HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Hill Air Force Base hosted the Air Force Alpha Warrior Western Regional Competition June 21. Four athletes competed at the event, consisting of the top performers from Hill and Travis Air Force Base, California.
Representing Hill was Senior Airman Daniel Rosa, 729th Air Control Squadron, Airman 1st Class Bryan Lira Ayala, 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, and Staff Sgt. Justin Southichack, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Munitions Division. Capt. Christopher Williston, a C-17 Globemaster III pilot, came from Travis to compete.
The Alpha Warrior competition puts Airmen through a series of obstacles involving climbing, pull ups, gymnastic rings, running, jumping, and weight-lifting in and around a battle station rig. For males the time to compete in is four minutes and for females the time limit is four minutes and 30 seconds.
At Hill, the competitor with the fastest time was Lira Ayala, who will advance to the super regional competition held at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, July 26. He will compete against qualifiers from Luke AFB, Nellis AFB, Peterson AFB, and Joint Base Elmendorf –Richardson AFB.
Lira Ayala, who has been a Cross-Fit athlete for a few years, only recently started training on the Alpha Warrior rig. He said, “I wasn’t expecting to be the fastest, but it feels great to move on. I will definitely keep training on the rig.”
Even though Williston was the only competitor who traveled to Hill, he said he still felt the support from the audience. “We are all Airmen from the same community,” he said. “Everybody was cheering me on the same, as well as my squadron back home watching live on Facebook.”
The top six male and top six female will advance from the super regionals to the final competition, which is set for Sept. 12 at the Alpha Warrior Proving Grounds located at Retama Park in Selma, Texas.
The Alpha Warrior program, managed by the Air Force Services Activity, a subordinate unit of Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, provides dynamic fitness training options that focus on the four pillars of Comprehensive Airmen Fitness: physical, spiritual, mental and social.
For more information about the upcoming Air Force Alpha Warrior Final Battle or Inter-Service Alpha Warrior Battle visit https://www.afimsc.af.mil/Units/Air-Force-Services-Activity/Air-Force-Alpha-Warrior/ and http://www.myairforcelife.com/Fitness/alpha-warrior.aspx.