Features Editor

Four engineering teams at Lockheed Martin targeted Osama Bin Laden Monday morning during a competition at the missile site.

Bin Laden took several direct hits by the Sea Bound Sniper as the team recorded an amazing 283 point out of 300 possible to win the 2nd Annual Engineering Week Competition at Lockheed Martin.

Randy Stevenson, manager, said four teams from all production areas of the facility participated.

The objective of the competition was to navigate a team-engineered ship through an obstacle course on Lake Lockheed Martin and then fire paint balls at three floating targets for a score.

The target grids contained three sets of points, 3, 5 and Bin Laden-20.

The team scoring the highest number of points on the navigation and firing course combined with presentation points was declared the winner.

The Sea Bound Sniper, sporting a WASP XI scull and crossbones, was powered with a Sears Die Hard battery and could travel at an estimated 25 mph. The Sniper was capable of a 360 degree turn in forward and reverse. That capability proved valuable in hunting down and blasting Bin Laden out of the water.

Members of the Sniper team were Julian Moore, Michael Schovel, Teresa Platko, Kenneth Kelley, Mason Gaston, Clyde Vanderbusch and Scottie Lee.

The PT 109 and Hydro Commandos presented formidable challenges to the Sniper. The Commandos’ mission was to move through the water and destroy, but a test run at an undisclosed location resulted in a sunken ship.

However, the Commandos came into the competition in an effort to "think outside the box"

but their "box" was a little flat in the water and couldn’t overcome the high points recorded by the Sniper.

Radio frequency interference caused problems for the firing trigger of the PT 109. Once the problem had been resolved time had run out for the boat that started the race "in the pink."

Although the Splat was not the fastest or the most accurately firing boat in the competition, it did create the most excitement for the Lockheed Martin employees who lined the shore enjoying hamburgers, chips and a day in the sun.

Radio frequency interference triggered the firing mechanism of the Splat sending rapid rounds of paint balls into the judges stand, sending many a man running off the dock. Then, the Splat turned and fired toward the shore, scattering fans, but receiving a loud and long "hurrah!"

Engineering Week at Lockheed Martin came to a victorious close for the skippers of the Sniper, but the parting cry was "Remember the Splat!"

Other team members were:

PT 109 – Roseann Hasseltine, Marshall Debose, Les Teel, Greg Reeves, Charlie Allen, William Laster and Tim Brooks.

Splat -Sheila Campbell, Willis Griffin, Andy Nicholson, Craig Thomas, Chip Fowler, Carolann Arthur and Rapesh Patel.

Commandos – David Dean, Cheryl Williamson, Don O’Neil, Keith Bell, John Kuvishin and Terry Parker.