News

McChord firefighters stand ready at Patriot Warrior

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Daniel Liddicoet
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
FORT MCCOY, Wis. --  For the firefighters of the 446th Civil Engineer Squadron, out of McChord Field Washington, every piece of training comes with real-world implications. During the Patriot Warrior exercise here, it was up to them to build a functional fire department from the ground up, and to mitigate emergencies outside of the exercise parameters.

Patriot Warrior is an Air Force Reserve Command exercise designed to evaluate the capability to deploy, establish, and operate in support of joint field operations. Nearly 6,000 reserve component service members from Air Force, Army, and Navy support the exercise.

Although the expectation to respond never changes, the 446th CES Fire Protection Flight still completed a variety of new training to optimize their readiness.

Like most of the McChord participants, this was many of the firefighters' first time participating in a large scale exercise.

"We almost never get this type of in-depth training," explained Tech. Sgt. Jacob Hill, a 446th CES Fire Protection crew chief. "This is very realistic for deployed operations, knowing what to expect living in a tent with a variety of obstacles."

Part of the realism for the Citizen Airmen came from the fuel-specific training, which isn't available at McChord Field.

"We trained using (Jet Propellant 8) fuel out here, which (the fire) is hotter and bounces around more than the propane we use back home," Tech. Sgt. Mike Petzold, a 446th CES Fire Protection crew chief described. "It's much more realistic for an aircraft incident, and it shows our guys what it would really be like to fight that kind of fire."

The training was accompanied by the need to build up their own facilities, and work with other career fields and service branches.

"People always say it's hard working with other branches," Petzold said. "Even though there are differences, once you sit down and just realize we're all in this together just trying to get the job done, it just becomes one fight one mission."

Adjusting to the unfamiliar field setting wasn't exclusive to challenges.

"Dealing with logistics has been a challenge, and dealing with a war plan is just that - a plan," Petzold said. "We've just had to adapt and overcome and make do with what we've got. The thing about being in field is you've just got to make it work as a matter of survival."

Participant safety was another chief concern in the exercise.

"We have a real-world responsibility for fire and safety outside of the exercise," Petzold said. "We still have to be the first responders if something goes wrong."

For many, achieving that level of response from the ground up was the most satisfying part of the entire experience.

"The best part of all of this was starting from the ground up and creating a functional fire department," said Staff Sgt. Matt Kahai, a 446th CES Fire Protection crew chief.  "Even coming off of active duty, this has been some of the most valuable training I've ever received."