302nd Airlift Wing fighting wildfires in Pacific Northwest

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Tim Taylor
  • 302nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
The 302nd Airlift Wing is again tasked to perform one of its favorite missions. On Aug. 27, 21 wing members boarded a C-130 and headed off to Klamath Falls, Ore., where they will stage their Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System mission in an effort to help the USDA Forest Service combat wildfires in the Northwestern United States. 

"There are numerous fires all over the northwest," Col. Karl A. Schmitkons, 302nd Operations Group commander. "They're just having a real hot, dry and windy period right now." 

Aircrew members and maintenance personnel will fly a 302nd aircraft using a MAFFS unit belonging to the 153rd AW, an Air National Guard unit based in Cheyenne, Wyo. The 302nd AW has two MAFFS systems, however both are currently undergoing upgrades to incremental systems. 

"We'll be working in conjunction with a Cheyenne crew and airplane that are already up there," said Colonel Schmitkons. 

As wing members return home from deployments to Southwest Asia in support of U.S. Central Command operations, some will rotate into Oregon to assist with the MAFFS effort. 

"The MAFFS mission ... there's enough of a draw to it that our people are willing to volunteer," said Colonel Schmitkons. 

"Fighting forest fires is some of the best flying we do," said Maj. Corey Steinbrink, 731st Airlift Squadron flight commander and C-130 instructor pilot.

The 302nd AW flew just 14 MAFFS sorties in 2005 due to being activated in support of U.S. CENTCOM, but in 2004 conducted 308 drops in support of fire fighting operations in the Southwest U.S. That year, one of its busiest seasons since taking on the MAFFS mission in 1993, the 302nd dropped more than 823,000 gallons of retardant while battling fires in Arizona, Colorado and Utah. 

The 302nd was also activated in 2002 to fight the Hayman Fire west of Colorado Springs. During that blaze the 302nd and the three Air National Guard units activated for MAFFS staged out of Peterson Air Force Base. 

The MAFFS missions are directed by the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, and the 302nd is still waiting to fly its first mission of the 2006 fire season.

"The 302nd hasn't flown any missions yet this year," said Rose Davis, USDA Forest Service public affairs officer.

The MAFFS allows aircraft and crews to drop up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant covering an area one-quarter of a mile long and 60 feet wide. The MAFFS resources are coordinated with ground-based fire fighting resources. 

The 302nd is currently expected to remain activated for MAFFS through September.