Rodeo 2015 competition canceled

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill -- This year's Air Mobility Command Rodeo readiness competition has been canceled.

General Darren McDew, AMC commander, decided to cancel the competition scheduled for August at McChord Field, Wash., largely because of the high current operations tempo for mobility Airmen, and budget constraints.

"During these challenging times, we need to be good stewards of our very limited funds and our Airmen's time," McDew said.  "It's unfortunate, but given the circumstances, this is the right decision. We're looking forward to the possibilities of tailoring future Rodeo events, to ensure we're getting the most training and international partnership building value from this event."

It is not the first time Rodeo has been canceled for budgetary or operational tempo reasons. In both 1988 and 2013, Rodeo was cancelled due to budgetary shortfalls, and 2003 was canceled because of worldwide commitments for the Global War on Terror and humanitarian efforts. The last Rodeo event was held at McChord Field in July 2011.

Rodeo competitions are held to train and improve the abilities of U.S. and international partners' air mobility operations skills while building international relationships.

All participants are being notified of the cancelation through appropriate channels.