Rock legend, contest still alive, kicking

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Devante Williams
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The Rock sitting on the north side of the 56th Fighter Wing headquarters building was stolen a week ago. In place of the Rock was a sign that read, "Rock is gone due to government shutdown." Who would play a prank like that, and will the people who "stole" the Rock get into serious trouble?

Fortunately, this is all just a friendly competition held at Luke Air Force Base. The challenge is to paint the large Rock without getting caught by the 56th Security Forces Squadron. The contest was brought back in July 2011 by the wing commander and is open to any unit.

"The 56th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen were the first ones to paint the Rock when the contest started," said 2nd Lt. Bradford Shields, 56th CES executive officer. "In the spirit of continuing this tradition, we stole the Rock to paint it again this year."

Shields masterminded the plan to extract the Rock from in front of wing headquarters on Sept. 27 in the middle of broad daylight.

"We went out with a frontloader, lifted it up and drove off with it," Shields said. "We're one of the only squadrons with the equipment to move the Rock. Most squadrons have to bring the paint to the Rock."

The removing of the Rock by 56th CES conveniently happened just before CE Throwdown, the squadron's end-of-year party, according to Shields.

"We cleaned it off, painted it at the party and then everyone signed it," he said. "The contest is a great challenge to bring people in the unit together and build morale."
So far, participation in this competition has been limited to a handful of squadrons, but Shields hopes it will pick up steam.

"I wish there were more squadrons that would partake in this type of competition," he said. "It involves unit pride. We do the chant at promotion ceremonies, we do sports days and this is just one more thing that allows you to have that unit pride."

In order to participate in this competition, units must understand the rules. Shields made sure everyone knows one of them.

"The rules do state that there is a two-week cure time once painted," he said. "So hands-off our Rock until then."