Citizen Airmen fight California wildfires for 12th day

Published July 8, 2008
302nd Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Citizen Airmen of the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group, including reservists deployed from the 302nd Airlift Wing, began their 12th day of aerial firefighting support missions July 7 in a coordinated effort to control wildfires in California.

Group C-130 Hercules aircraft flew 69 airdrops delivering more than 100,300 gallons of fire retardant and water July 6.

From June 26 to July 7, the 302nd AEG performed 746 airdrops and delivered close to 850,000 gallons of fire retardant.

C-130 firefighting sorties covered fires throughout the state July 7.

Crews flew 16 sorties over the Basin fire in the Los Padres National Forest, five miles southeast of Big Sur. Their aircraft delivered about 44,800 gallons of fire retardant. Another 11 sorties went to the Piute fire in the Sequoia National Forest where Airmen dropped more than 30,800 gallons of retardant.

Marine CH-46E and Navy helicopters also performed 42 airdrops on the Basin Complex fire, delivering some 24,700 gallons of water.

The C-130s covering the fires in Southern California reloaded fire retardant and refueled at Channel Islands Air National Guard Station to save time traveling to the wildfires in Southern California. The aircraft then returned to McClellan Airfield at the end of the flying day for maintenance and the next day's launch.

The 302nd AEG consists of four C-130 units. They are the Air Force Reserve Command's 302nd Airlift Wing, Peterson AFB, Colo., and the Air National Guard's 145th AW, Charlotte, N.C., 146th AW, Channel Islands, Calif., and 153rd AW, Cheyenne, Wyo.

Airmen of the 302nd AEG use eight C-130s fitted with the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, which can drop up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant per mission.

The C-130s operated out of McClellan Airfield. The Navy Reserve and Marine helicopters launched from Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.

Three Marine helicopter units supported the operation. They are the Marine Medium Helicopter Training Squadron 164 and the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 268 based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., and the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego. The squadrons fly CH-46E Sea Knight and CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters equipped with specialized firefighting buckets.

Navy Reserve helicopters flying from NAS Lemoore belong to Helicopter Sea Combat Support Squadron 85 based out of Naval Air Station North Island, Calif. The squadron flies MH-60S helicopters with 420- and 360-gallon specialized firefighting buckets.

The 302nd AEG provides unique capabilities and is part of a unified military support effort of U.S. Northern Command to assist to the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE, and the National Interagency Fire Center.

U.S. Northern Command continues to monitor the California wildfires closely to anticipate additional requests for Department of Defense assistance from local, federal, and state civil authorities. NORTHCOM officials said they will launch as many missions as required to battle the wildfires. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)