Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Guard, Reserve units complete annual firefighting training with U.S. Forest ServicePublished April 24, 2017
                    
                    By Tech. Sgt. Emerson Marcus
                    
                    
                    Nevada Joint Force Headquarters Public Affairs
            **BOISE, Idaho (AFNS) --**121 sorties. 124 flight hours. 373,900 gallons of water dropped.
Impressive statistics for firefighting aircrew members and personnel from four different C-130 Hercules military units participating in a five-day Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System annual training sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service in Boise, Idaho. The training included Air National Guard units from California, Nevada and Wyoming and one from the Air Force Reserve in Colorado. In all, 400 people from multiple agencies worked the training and certification operation.
“The U.S. Forest Service has always been a strong partner with the Department of Defense when it comes to firefighting,” said Col. Bryan Allen, the Air Expeditionary Group commander, which oversees the four military units for the MAFFS mission. “This is probably one of the clearest examples of the benefits of using military aircraft in a civil support role and the U.S. Forest Service is the agency that does it the best. The U.S. Forest Service and the four airlift wings within the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve have really figured it out, with everything from logistics to funding, to execution, to standardization and the direct result is we save American lives and property using military crews and equipment in a civil support role. We’ve really built a strong partnership with the U.S. Forest Service over the last 44 years.”
Water drops for training were executed on lands within the Boise National Forest and Boise District Bureau of Land Management.
The U.S. Forest Service's large MAFFS equipment — rolled into the back of a C-130 aircraft — can drop up to 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in six seconds through a nozzle on the rear left side of the plane.
The certification training includes classroom sessions and flight operations for military flight crews, lead plane pilots and other support personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and other wildland firefighting agencies in advance of the upcoming fire season this summer.
“We have recognized the benefits to combine training periodically for operational consistency and standardization, not only with the air wings but for our personnel, as well,” said Kim Christensen, the U.S. Forest Service deputy assistant director for operations. “The compelling reason to do a combined training again this year was the integration of the 152nd Airlift Wing, from Reno, (Nevada) into the MAFFS mission. We know we have a window of opportunity to get Reno proficient. The speed to that proficiency is important. When you have this kind of setting, with all four wings together, it provides a more complete setting to meet that objective.”
The 152nd Airlift Wing was named the newest unit in the MAFFS mission last year, replacing the 145th Airlift Wing, North Carolina Air National Guard. The 145th AW is in the process of converting to C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
Participating Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units include the 153rd Airlift Wing from Cheyenne, Wyoming; the 302nd Airlift Wing from Colorado Springs, Colorado; the 146th Airlift Wing from Port Hueneme, California; and the 152nd Airlift Wing from Reno, Nevada. 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 needs of the forest service.
In the past decade, military C-130s equipped with MAFFS delivered about eight million gallons of fire retardant on wildfires around the U.S.
“Obviously, we have our overseas contingencies we respond to,” said Lt. Col. Anthony Machabee, the 152nd Airlift Wing Operations Group. “That is a huge part of what we do in the Air Force. We take a lot of pride in doing that. But this is a domestic operation that we also take a lot of pride in doing. For us, this is a tremendous opportunity to be a part of this mission saving property and life. I can’t speak more highly about this mission.”US Forest Service 



California Air National Guard 



Nevada Air National Guard 



Wyoming Air National Guard 



firefighting 



Modular Airborne Firefighting System 



Air Expeditionary Group 



MAFFS 



153rd Airlift Wing 



152nd Airlift Wing 



302nd Airlift Wing 



146th Airlift Wing Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF Kendall visits Bangor ANG Base
                    
                    Vice President Harris congratulates USAFA Class of ‘24
                    
                    Senate confirms Melissa Dalton as next Under Secretary of the Air Force
                    
                    ‘One Team, One Fight’: SecAF visits Keesler AFB
                    
                    SecAF Kendall experiences VISTA of future flight test at Edwards AFBInnovation
                AFSFC reaches final phase of fielding Model Defender gear
                    
                    Around the Air Force: PCS Allowances, Air Task Forces, All-Volunteer Force
                    
                    AFIMSC focuses I-WEPTAC topics on GPC solutions
                    
                    Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium
                    
                    AFIMSC tools deliver data-driven solutions across DAFMAJCOM News
                AFMC to expand AcqDemo workforce
                    
                    AFMC empowers small businesses for Air Force reoptimization
                    
                    Acquisition Instructor Course Class 25A open for nominations
                    
                    Air Guard leaders host 2024 Wing Leader Conference
                    
                    Referral bonuses aim to help fill mission-critical vacancies
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil