Marines turn up the heat for Airmen on Okinawa

  • Published
  • By Marine Pfc. Terence L. Yancey
  • Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Consolidated Public Affairs
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, Japan (AFPN) --  Firefighters have a common enemy, regardless of the color of their uniforms. And Marines here recently assisted Airmen to maximize training against this dangerous foe.

Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Marines with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron here conducted simulated aircraft fire training with Kadena fire emergency service Airmen on Sept. 23.

Kadena’s training facilities are currently undergoing repairs, so the Marine Corps’ aircraft rescue firefighters opened their training facility to the Airmen.

The Airmen from the 18th Civil Engineer Squadron respond to aircraft crashes and flightline fire emergencies just like their Marine counterparts.

“Anytime another service or organization needs to use the pit, we try to accommodate them,” said Marine Chief Warrant Officer Danny Rominger, emergency services officer with the Aircraft Rescue Firefighting branch here.

The air station is one of the last jet propellant 5 fuel pits still in operation, Chief Warrant Officer Rominger said. Most other firefighting units switched to pits fueled with propane, which can be extinguished much easier. The benefit of using JP5 is that the fire is more realistic and takes longer to put extinguish.

“In a real emergency we’d use foam, which would put the fire out in seconds,” Chief Warrant Officer Rominger said. “In training we actually work harder than we’d have to in an actual situation -- to make sure we’re prepared.”

Military aircraft rescue firefighters are required to train twice a month.

“It was great getting to interact with the Air Force and see how they operate,” said Marine Lance Cpl. Chad Glaser, an aircraft rescue firefighter here.

Marines and Airmen in the firefighting field attend the same basic firefighting school at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas.