Chico residents react to military ‘invasion’

  • Published
  • By By Senior Airman Stephen Collier
  • 302nd Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
CHICO, Calif. --  Things are looking a little different in Chico these days. Putting aside the thick smoke from raging wildfires only dozens of miles away, the citizens of this small California town are seeing 'camo' like never before.

That's because members of both the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve are sleeping, dining and interacting with the city as they conduct firefighting operations at the city's municipal airport three miles south of downtown.

"Seeing all these military people in town can be a little weird," said Lauren Samora, a shift leader at a local Burger Hut in southern Chico. "Normally we might see one or two (military members), but when you see more than six, sometimes people ask 'what's wrong?' It just makes you wonder what's going on."

The military members Miss Samora refers to are the Total Force Airmen assigned to the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group who are currently working out of the airport. The Airmen are aiding several state and federal agencies, including the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, commonly known as 'CAL FIRE,' and the U.S. Forest Service with the Modular Airborne fire fighting system. The MAFFS has the capability of dropping up to 30,000 pounds of water or fire retardant at one time on a fire.

Four units comprise the expeditionary group. Three of the units are deployed from the Air National Guard and include the 145th Airlift Wing, based out of Charlotte, N.C.; the 153rd AW, from Cheyenne, Wyo.; and the 146th AW at Channel Islands, Calif. The fourth unit is the 302nd AW, Air Force Reserve, from Colorado Springs, Colo.

Not all citizens of Chico were caught off guard by the presence of military members in their town. Ernest Carpenter, a retired employee of Chico State University and former Airmen, said it was great to see them in town.

"The help they provide is just awesome," the former staff sergeant and ground radio repair specialist said. "I know they have a lot of other things they could do, but it's good they help the firefighters."

Mr. Carpenter added just how happy he was to not only see the military, but the additional firefighters as well.

"It's been pretty bad the last month with fires because this was an early start to the fire season for us," he said. "But both the military and firefighters know what they're doing and they're well trained."