GREENVILLE, S.C. - When wildfires break out across the landscape, they often leave behind a path of scorched terrain and charred remains of homes in the path of the destructive blaze.
As a way to help contain and put out those fires, U.S. Forest Service officials often call upon the Air National Guard for assistance. That includes pilots like Air Force Col. Roger Williams Jr., an instructor pilot with the 156th Airlift Squadron, North Carolina Air National Guard.
Flying a C-130 Hercules equipped with a Forest Service-owned Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System II - an onboard tanking system that can hold up to 3,000 gallons of retardant or water - Williams said a lot of the skills that pilots use in Afghanistan and other deployed locations directly relate to what they need to do during a MAFFS mission.
Following a smaller U.S. Forest Service lead plane, Williams said he listens in as the lead aircraft communicates with the guys fighting the fire on the ground and another aircraft also heading toward the devastated area.
"What they're doing is painting a battlefield picture," said Williams, who has been flying wildfire missions in support of civilian first responders since 2003. "And with that picture they decide where to put that 3,000 gallons of retardant by giving us the coordinates."
Skills like performing low altitude airdrops and flying in formation are what Williams said make the MAFFS mission just like flying into combat.
And like in combat, when those on the ground depend upon the support they get from the air, Williams said he knows there are similar feelings here when homes and property, lives and the forest are saved.
"When you fly in and see a bunch of acreage taken out by the flames - you just want to get in there and stop it from doing any further damage," he said.
Calling the mission enjoyable but disheartening, he said that for him, it's one of the best feel-good missions the Guard does, and most MAFFS pilots agree.
The Forest Service has said they expect this year to be more active than last, and they expect to be calling upon the Air Guard and pilots like Williams to help suppress wildfires and save property, lives and the forest before it's too late.