Airmen take challenge to raise money Published Aug. 28, 2006 By Jamie Haig 16 SOW Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla -- Five Airmen from the 14th Weapons Squadron will participate in the 2006 US Challenge Oct. 19-21 in Roanoke, Va., to raise money for St. Jude Children Research Hospital as part of the Challenger World series. The two-day event, sponsored by FORTUNE 500, tests participants in night land navigation, mountain biking, kayaking, running and solving engineering puzzles. The top 10 teams will compete in the World Team Challenge in December. Maj. Steve Edwards, team captain, along with Maj. Robert Carlson, Capt. Gary Symon, Capt. Grant Sharpe and Tech. Sgt. Shelton Nunez round out the team, which will compete against 70 other company teams. "The event depends on team-building; it teaches us to rely on each other," said Major Carlson. The team will be competing under the name "Air Commandos." "We had to get permission to use the team name 'Air Commandos,'" said Captain Sharpe. "The people at Challenge World are pumped up about having a team that consists of military members." The group started training about two months ago, using their squadron's physical training time, and by working out together on the weekends in four-hour blocks. "We run, bike and do some land navigation on our own," said Captain Sharpe. "But we're at a slight disadvantage, because the competition will be held in the mountains." The Air Commandos don't know how many miles they'll be biking, running, kayaking or how many puzzles they will encounter along the way until they arrive in Virginia. "The smarter we can be, the more it will help us," said Major Carlson. "The fundraising we do will also help us in the puzzle-area. The intelligence portion of the race is kept a secret until we get there," he said. "We're required to figure out the puzzles within a certain time frame or we're penalized physically. The judges will add miles onto our biking, running or kayaking portion." "For every $2,000 over $8,000 that we raise, we're given a hint to the puzzle," said Captain Sharpe. "So aside from our training to compete, we're also out there fund-raising as well." However, the motivation to raise money for charity isn't the teams' only incentive. "We're excited about doing this," said Major Carlson. "It's a first for not only the squadron, but us as well. I just hope we do well." For more information on the Air Commandos team, call Major Edwards at 881-1236, Major Carlson at 881-3466 or Captain Sharpe at 881-3426 or visit www.st-judeheroes.org/site/TR?team_id=3130&pg=team&fr_id=1440.