CHEYENNE, Wy. - The Wyoming Air National Guard will deploy approximately 25 personnel and three C-130 aircraft, two of which are equipped with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif., to fight regional wild fires.
The U.S. Forest Service will direct the operation of the crews.
Col. Harold Reed, 153rd Airlift Wing commander, said these flight crews train long and hard for this type of mission. "This is a mission where American homes and lives are at stake. This is why we fly."
This particular mission will have one active duty co-pilot from the 30th Airlift Squadron, which is under operational control of the Wyoming Air National Guard. It's the first time a member of this squadron has been deployed on a MAFFS mission.
"We train together, we fly together, we fight together," Maj. Mike Emerson, 30th Airlift Squadron pilot and a co-pilot on this MAFFS mission, said. "We are all defenders of our nation."
The Wyoming Air National Guard is one of four National Guard and Reserve units in the country trained to operate the MAFFS units. Each MAFFS unit can drop 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in 8-10 seconds.
The National Interagency Fire Center activates the National Guard and Reserve MAFFS units when other fire fighting resources are exhausted.
The Wyoming Air National Guard has performed its MAFFS mission for more than 30 years. Last year the unit was activated once to fight fires in Oregon.