Annual wildland firefighting exercise returns to Camp Pendleton
ByVertical Mag | May 10, 2016
Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 8 seconds.
An annual firefighting training exercise at Camp Pendleton brought military and civilian aviation units together to prepare for the upcoming fire season.
On May 5, military and civilian aviation crews from around Southern California gathered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton to take part in an annual wildland firefighting training exercise, designed to enhance interoperability in advance of this year’s wildfire season.
The event took place at Pulgas Lake inside the sprawling, 125,000-acre base in San Diego County. Taking part in the exercise were a Bell UH-1Y Venom helicopter and Bell-Boeing MV22B tilt-rotor from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, a Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 3, and a Bell UH-1H Super Huey from Cal Fire, all of which practiced water drops while a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Bell 407 provided aerial command and control support.
A Bell UH-1Y was one of the Marine aircraft taking part in the annual training exercise at Camp Pendleton.
“This exercise is intended to highlight the coordination, planning and teamwork between the military and our partners with Cal Fire, with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, all in support of fighting a common foe, which is wildland fires,” said Brig. Gen. Edward D. Banta, Commanding General of Marine Corps Installations West, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
“The partnership here in San Diego is something that is unique,” said Tom Porter, the Cal Fire Southern Region Chief. “No place else in the nation has as robust a group of dedicated agencies working together to bring the fight to a fire when it happens.”
U.S. 3rd Fleet sent an MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter, assigned to the “Merlins” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 3, to the exercise.
The exercise, the ninth iteration of its kind, simulated a realistic wildfire scenario and allowed the participating units to support the Camp Pendleton Fire Department as they would in an actual fire situation. As the department’s assistant chief Jeff Cunliff-Owen explained, the scenario-based training helps ensure that “everybody is on the same page for this upcoming fire season.”
According to Capt. Evan Bernstein, a pilot with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165, Marine crews trained for months in advance of this opportunity to demonstrate the firefighting capabilities of the MV-22B. Although the Osprey has not yet been deployed to fight fire, it may be called to do so this year, as the Boeing CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter it replaced is now fully retired.
The MV-22B Osprey has not yet been called upon to perform an actual firefighting mission, but may have the opportunity this year.
One military helicopter that was unable to participate this year was the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Sea Stallion. If and when this model is called to the fire line, however, it will bring impressive heavy-lift capabilities to the fight.
“In the Marine Corps you always train for overseas operations and how to combat the enemy, whether that be directly, or supporting like we do,” said VMM 165 crew chief Cpl. Aaron Culler. “But it’s good to do something like supporting Cal Fire. We can make a direct impact on the civilian population in the area and give back to the community. We’re saving people’s lives, homes and property. I think that broadens the horizons of the Marine Corps and allows us to have more capabilities home and abroad.”
A Bell 407 from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department provided command and control support for the exercise.
Beyond the annual exercise at Puglas Lake, Cal Fire San Diego trains with the military year-round in order to improve cohesion and establish procedures for fighting fires at Camp Pendleton and in the San Diego area.
