Firefighters keep watch over planes, people

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Darrell Lewis
  • Combined Forces Air Component Commander Office of Public Affairs
Firefighters are an insurance policy the Air Force can't afford to be without, according to Operation Iraqi Freedom's top fire chief.

"What we bring to the fight," said Chief Master Sgt. Darryl R. Stewart, the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility fire chief, "is a safety factor that the Air Force is not willing to give up. Assets we can always replace, people we can't," he said.

Stewart, who is serving his second tour as the USCENTCOM AOR fire chief from a desert base on the Arabian Peninsula, is deployed from the 347th Rescue Wing, Moody Air Force Base, Ga. His job is to make sure firefighters in the AOR have what they need. "Air Force firefighters provide the full range of fire and emergency services not just in peacetime, but also in wartime," he said.

"We're there to save lives, protect assets, get the mission turned around and help get bombs on target," Stewart said. "It takes a lot of people to do that, but we're their safety while they're out there dropping that stuff off. If something goes wrong, we can interdict and keep it from spreading and losing life," he said.

The chief said his deployed firefighters help avoid disaster every day of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Flightline risks abound in a combat environment, he said. Aircraft may land with battle damage, hung munitions that did not release on command, low fuel, flight control problems or hot brakes that could ignite after touchdown, Stewart said.

Keeping watch over the safety of everyone involved in recovering aircraft are about 700 firefighters stationed at bases around the theater of operations. As part of base civil engineer squadrons -- the most diverse organization on many installations -- firefighters are always ready to go, Stewart said.

"We're not a light force," he said. "It's hard to bring in five P19s (1,000-gallon firetrucks). We have to stair-step in," he said.

"We get a truck on the ground and seven firefighters, then another truck and six, trying to build up to operational level within 30-45 days to the full contingent we need," Stewart said.

Firefighters most often work with security forces, explosive ordnance disposal, medical, transit alert, maintenance, airfield management, safety, and air traffic control members, he said.

"We spend a lot of time with those agencies because we respond to in-flight emergencies, ground emergencies and we're there for fire safety reasons," said Stewart.

Stewart explained that in firefighting, "there's nothing done in the Air Force that we don't have to have a knowledge on." When it comes to the flightline, "we have to know about weapons and munitions and how to identify them. We have to know all about the aircraft --because we do egress-- the ejection seats, the components that start a fire, why they burn and what the hazards of the aircraft are," he said.

"We have people supporting integrated combat turn-arounds, hot pit refuels and hazardous cargo downloads so we can get our aircraft back in the air quickly," Stewart said.

Stewart said a change occurs when responders are involved in emergency situations. "Your mindset becomes one of a real sense of urgency and importance," he said. "You transition from, 'oh, in-flight emergency' to 'oh, it could be an aircraft coming back shot up.' You know that with everybody at the peak level of operations the possibility for something to go wrong as well as the severity level goes up," Stewart said.

As the Air Force moved into Iraq and took over airfields, firefighters were right alongside the operators to keep them safe from the hazards of operating in an environment more volatile than most, he said.

"When we go in like that," Stewart said, "we usually get (the air terminal operations center) and (a tanker airlift control element) and security people, unless the Army is there, to bed it down. Then fire (fighting personnel) after that," he said.

Firefighters are still busy with Operation Enduring Freedom missions,too, Stewart said. Firefighters helped build tent cities at these locations and helped secure them against fire, he said.

"A lot of (firefighters) have been up in Afghanistan for the last 18 months. Many people don't know that at those Army main operating bases there are Air Force firefighters sitting on the ground and have been on the ground since the day we went in," Stewart said.

"The biggest challenge of going in like that is being shot at. Also, you take for granted you'll always have water everywhere you go -- that's our primary extinguishing agent," he said. "We have to convoy out and get protection to find a water source. The Army or security forces provide that and we all have to work our way back," Stewart said.

No matter what the obstacles or austerity of the terrain, the firefighting teams do what they have to keep the mission on track, Stewart said. "They're doing extremely well, from those (forward) locations to my full-up locations," he said.

As more firefighters move forward to help stabilize a post-war Iraq, they will follow with their own brand of protective services, Stewart said.

"Morale is high. Everybody wants to know when we can go home, but they all know why we're here," he said.

"Being a firefighter is a way of life and all are willing to risk their lives to save another," Stewart said. "We are very close family who truly believe in our motto: 'The Desire to Serve, The Ability to Perform, and The Courage to Act.'"