Over 500 military personnel test their limits with the Readiness Challenge

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Tyndall Air Force Base is hosting civil engineer personnel from four branches of the military, in the Readiness Challenge.

It’s a competition where teams perform real exercises under simulated battlefield conditions.

It’s the crack of dawn, and already Tyndall Air Force Base’s Silver Flag training site sounds like a war zone.

Over 500 soldiers, airmen, and marines from around the world are participating in the Readiness Challenge.

Wednesday’s competition separated participants into 12 teams of 45 for the ‘Fog of War’ event.

“In any kind of war situation there is going to be fog there’s going to be confusion. Our enemy is not going to attack us when we’re ready. They’re going to attack us when we’re hungry, tired, and in the dark when we’re sleepy and confused. That’s what this event represents,” Master Sergeant Austin Henrichsen said.

Wednesday morning’s mission was to recover an airfield following an enemy attack.

Each team received orders to complete different tasks.

Most have not met their teammates before the event so communication is crucial.

“They have no idea what’s going on, but they are willing and able to put their lives on the line to be able to collectively have a unified effort for a known mission,” Henrichsen said.

Some of the tasks include constructing a temporary base, locating buried unexploded ordinance, and repairing airfields or buildings, all while dodging explosions and tear gas.

“So this fog of war event is the second time, last year was the first time of its type,” Henrichsen said.

Master Sgt. Henrichsen said they’ve been planning this year’s event for nearly a year.

“Many different meetings, many different thought processes. What do we want to have? What’s valuable? We took a lot of different data points from our various exercises and looking how our officers and enlisted evaluate certain tasks from a sheet of paper. So that’s really what drove this event,” Henrichsen said.

Each team is evaluated on speed, quality, and overall efficiency.

The readiness challenge is decided over the week-long series of events.

The winner will be decided on Friday.

This is Tyndall’s 10th year hosting the readiness challenge.

Master Sgt. Henrichsen said the next one will take place in 2026.

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