Military moves air operations to McClellan Airfield

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Stephen Collier
  • 302nd Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
SACRAMENTO, Calif. --  To better support the people of California, Airmen and aircraft from the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group relocated from Chico Municipal Airport to McClellan Air Park June 27.

The move comes as overhead smoke cleared enough for flight operations to begin, allowing Air Force aircraft here to drop fire retardant on the state's various wildfires. The move, said Lt. Col. Roger Williams, allows for more streamlined military operations as the former air force base is better suited to handle the increase operations tempo than its civilian counterpart.

"Operating out of McClellan gives us our best vantage point when it comes to fighting these fires," Colonel Williams, 145th Air Expeditionary Squadron commander, said. "We have eight fully-loaded C-130s coming and going almost every 45 minutes so we needed a location that could handle our aircraft's constant operations. McClellan gives us that."

What does this mean for the state, which has battled wildfires since the beginning of June? Operations at McClellan will ensure military aircraft can drop their directed fire retardant loads, return to base, then take the fight to the fires all over again using McClellan with a longer runway, more fire retardant refuel pits and spaces for eight firefighting aircraft.

"Unfortunately, the runway at Chico limited our ability to provide Californians with the best firefighting support," Colonel Williams said. "Because of this, we either had to choose between less fuel or less fire retardant. McClellan allows us to fly further and drop more retardant, potentially stopping a fire earlier. And that's what we want."

Chico's airport continues to support civilian firefighting tankers as well as the California Department of Forestry and Protection's air attack unit. That unit supports modular airborne firefighting system aircraft by directing them into fire locations.

Currently, eight aircraft, three deployed from Colorado Springs, Colo., three from Charlotte, N.C., and two from Cheyenne, Wyo., respectively, are preparing for more firefighting missions today.

Fire officials are coordinating on which fires MAFFS units will drop on. The increased use of military aircraft is meant to provide the best support to civilian firefighting leadership on the ground.