Forest Service Deactivates C-130 Firefighting Operations

From a 153rd Air Expeditionary Group News Release

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Sept. 17, 2012 – The U.S. Forest Service has deactivated the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System-equipped military C-130s as fire conditions in the West have improved.

The 153rd Air Expeditionary Group received the notification late Sept. 14, releasing the two MAFFS planes and crews that were still operating, as well as the associated support and maintenance staff. All crews have reported back to their home stations.

The California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing, and the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing each had a C-130 operating out of McClellan Air Tanker Base, Calif., for the last few weeks.

On Sept. 2, two C-130s from the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing were released from MAFFS operations in Boise, Idaho. Two C-130s from the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing were released from duty Sept. 7.

"Although our planes and crews have returned home, we all know MAFFS can still be reactivated well into the fall," said Air Force Lt. Col. Donald Taylor, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group acting commander. "We have had a very busy season and know it's still too early to say the season is over for good."

According to 153rd Air Expeditionary Group officials based in Boise, Idaho, this season has become the second-highest in MAFFS history for gallons of fire retardant dropped, surpassed only by the MAFFS season of 1994 when about 5 million gallons were dropped. This season, through Sept. 14, the MAFFS fleet released almost 2.5 million gallons of fire retardant during 1,011 drops on fires in 10 states.

MAFFS is a joint Defense Department and U.S. Forest Service program designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private air tankers are no longer able to meet the Forest Service’s needs.

This is the first year since 2008 that all four MAFFS wings had been activated simultaneously, officials said.

As a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the U.S. Forest Service, MAFFS can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area a quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

Forest Service Requests More Aircraft for Firefighting Operations

American Forces Press Service

CHEYENNE, Wyo.  – More forest fires in the western United States have prompted the U.S. Forest Service to call in two additional C-130s equipped with the Mobile Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS.

Those aircraft, expected to be operating by tomorrow, will come from the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing here, officials said.

"This has been an interesting fire season for us. Our operations have waxed and waned since we were activated June 25," said Air Force Col. Jerry Champlin, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group commander. "Our aircraft are heavily engaged, and having two additional MAFFS will definitely help."

Under the modified request for assistance received Aug. 11, the 153rd Airlift Wing's two C-130s will join Air Force Reserve Command C-130s from the 302nd Airlift Wing operating from Boise Air Terminal in Idaho. A C-130 from the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing and another from the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing will operate from McClellan Air Tanker Base in Sacramento, Calif.

This year's MAFFS operations have dropped more gallons of fire retardant than during the last nine fire seasons, officials said.

MAFFS is a joint Defense Department and U.S. Forest Service program designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private air tankers are no longer able to meet the Forest Service’s needs. MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the Forest Service that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, the system can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

North Carolina Air Guard Back to Firefighting Mission

From a 153rd Air Expeditionary Group News Release

CHEYENNE, Wyo.  – The North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing will return to flying Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System missions on Aug. 14, six weeks after four of the unit's airmen were killed in a C-130 aircraft crash during a firefighting mission in South Dakota.

"Charlotte's MAFFS 8 will replace MAFFS 9, from California, for three weeks while the 146th Airlift Wing's C-130 undergoes required maintenance. We're excited to have North Carolina back in the fight and look forward to having them fly with us again," said Air Force Col. Jerry Champlin, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group commander.

"Our folks from Charlotte are ready to re-join our MAFFS brothers and sisters in the firefighting going on in the Northwest of our country,” said Air Force Col. Roger Williams Jr., 145th Operations Group commander. “We all feel it is extremely important for our people to get back to this critical mission and we will carry the memory of MAFFS 7 in our hearts as the wildland firefighting continues.”

On July 1, MAFFS 7, a North Carolina C-130, equipped with a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, crashed near Edgemont, S.D., while supporting the White Draw fire. Four of the aircraft’s six crewmembers were killed. It was the first major incident in the 40-year MAFFS mission history. The crash is under investigation.

MAFFS are operated by four military units: The 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard; 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard; 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard; and the 302nd Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve Command.

Since being activated June 25, the MAFFS fleet has released more than 1,309,363 gallons of fire retardant during 547 drops on fires in eight states in the Rocky Mountain region.

This year's MAFFS operations are on pace to exceed MAFFS operations in 2008. That year, MAFFS units dropped 1,313,900 gallons of retardant.

MAFFS is a joint Department of Defense and U.S. Forest Service program designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private airtankers are no longer able to meet the needs of the forest service.

MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the Forest Service that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than 5 seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

North Carolina Air National Guard returns to MAFFS mission

By Deidre Forster

153rd Air Expeditionary Group

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing will return to flying Modular Airborne Fire fighting System Aug. 14, six weeks after four of the unit’s Airmen were killed in a C-130 crash during a fire fighting mission in South Dakota.

 “Charlotte’s MAFFS 8 will replace MAFFS 9, from California, for three weeks while the 146th Airlift Wing’s C-130 undergoes required maintenance. We’re excited to have North Carolina back in the fight and look forward to having them fly with us again,” said Air Force Col. Jerry Champlin, 153rd Air Expeditionary Group commander.

On July 1, MAFFS 7, a North Carolina C-130, equipped with a Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, crashed near Edgemont, S.D., while supporting the White Draw fire. Four of the six crewmembers were killed. That was the first major incident in the 40-year MAFFS mission history. The incident is under investigation.

 “Our folks from Charlotte are ready to re-join our MAFFS brothers and sisters in the fire fighting going on in the Northwest of our country. We all feel it is extremely important for our people to get back to this critical mission and we will carry the memory of MAFFS 7 in our hearts as the wildland fire fighting continues,” said Air Force Col. Roger Williams Jr., 145th Operations Group commander.

MAFFS are operated by four military units: The 153rd Airlift Wing, Wyoming Air National Guard; 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard; 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard; and the 302nd Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve Command.

Since being activated June 25, the MAFFS fleet has released more than 1,309,363 gallons of fire retardant during 547 drops on fires in eight states in the Rocky Mountain area. The 302nd Airlift Wing performed the millionth drop on Sunday; the 500th drop was made Wednesday by the same unit. This year’s MAFFS operations are on pace to exceed MAFFS operations in 2008. That year MAFFS units dropped 1,313,900 gallons of retardant.

As a joint Department of Defense and U.S. Forest Service program MAFFS is designed to provide additional aerial firefighting resources when commercial and private airtankers are no longer able to meet the needs of the forest service.

MAFFS is a self-contained aerial firefighting system owned by the U.S. Forest Service that can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than 5 seconds, covering an area one-quarter of a mile long by 100 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, it can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.

Face of Defense: Reservist Balances Military, Civilian Jobs

By Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Boyer

U.S. Army Reserve Command

FORT McCOY, Wis., July 19, 2012 – Balancing duties as a soldier in the Army Reserve with a civilian career can be tricky, but for some soldiers, having two careers that enhance one another is a plus.

Army Spc. Dustin Chavez, 28, an operating room technician representing the 807th Medical Deployment Support Command at the 2012 U.S. Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition here, works as a woodland firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service when he's not in military uniform.

Chavez, who hails from Pollock Pines, Calif., said his military and civilian jobs both require the ability to be ready to move up and lead at the next level.

“On the civilian side, they [emphasize] leadership a lot, because we have opportunities to put very few people out to staff small fires,” Chavez said. “You have to lead up and make sure the person below you knows how to do your job, and you know how to do the job one level up from you. You have to be ready to move up. That's what I like about the Army, because it's the same way.”

As he applies leadership lessons and moves through the ranks in his military and civilian jobs, Chavez said, he wants other reservists to see they can incorporate both sides of their work lives.

“A lot of times, it can be easy to separate them,” he said. “I want people to see that I am doing both and trying hard to make it work.”

Chavez said his supervisors at the Forest Service are supportive of his Army Reserve career and made sure he had time to prepare for the warrior competitions here.

“I've had to take a lot of time off of work, but they've worked with me,” he said. “They've been very supportive -- especially with the ruck march. That's pretty much what we do: walk into fires after being dropped off. It's one of my favorite events because it directly relates to what I do as a civilian.”

Chavez grew in a military family with five sisters. Both his mother and father retired from the Air Force, and three of his sisters are active-duty airmen. He joined the Army Reserve three years ago after the Air Force turned him down for deafness in his left ear.

“I'm the ‘black sheep’ who went into the Army in my family,” Chavez said. “I was disqualified from the Air Force when I tried to join after high school. The Army gave me the opportunity.”

In addition to participating in three levels of competition before coming to Wisconsin, Chavez recently completed the Warrior Leader Course. He said he wants to take some of the excitement of this week of competition back to the other soldiers in his unit, the 352nd Combat Support Hospital.

“When a lot of soldiers come in and just do battle assemblies, it can get repetitive,” he said. “To see this side of the Army and go above and beyond has augmented my excitement about the Army. I want to take that home and show soldiers below me that there is more to the Army.”

Face of Defense: Reserve Officer Recalls Journey to Freedom

By Amaani Lyle

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2012 – Air Force Col. Josie Fernandez credits providence as much as persistence for her journey from Cuban refugee to the duel-hatted role she has today with the Air Force Reserve and the National Park Service.

Fernandez attended school in the rural town of Agua Dulce, near Havana, close to the national baseball stadium and even closer to the Plaza de la Revolucion, where, to this day, she said Fidel Castro still holds his “infernal rallies.”

“I dreamed about living in freedom,” said Fernandez, currently working as a public affairs officer for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We were poor as church mice, but nothing was taken away from us, other than the ability to pursue our dreams while living in Cuba.”

As Castro’s decades-long dictatorship seemed to tighten its grip on its nation’s citizens, she said, President Lyndon B. Johnson developed Freedom Flights, a program that enabled more than 250,000 Cubans to come to the United States between 1965 and 1973.

Fernandez said her parents jumped at the chance to participate in a program that facilitated U.S. access and citizenship to refugees, provided they had stateside family members willing and able to sponsor them.

Fernandez left Cuba with her brother and parents when she was 12 years old.

“It became painfully clear to my parents that in order for their children to have a meaningful life, they had to leave and start anew,” Fernandez said of her parents’ struggle as factory workers after they arrived in Miami on June 27, 1969.

Fernandez set her sights on school and went on to college while awaiting to be granted American citizenship which came, memorably, on July 4, 1976.

She met Air Force Col. Sam Johnson, at the time the commander of Florida’s Homestead Air Force Base. Fernandez found herself intrigued by the colonel’s history as a Vietnam War veteran who’d endured nearly seven years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi, including 42 months in solitary confinement. The native Texan is now a member of Congress representing the state’s 3rd District and is among the few lawmakers to have fought in combat.

“When I met him, I decided I wanted to be part of an organization with leadership as great as he was,” Fernandez said.  So in 1976, she enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.

Her work and life experiences catapulted her to recognition and promotion, and her travels would take her from Florida to Aviano Air Base, Italy, to a stint with the Hurricane Hunters at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., and even to Russia.

“Living in America really affirmed that my parents had done well for me,” Fernandez said.

Her career with the National Park Service also began to blossom as she took on civilian positions, among them in Seneca Falls, N.Y., and her regular civilian job as superintendent of Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas.

Her earliest memories in pursuit of freedom, she said, spurred a conversation with her father, specifically about what America meant to him.

“Like a good Cuban, he said, ‘Baseball, the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell and the Grand Canyon,’” Fernandez said. “In a funny way, I’ve managed to take all that on and make it what I do.”

On June 27, 43 years to the day after she arrived in the United States, Fernandez coordinated a park pass giveaway for military members and their families through the America the Beautiful series.

In just one day, nearly a thousand people showed up at her Pentagon office to take advantage of the program, which grants free access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites, national parks and wildlife refuges to active duty service members, activated Guardsmen, reservists and their families.

“I’ve been surrounded by wonderful people who inspire me and somehow I’ve been able to blend passions of mine -- nature, history and the military -- all while protecting and preserving our nation’s cultural and natural resources,” Fernandez said. “I’m part of a journey in which we’re sharing and educating people about the beauty and history of this country.”

DOD C-130 Crews Continue Western Wildfire Fight

From a U.S. Northern Command News Release

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2012 – In 140 airdrop missions since they were called into action to battle fires in the Rocky Mountain region and other western locales, Defense Department C-130s equipped with the U.S. Forest Service’s Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System have discharged more than 332,400 gallons of retardant as of early today, U.S. Northern Command officials reported.

Six Department of Defense C-130 aircraft under the command and control of U.S. Northern Command now are assisting in the firefighting effort at the request of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, officials said.

C-130 efforts yesterday centered on the Squirrel Creek Fire, located about three miles west of Woods Landing, Wyo., officials said, discharging about 8,500 gallons of retardant.