt. Michael Behlin
10th Press Camp Headquarters
JOINT EXPEDITIONARY BASE LITTLE CREEK-FORT STORY, Va. - The 40th Quartermaster Company, 45th Sustainment Brigade came away with first place after traveling to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story to participate in the Sergeant Major John C. Marigliano Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit (ROWPU) Rodeo May 5-9.
The rodeo is a lanes-based evaluation of ROWPU team skills, with teams competing for their proficiency of various water purification systems.
Hosted by U.S. Army Forces Command G-4, the competition's objective is to train and educate water production teams. It is also a training management tool that commanders can use to assess the competency and readiness of their water purification teams.
According to many of the water purification specialists in attendance, their skill is one that is often taken for granted, until it's needed.
"The teams competing this year said that this was a great event and they enjoy the opportunity to compete against other organizations," said Ken Madden, the assistant task monitor for FORSCOM G-4. "The rodeo is also a learning tool as some don't get the opportunity to use the equipment until they come to an event like this."
During the competition, teams were graded on various operations of the 3000-gallon per hour ROWPU and Lightweight Water Purifier. Graded material included the proper set-up, operation and shutdown of the respective systems. Teams earned and lost points based on their knowledge of each system and overall operations, with the least penalized earning the coveted Sgt. Maj. John C. Marigliano Award for Excellence.
"I enjoy interacting with the Soldiers as each team brings different strengths and weaknesses with them," said Tammy Torell, FORSCOM Logistics Training Cluster site manager and senior instructor. "The rodeo is not just about the best team, but about coming here and learning new things."
Teams participating in the rodeo traveled from as close as Fort Bragg, N.C., to as far away as Camp Humphreys, South Korea.
Participating in the competition were the 610th Quartermaster Company (St. Croix, V.I.), 348th Quartermaster Company (Camp Humphreys, South Korea), 961st Quartermaster Company (McAllen, Tx.), 125th Quartermaster Company (Worcester, Ma.), 249th Composite Supply Company (Fort Bragg, N.C.), 40th Quartermaster Co. (Schoefield Barracks, Hawaii), 127th Quartermaster Company (Fort Bragg, N.C.) and the 753rd Quartermaster Company (Green Bay, Wis.).
Winning the 2014 Sgt. Maj. John C. Marigliano ROWPU Rodeo was the 40th Quartermaster Co., whose team said that while the competition was challenging, they learned a lot of valuable lessons they could take back to their unit.
"The materials and information that we received here were great," said Sgt. Milka Paulina, a water purification specialist with the 40th Quartermaster Co. "I just loved the competition and instructors here. I definitely want to come back to defend our title."
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