418th FLTS loses in 'battle of the bulge'

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 418th Flight Test Squadron lost 247 pounds to win in a battle to be fit and healthy during the squadron's "Biggest Loser" competition held from Jan. 9 to March 27. 

With eight, five-man teams, 16 military and 24 civilian and contractors participated in the squadron-wide competition. 

"The 'Biggest Loser' competition was about improving overall fitness for the military and civilian members within the squadron," said Tech. Sgt. Timothy Blair, 418th FLTS assistant superintendent and coordinator for the competition. "We did this to improve fitness and promote esprit de corps." 

The competition reached its conclusion with a squadron dining out. Winning the competition was the group "Heavy Sweaties," which lost 63.1 pounds. The team consisted of Jan Stoliker-Tomeny, Tech. Sgt. Sam Barnett, Staff Sgt. Brett Dominguez, Staff Sgt. Ken Olson and Sergeant Blair. 

"We chose this kind of initiative because we knew that fitness was becoming more and more of a hot topic," Sergeant Blair said. "We needed to find a way to motivate our squadron." 

As part of the competition's rule, individuals who were already "relatively skinny" had their scores based on their ability to improve their 1.5-mile run. 

"Every three seconds off their time, we equaled that to a pound of weight loss," Sergeant Blair said. "Military members used their fit test times while civilians gave their initial run time. At the end of the competition, we had them run to see if they improved." 

The sergeant said the importance of fitness within the squadron is magnified because the military and civilians are working and flying together so their fitness is required to be almost similar. 

"I thought this initiative was great," Sergeant Blair said. "It really seemed to keep people motivated throughout the contest." 

Lt. Col. James Hanley, 418th FLTS commander, said he was proud of what the team accomplished. 

"It was a great way to promote fitness and healthy lifestyle for the Combined Test Force, bring the team together and improve morale," Colonel Hanley said. "I was really happy with the results as well as the effort and dedication everyone showed during the competition."