FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. (KGUN) — National Guard and Reserve crews are training at Fort Huachuca this week alongside the U.S. Forest Service as part of their annual preparation for wildfire season.
The training focuses on the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS), which uses Forest Service water and compressed air systems with military aircraft to drop fire retardant on wildfires.
"This annual training has been here at Fort Huachuca for the last four years. One of the reasons it makes a great location is because of its capacity to hold those large Air Force aircraft," I observed during the training exercises, watching pilots and ground crews work together to ensure readiness for wildfire season.
The Forest Service deploys MAFFS aircraft when its contract air tankers are fully committed to incidents nationwide.
"We use MAFFS in kind of a surge capacity. The Forest Service does so when we have contract air tankers, and when those have all been used up or committed to incidents all over, we'll contact the send in the request for assistance to the Department of War," said Justin Bohannan, MAFFS Program Coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service.
Planes from California, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado participated in the training, practicing refueling and dropping water in designated drop areas.
Eric Lathrop, Tanker Base Manager at Fort Huachuca, explained that the process takes time due to tank compression requirements.
"You'll see they'll finish fairly quickly, but to compress the tank is what takes it longer," Lathrop said.
Over 160 planes departed from Fort Huachuca to assist with fires in 2025. The airfield's strategic location allows aircraft to respond to fires throughout southern Arizona and the Southwest.
"We don't want to rush things, but we want to get the planes up in the air with retardant, to get it to the firefighters that are calling it for it, because they need the assistance at that time. So it's kind of a fast-paced kind of thing," Lathrop said.
The tanker base is scheduled to open in April for wildfire season, but remains ready for earlier deployment if needed.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
