JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. —Soldiers from the 128th Aviation Brigade recently finished in first and second place in the military category of the MRO Americas Aerospace Maintenance Competition. Team Blackhawk won the first-place title, followed by Team Chinook in second place. The brigade's maintainers competed against a field of 90 international teams, including civilian and commercial aviation professionals in teams of 5, competing in hands on tasks to demonstrate precision, skill and speed in maintenance.
Team Blackhawk consisted of Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Foushee, Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Parker, and Staff Sgt. Ty Christensen of the Directorate of Training and Doctrine; Staff Sgts. Corey Lanclos and Michael Thompson of the 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment; and Staff Sgts. Mathew Dorfman and Hayden Libhart of the 2nd Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment.
Team Chinook included Staff Sgts. Samantha Ervin and Andrew Nightingale of the 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment; and Staff Sgts. Ryan A. Swift, Tiffany Grey, Michael Araneta, and Fransico Domingo of the 2nd Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment.
The competition involved high technical standards where several tasks were decided by margins of three seconds or less. Personnel from the 128th Brigade secured multiple overall victories across the entire field. Domingo placed first overall in the E-Drill task, while Foushee and Christensen took first place overall in Barfield Air Data Testing.
Grey received the Charles E. Taylor Professionalism Award. This is the third consecutive year a member of the 128th Aviation Brigade has received this recognition. Additionally, the brigade was recorded as the fastest military team to complete the United Airlines Render Safe task and the fuel tank entry event.
The maintenance techniques and skills acquired during the competition will be integrated into the unit’s training pipelines. The experience gained from competing against industry professionals is intended to enhance the unit’s daily maintenance readiness and operational capabilities.
The 128th Aviation Brigade serves as the U.S. Army's primary school for aviation maintenance training. The unit’s performance at the competition reflects the technical standards established at Joint Base Langley-Eustis to ensure the readiness and safety of the Army’s aircraft fleet. Following the event, the participants returned to their respective battalions to continue the mission of training the aviation maintenance workforce. The brigade plans to defend its titles at next year’s competition.
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