12th CAB conducts fire prevention training with the USAG Bavaria firefighters. .

BY, GERMANY

05.26.2020

Story by Spc. Hunter Garcia 

12th Combat Aviation Brigade

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 1-214th General Support Aviation Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade participate in fire prevention training with the U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria firefighters at a Grafenwöhr Training Area on U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, Germany, May 26, 2020.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Thomas McNamara, talked about what happened during the exercise and how the exercise helped USAG Bavaria firefighters.

“We’re going to be picking up the Bambi Buckets over here to practice aerial firefighting,” he said. “We’ve got the Grafenwöhr firefighters with us. We are going to be coordinating with them and practicing fighting fires with them on a range in areas that may be inaccessible or too dangerous to get [from] the ground.”

McNamara also mentioned some of the challenges that the CH-47 Chinook helicopters pilots faced.

“The bucket is far below the helicopter,” he said. “It's just a visual judgment error to be able to bring that bucket and place it over the fire.” He continued to speak about the objectives that needed to be accomplished to complete the mission. “Get the water on target and coordinate with the firefighters.” The goal was to time the water drop effectively so the firefighters could easily handle the fire from the ground.

USAG Bavaria Fire Chief Josef Rodler, said exercises like these can continue to grow within the garrison and can also benefit the local bavarian fire departments.

“All my firefighters are host nation firefighters,” he said. “This is the first time [we’ve done] real training with the pilots,” Rodler said the next step is to invite the host nation. “Invite them to the next exercise so they can see how we do it and share the experience,” he said.

McNamara said training and practice are key for an exercise like this.

“We’re going to train the newer crew members and [give] them a good experience,” He said. “We’re going to expand [our] capability and get the next generation trained up on fighting fires if they happen.”

The exercise will continue to help with fire prevention on USAG Bavaria and the experience gained for the participants of this exercise will continue to pay off.

• Date Taken: 05.26.2020
• Date Posted: 06.05.2020 05:45
• Story ID: 371175
• Location: BY, DE