The 2012 Tour’s last Regional Event took place on Sunday morning at the Sycuan Indian Reservation Casino in a race between the US Air Force Academy and Team SO-FLO. This picturesque setting in the hills of San Diego County was matched by incredible weather and an outstanding host. The USAFA team jumped out to a big lead and looked like they were going to top the fastest time of the season set by Montgomery when Tank McMurtry fell at the finish line. In what can only be described as an Olympic moment, Tank regained his footing and dragged Rescue Randy home, winning by .06 seconds with a time of 1:14.21. This put the proverbial cherry on the sundae, adding to their US National Title.
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| 2012 US National Champions, US Air Force Academy Team, Staff and FCC Members |
What we lacked by way of numbers, we more than made up for in some of the best competition of the season- a preview of what awaits us in Myrtle Beach in only two short weeks. You’ll recall that for the past two seasons we had attempted to work out details and logistics to put the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge on the weather deck of the USS Midway, the decommissioned aircraft carrier now parked on the dock in the San Diego harbor. This become the proverbial “Bridge Too Far” (after the Allied Forces objective in the Battle of the Bulge). It was a bold idea, but stretched our schedule details to the breaking point. The better news is that we have several venues of interest for San Diego and will pursue these with an objective of securing them with lots of ramp up time for next season.
With an important meeting at the Pentagon scheduled for Tuesday morning, and hurricane Sandy looming ominously off the coast, I thought it best to hightail it out of town Sunday. The staff of Southwest Airlines could not have been more accommodating. We got the last two seats on the last departing flight to arrive Sunday evening and wait out the storm of epic proportions. All of this is now going in the record books.
Like every catastrophe, firefighters will be the first on the scene, and there’s going to be one gigantic collective “scene” spanning hundreds of miles in the wake of Sandy. A big shout out to all of you and especially the FFs who will be putting in the long hours this week.
The Road Crew is presently scattered across the nation, hence the lack of photos and video; but standby, as soon as we can get connected, you’ll see the uploads.
See you in Myrtle Beach.
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