An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Oct. 23, 2007

North Carolina Air National Guard Activated to Help Fight California Forest Fires

By MAJ Matt Handley North Carolina National Guard Office of Public Affairs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The North Carolina Air National Guard will deploy four C-130 cargo aircraft, flight crews and support personnel to Port Hueneme/Channel Islands, California, to assist the U.S. Forest Service in firefighting efforts to contain, control, and extinguish wild fires.

The aircraft are a part of the 145th Airlift Wing (AW) NC Air National Guard based at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, Charlotte NC. Their departure is scheduled for later this morning. Members of the media wishing to cover activities surrounding this activation may do so by arriving at the Minuteman Road, 4930 Minuteman Way gate off Morris Field Drive at 11:00am and are encouraged to RSVP to the NCNG Public Affairs Duty Phone 919-612-5061 for access to the base. All activities will occur at the NC ANG base.

Aircraft will be staged at Port Hueneme/Channel Islands, California with approximately 50 North Carolina Air National Guard Airmen deploying to operate the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS. Since 1974, MAFFS has saved land, lives and property from wild land fires in the United States and abroad. MAFFS is only activated when all other air tanker resources are committed.

The MAFFS mission equips C-130s with a fire fighting apparatus that is loaded into the aircraft's cargo area. The MAFFS unit itself is a series of pressurized tanks that hold 3,000 gallons of flame-retardant liquid called Phos-Chek. Directed by ground crews and led to the fire site by a U.S. Forest service lead plane, MAFFS aircraft drop retardant along the leading edge of a fire to block the spread of flames.

The North Carolina contingent will operate two C-130s equipped with MAFFS modules. The third and fourth aircraft will transport other equipment, and personnel.

All four Air Force MAFFS units are in the reserve components, three in the National Guard and one in the Air Force Reserve. In addition to North Carolina's unit, there is the California Air National Guard's 146th AW from Channel Islands, CA, the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd AW from Cheyenne, WY and the Air Force Reserve's 302nd AW from Colorado Springs, CO.

The length of this mission is undetermined and will depend on the demands of the fire fighting efforts.

The North Carolina Air National Guard is one of six major military commands in the North Carolina National Guard, which falls under the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

 

 

Related Articles
Brig. Gen. Lenny Williams, the assistant adjutant general - Army of the Illinois National Guard and the commander of the Illinois Army National Guard, State Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Kelly, and State Command Chief Warrant Officer CW5 Thomas Black present Staff Sgt. Francisco Orozco with an award at the Illinois Army National Guard's Recruiting and Retention Battalion's annual awards banquet Nov.16, 2024, in Peoria. Orozco was the Illinois Army National Guard's Recruiting and Retention Noncommissioned Officer of the Year with 35 enlistments.
Illinois Army Guard’s Top Recruiter Pays it Forward
By Lt. Col. Bradford Leighton, | Jan. 3, 2025
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. - When Francisco Orozco first approached an Army National Guard recruiter in 2016, the recruiter “would not give me the time of day.”Orozco was overweight and had a neck tattoo. Both disqualified him from...

U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard and contract personnel pose in front of their custom-designed F-22 Raptor maintenance stands Sept. 26, 2024, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam..The specialized maintenance stands are the culmination of nearly five years of collaboration between Total Force Airmen and the National Guard Bureau, providing a safer and more efficient way to access the hard-to-reach areas of one of the world’s most advanced stealth aircraft.
Hawaii Airmen Redesign F-22 Maintenance Stands
By Master Sgt. Mysti Bicoy, | Jan. 2, 2025
HONOLULU – Maintenance Airmen from the Hawaii Air National Guard have revolutionized F-22 Raptor maintenance by developing customized stands at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.The project, the result of nearly five years of...

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffery Andrieu, 102nd Civil Engineer Squadron commander, asks for updates from each member in the Emergency Operations Center during a natural disaster exercise on Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, Dec. 18, 2024.
Massachusetts National Guard Wing Trains on Disaster Response
By Airman 1st Class Julia Ahaesy, | Jan. 2, 2025
OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mass. - Emergency managers with the 102nd Civil Engineer Squadron conducted a natural disaster response exercise with 102nd Intelligence Wing members on Otis Air National Guard Base Dec. 18.The...