Subscribe
Staff Sgt. Jill Jamgochian
129th Rescue Wing, Public Affairs
CHANNEL ISLANDS AIR NATIONAL GUARD STATION, Calif.--The 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station in Port Hueneme, Calif., began assisting the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, July 5, by performing fire retardant reload operations for C-130H aircraft equipped with modular airborne firefighting systems fighting the California wild fires.
"The additional reloading station allows the entire state of California to be more readily protected," said Maj. Bryan Allen, 146th Command Post chief. "It allows at least twice as much retardant to be dropped in nearly half the time each day."
The 146th AW reload operation, which features two reloading pits, is an additional location to the primary operation located at McClellan Air Park, located near Sacramento 400 miles north of Port Hueneme.
"The aircraft take off out of McClellan for their first launch, drop their first load and fly here to reload retardant and refuel," said Lt. Col. Greg Ervin, mission commander for 146th AW reload operations. "The aircraft are dropping retardant down here on the Gap and Piute fires."
The 146th AW recently transitioned from its C-130H Hercules aircraft to the newer C-130J; however, modifications are needed to enable the aircraft to support fire suppression operations with the MAFFS system. While the unit awaits upgrades to the current MAFFS system, they are not counting themselves out of the fight. In fact, the unit is utilizing its C-130Js to transport equipment necessary to sustain current fire suppression operations throughout the state.
The 146th AW's J model aircraft will be able to employ the MAFFS 2, an updated version of the 30-year-old MAFFS 1, which boasts a fully self-contained system that employs an on-board compressor system replacing the ground support equipment requirements of the original MAFFS. A self-contained compressor saves valuable time and money by eliminating the necessity of ground support compressors.
"This wing has been at the forefront of the MAFFS mission since its inception, and to continue in this support role is vital to serving the state in this time of need," said Lt. Col. Marilyn Rios, 146th AW commander, "The final stages of certifying MAFFS-2 are imminent and we hope to be able to utilize this state of the art equipment in conjunction with the technology of the C-130 J as soon as possible."
The current MAFFS mission for the California wildfires is near a historical one million gallons of retardant dropped since the country's four MAFFS crews were activated late June.
"Even though we're not dropping retardant, we are providing support by transporting portable reloading facilities, maintenance equipment and personnel," Major Allen said. "Anytime the other [MAFFS-capable] wings are unable to transport equipment, we'll support their efforts with our C-130Js."
Major Allen added the 146th AW also has support personnel at McClellan, as well as at the Air Expeditionary Group in Boise, Id., assisting with ground operations, intelligence and command support.
| Date Taken: | 07.05.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2008 16:22 |
| Story ID: | 21486 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 517 |
| Downloads: | 489 |
This work, 146th AW brings added capability to CA firefight, by SSgt Jill Jamgochian, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT