Airmen from the 194th Wing support firefighting efforts in Central and Northern Washington

Photo By Maj. Chyteira Dues | Airmen from the 242nd Combat Communications Squadron support the fight against wildfires by working to provide and maintain communication for the various organizations working at the Fruitland Incident Command Post. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Maj. Chyteira Dues/Released)  

CAMP MURRAY, WA, UNITED STATES

08.31.2015

Story by Maj. Chyteira Dues 

194th Wing

CAMP MURRAY, Wash. – Airmen from the 194th Wing worked alongside soldiers and civilians from Incident Management Teams as they served in various roles in the fight against wildfires in Northern and Central Washington.

Air National Guardsmen have been supporting firefighting efforts and incident commanders in seven different locations, including the Okanogan Complex, which has now become the largest wildfire in state history. Airmen can be seen at various locations assisting incident commanders by providing communication functions, conducting patrols, manning entry control points, and completing incident awareness and assessments.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Takach from the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron is a part of a mobile tactical command and control team that worked to establish radio communication between the various organizations working out of the Okanogan complex. The organizations were operating under several different radio frequencies, making it difficult to exchange critical information between the civilian, military, and non-profit agencies. Takach, utilizing his knowledge of radio communications and the mobile tactical command and control unit, was able to ensure that all cooperating organizations at the complex could effectively “talk” to one another, enhancing communication efficiency throughout the complex.

Several Airmen from the 242th Combat Communication Squadron, which provides tactical and deployable communication for any unit across the globe, work out of the Fruitland complex in order to provide communication support to the incident commander and the various organizations that are a part of the Fruitland complex.

Airmen assigned to the North Star fire incident command in Nespelem initially assisted with communication and administrative support and have been taking on tasks as needed in such areas as conducting security patrols and manning entry control points. Their presence and ability to perform in these functions allows the incident commander to place essential, specially trained firefighting personnel in areas where they are able to have a more direct role in fighting the fires.

Approximately 250 Airmen from the Washington Air National Guard are also completing red card firefighting training in Yakima this year, which will allow them to participate in more direct firefighting efforts in the future.

This is an especially crucial training for air Guardsmen as state and national firefighting resources are becoming increasingly stressed this year. Efforts to support fighting wildfires this year resulted in the largest mobilization of the Washington National Guard since 1994. Over 1,000 Washington National Guardsmen have been mobilized in support of fighting fires this season.

• Date Taken: 08.31.2015
• Date Posted: 09.01.2015 04:52
• Story ID: 174832
• Location: CAMP MURRAY, WA, US