Monday, June 25, 2012

WYOMING NATIONAL GUARD 153RD AIRLIFT WING ACTIVATED TO FIGHT ROCKY MOUNTAIN FIRES



FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Air Force Master Sgt. Kevan Johnson, 153rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, Cheyenne, Wyo., prepares to load a U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne Firefighting System II onto a Wyoming Air National Guard C-130, June 24, 2012. The Wyoming Air National Guard MAFFS unit has been activated to support the Rocky Mountain area fires, and will base out of Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Natalie Stanley

Guard Wing Activates to Aid Firefighting Effort
By Deidre Forster
153rd Airlift Wing
CHEYENNE, Wyo., June 25, 2012 - Two Wyoming Air National Guard C-130s and crews equipped with the U.S. Forest Service's Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System will arrive at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., today to support wildland firefighting efforts in the Rocky Mountain region.

The Wyoming Air Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing, one of four military units nationwide equipped with the MAFFS II system, was activated yesterday.

Select aircrews from the wing are certified annually by the U.S. Forest Service to fly the aerial firefighting mission. The MAFFS II system can disperse 3,000 gallons of fire retardant per load.

The Wyoming Air National Guard began aerial firefighting in 1975, with the original Modular Airborne Firefighting System. The unit has fought fires throughout the United States and in Indonesia.

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