Anchorage area first responders engage in friendly competition

Spc. Jared Schultz, assigned to 545th Military Police Company, 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, competes in the Hero Games in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, during the Solstice Celebration, Saturday, June 20, 2015. The annual competition is hosted by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership and pits military members and local civilian firefighter teams against each other in various team-based challenges as part of a larger event celebrating the longest day of the year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Justin Connaher)

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Anchorage area first responders engage in friendly competition

An Airman assigned to the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson fire department reaches to high-five a spectator during the Hero Games in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, during the Solstice Celebration, Saturday, June 20, 2015. The annual competition is hosted by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership, and pits military members and local civilian firefighter teams against each other in various team-based challenges as part of a larger event celebrating the longest day of the year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Justin Connaher)

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Anchorage area first responders engage in friendly competition

Spc. Allison Booshu, assigned to the Medical Detatchment, Alaska Army National Guard, yells as her buddy-carry team races during the Hero Games in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, during the Solstice Celebration, Saturday, June 20, 2015. The annual competition is hosted by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership, and pits military members and local civilian firefighter teams against each other in various team-based challenges as part of a larger event celebrating the longest day of the year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Justin Connaher)

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Anchorage area first responders engage in friendly competition

Air Force Staff Sgt. Omar Sanchez, assigned to the 673rd Medical Group, competes in the Hero Games in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, during the Solstice Celebration, Saturday, June 20, 2015. The annual competition is hosted by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership, and pits military members and local civilian firefighter teams against each other in various team-based challenges as part of a larger event celebrating the longest day of the year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Justin Connaher)

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Anchorage area first responders engage in friendly competition

673d Civil Engineer Squadron firefighters face off with members of the Anchorage Fire Department in tug-o-war at the 2015 Hero Games in downtown Anchorage, June 20, 2015. It was the last event which determined the winners of the 2015 Hero Games. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Tammie Ramsouer)

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Anchorage area first responders engage in friendly competition

Published June 25, 2015
By Senior Airman Tammie Ramsouer
JBER Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- First responders from throughout the Anchorage area gathered Saturday to participate in the 2015 Hero Games in downtown Anchorage.

Service members from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson competed against other teams in trials of strength, agility and precision while crowds of community members, families and friends watched and cheered them on.

The Anchorage Downtown Partnership hosts the annual event to honor local emergency service personnel and military members.

The first event was the tire flip-and-roll followed by an agility course, endurance course, scooter race, tug-of-war and various other physical challenges.

"The Hero Games was a great experience overall," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody Nelson, 673d Civil Engineer Squadron fire department crew chief, and a native of Arcadia, Nebraska. "The community support, competition and camaraderie made it a very fun and enjoyable event."

Air Force Staff Sgt. Geristofer Carrasco, a dental technician and with the 673d Dental Squadron, said he enjoyed the event.

"Even though we didn't place, we displayed the true meaning of teamwork," Carrasco said. "In my eyes, that makes us winners."

This year the 673d Civil Engineer Squadron Firefighters, JBER Fire Dogs, took first place for the 2015 Hero Games. The 673d Security Forces Squadron took second place and the Army National Guard placed third.