More than 10 pest management specialists from across the Department of War traveled to Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, to participate in the 2026 DOW Aerial Application Pest Control Course from May 4-8, 2026. From Hawaii to Washington, Alaska to Texas, participants gathered at Youngstown ARS to learn the ultimate goal of pest aerial spray: Achieving the maximum kill of the target pest with minimal impact on the environment.
Facilitated by medical entomologists assigned to the 757th Airlift Squadron, the class was comprised of traditional reservists, full-time Airmen, and tri-service civilians. Most participants were there to receive their Category 11 Applicator Certification for the first time. A handful were there to receive their recertification to remain current. One of them is Staff Sgt. Henry Kincaid, the pest management NCOIC at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, who was attending the course for the second time.
For years, Kincaid has worked closely with the men and women of the 910th during aerial spray missions, affording him the opportunity to witness the impact such missions have on communities and the partnerships that are built along the way.
“With Youngstown coming down and spraying Joint Base Charleston and the surrounding areas, they’re able to cover an area that we can’t treat and access with just trucks,” said Kincaid. “The local community welcomes the 910th coming down to help combat the mosquito population that can become quite large in size. Even over the last couple years, the local beekeepers are rather welcoming of the 910th and their mission at JB Charleston because we get the word out to the local community well before Youngstown gets down there to begin treating for mosquitoes.”
From the start, course participants learned the primary functions of DOW aerial spray missions: Protection of U.S. troops against arthropod-borne diseases (e.g. encephalitis, malaria, Zika virus), control of vegetation and pests of vegetation, and maintaining trained aircrew and ground personnel. They also learned the benefits between rotary and fixed-wing aircraft aerial spray missions.
“A fixed-wing aircraft like a C-130 can cover more than 5,000 acres,” said Lt. Col. Jennifer Remmers, a medical entomologist with the 757th AS. “A rotary-fixed aircraft would be great for a small square patch that a C-130 wouldn’t be ideal for because it would take too much time for it to bank back around to release product with each pass.”
Designed to ensure pest management specialists receive their Category 11 Applicator Certification, course instructors from the 757th AS took the opportunity to share what it’s like to be a medical entomologist at Youngstown ARS. They brought in pilots, navigators and maintainers to shed light on what it takes to conduct an aerial spray mission from beginning to end.
“Aircrew will go out and conduct preflight swaths to make sure things will not impact our upcoming mission or the night vision goggles we will be using,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stroney, director of operations for the 757th AS. “Each mission planning begins months in advance to ensure we are prepared. For our safety and for the communities' safety as well.”
Through classroom discussions and lab demonstrations, course participants were able to expand upon their learning experience but not as fully as when they were given the opportunity to fly on a C-130H Hercules during a demonstration flight. There, they were able to truly experience what it’s like to fly the necessary flight paths and altitudes entomologists need to achieve the maximum kill of the target pest with minimal impact on the environment.
In preparing course participants to ‘train like we fight,’ instructors stressed the knowledge of understanding the pest that each mission would be targeting. Each mission is pest-specific and gaining both a military and civilian mindset was an advantage for first-time course attendee Maj. Parker Mullins, the public health distance learning branch chief at the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
“Being both a veterinarian and an entomologist, makes me very keyed in on vector-borne diseases,” said Mullins. “I think it helps me most though as an instructor because I teach about this multiple times a year. Being able to talk intelligently about what aerial spray capability includes and how it positively impacts not only the military mission but the civilian side too, is helpful for me to better train students at the schoolhouse.”
To officially pass the DOW Aerial Application Pest Control Course, participants needed to complete all coursework along with a passing grade on their final exam to receive their Category 11 Applicator Certification. As for the instructors, just like this year, when next year’s course comes around, they will welcome yet another group of pest management specialists eager to hit the ground running; a group of people who have dedicated their lives to bugs and the protection of the communities they live in.