RENO, Nev. – People familiar with military aviation know C-130 aircraft as the "workhorse of the military."
Although the C-130 is most commonly known for transporting personnel and cargo, there's something else the workhorse of the military does right here in the United States: wildland firefighting.
Three of the four military C-130 firefighting airlift wings — Colorado, Nevada and Wyoming, making up the Air Expeditionary Group — arrived here Monday for their week-long, annual training and certification sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service.
"We are eager to join up with our civilian and military partners this week and prepare for another challenging wildfire season," said Col. James DeVere, 302nd Airlift Wing commander. "Training together is vital. We are able to battle wildfires as one seamless interagency team working with the U.S. Forest Service because of the training we do together."
The U.S. Forest Service's large MAFFS equipment — rolled into the back of a C-130 aircraft — can drop up to 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in six seconds through a nozzle on the rear left side of the plane.
About 300 people will participate in the certification training, which includes classroom sessions and flight operations for military flight crews, lead plane pilots and other support personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and other wildland firefighting agencies.
"MAFFS have played a critical role in wildfire suppression for more than 40 years by providing surge capacity when commercial air tankers are fully committed or not readily available as they frequently are during periods of high wildfire activity," said Kim Christensen, deputy assistant director for operations for the U.S. Forest Service.
Participating Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units include the 153rd Airlift Wing from Cheyenne, Wyoming; the 302nd Airlift Wing from Colorado Springs, Colorado; the 146th Airlift Wing from Port Hueneme, California; and the 152nd Airlift Wing from Reno, Nevada.
Water drops for training will be executed in forests west of Colorado Springs.
Colorado Springs area residents in these areas may see low-flying U.S. Forest Service lead planes and C-130s dropping water starting Monday and throughout the week.
In the past decade, military C-130s equipped with MAFFS delivered about 8 million gallons of fire retardant on wildfires around the U.S.
"We get to perform a lot of valuable missions for the nation throughout the entire world," DeVere said, "but this mission, protecting life and property of our own citizens, is extremely fulfilling."