Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting train in Hawaii

Photo By Cpl. Colby Brown | Lance Cpl. Richard Ducamp speaks to Lance Cpl. Cameron Kuta while extinguishing the flames on a simulated helicopter crash during simulated fire training exercise at West Field Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Sunday. Both are firefighters with Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting.  

KANEOHE BAY, HI, UNITED STATES

06.03.2012

Story by Cpl. Colby Brown 

Marine Corps Base Hawaii

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - Marines with Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting, Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay practiced the fundamentals of their job at West Field, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, June 3.

Training consisted of responding to training fires, putting out a fire on an aircraft, and equipment familiarity.

"This training is the fundamentals of our job," Cpl. Shane Waltbillig, a firefighter with ARFF. "There's a lot of technique in what we do, it's not just putting water on the fire. There are so many different variables like the ordnance carried on military birds or how much fuel the bird is carrying."

Two P-19 Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting trucks were used for training and stood parked more than 500 yards away from the training site. A simulated emergency was called and Section 2 of ARFF responded.

The training fires used propane and were controlled remotely to simulate a real fire. The training focused on allowing new firefighters to become comfortable with using water turrets, approaching a fire and extinguishing it and retrieving survivors from a simulated crash.

"My favorite thing about being a firefighter is the fact that I may be called upon to save someone's life," said Sgt. Matthew Roberts, assistant. "Just knowing that makes me want to do my job good and train my Marines to know how to do the things that I would have to do so when they are in my situation down the road they will be able to perform."

For this specific exercise, the focus was becoming familiar with approaching the fire as quickly and safely as possible and retrieving simulated victims of a crash.

Five Marines of Section 2 have only been here for two months, but they spend more than 100 hours a week together as a section, most of which is spent training.

"The brotherhood is the tightest I have ever seen because we live with each other, we eat with each other, we train with each other, we do everything with each other," Waltbillig said.

Section 2 conducts training like this two to four times a month. But as fire fighters they are always ready to respond to the call.

"In our [military occupational specialty] it's all about knowledge," Staff Sgt. George Torres, section leader said. "It's knowing what to do and practicing to the point to where it's almost like a reflex when we do get the call. We just continue to practice, practice, practice, until it's a reflex."

• Date Taken: 06.03.2012
• Date Posted: 06.08.2012 16:39
• Story ID: 89681
• Location: KANEOHE BAY, HI, US