The Defender Challenge, a competition between security forces’ teams from each major command, the Royal Air Force and the German Air Force, was held for the first time since 2004, and a Tinker Air Force Base Airman competed on the third-place team.
Tech. Sgt. Jakob Haase with the 72nd Air Base Wing Security Forces Squadron was one of only six Airmen on the Air Force Materiel Command team in the competition Sept. 10-13.
There was just a short time between Airmen being notified of the competition and the deadline to apply, but leadership within the squadron knew Haase would be a good fit, said 1st Lt. Renard Hamlette, 72nd SFS flight commander.
“He’s very high speed. He’s constantly staying in shape, that’s one of the things that prepared him for this,” Hamlette said.
“It wasn’t much of a turnaround time, with him already being physically fit, already having all the qualifications ahead of time when this opportunity came up, he was a perfect fit.”
Competitors for the AFMC team were selected at trials held at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, where they then practiced for the competition.
The Challenge, held at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, tested Airmen’s skills in shooting, dismounted operations and combat endurance.
Just U.S. Pacific Air Forces and Air Combat Command placed ahead of the AFMC team.
To try out for the competition, Airmen were required to have shot marksman and scored above a 90 on their physical training tests the last two years, among other things.
Haase met the requirements, upping his workouts to twice a day and shifting his focus to building endurance rather than strength once he decided to try out.
Key parts of training with the team at Hill AFB was everyone finding their role and changing their mindsets from “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” to getting the best time, Haase said.
“They changed us to the competitive mindset of time, time, time is everything. Don’t worry about tactics — tactics come second to your time,” Haase said.
He said the short notice Airmen had about the competition was a reminder of the importance of working hard — you never know when something will come up.
“Two years ago, we didn’t know the Defender’s Challenge was going to happen ... Whether it’s the Defender Challenge (or something else), they don’t know what their next opportunity is going to be,” Haase said.
“If you don’t start preparing and doing the best you can in the moment you’re in, you’re not going to be prepared for the opportunity when it comes.”
Upon returning from the competition, Haase spoke to fellow Airmen at commander’s calls and other events about the experience and the importance of readiness.
Hamlette said the stress and exhaustion of the competition allowed Haase to find and test his physical and mental limits, making him more self-aware and confident.
“He (is) more vocal; he (is) more well-spoken (now),” Hamlette said. “You (can) just visually see he (is) more prepared and he (has) more of an aura around him that shows he (is) more of a prepared leader. He could just take on any kind of challenge that came his way.”
Haase plans to try out for the AFMC team again at the next Defender Challenge.
For now, he has made his unit proud, Hamlette said.
“To have a defender on the AFMC MAJCOM team to represent the MAJCOM and to represent to the rest of the Air Force, we couldn’t ask for anything better. We’re just very proud of Sgt. Haase and everything that he’s accomplished,” Hamlette said.