CREECH AIR FORCE BASE HEATS UP, NV, UNITED STATES

Photo By Senior Airman Adarius Petty | U.S. Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, center right, joins the Nellis-Creech Fire Emergency Services Flight for a group photo after the ribbon cutting for Fire Station 6 on March 4, 2015, at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The new facility will keep the unit’s mission in line with DoD emergency time and distance response mandates, where 'response time' is most often the critical factor in successful emergency mitigation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Adarius Petty/Released)

CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, NV, UNITED STATES

Date Taken: 03.04.2015 Date Posted: 08.02.2016 18:22

Story by Senior Airman Adarius Petty 

432d Wing/Public Affairs

The quality of support at Creech Air Force Base recently got a boost when the Nellis-Creech Fire Emergency Services Flight received a new home here.

Fire Station 6 officially opened during a ribbon cutting ceremony March 4, 2015 followed by a walk-through demonstration of the facility's several new capabilities.

"Fire house 6 adds facility and aircraft fire-rescue, emergency medical service, hazardous material and technical rescue emergency mitigation," said Robert Ward, fire department assistant chief. "It will enhance facility fire inspections; community fire safety awareness and education."

The former facility was a military family housing unit that had been converted to offices, meaning the staff had minimal space to conduct business. The relocation, however, will provide fire department management personnel and fire inspectors increased office space and storage areas for vehicles and other equipment. This enhancement only came to fulfillment through the supportive efforts of several units at Creech and Nellis Air Force Bases.

"We would like to express our deeply-felt gratitude to personnel in the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office, to facility construction project managers in both the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron and 799th Air Base Squadron and , to our Nellis-Creech firefighters who assisted in Fire House bed down operations," said Ward.

The new $8.3 million, 19,000 square foot fire house provides a location for fire trucks and firefighters to quickly respond to the growing northern portion of the base's airfield. The new facility will keep the mission in line with Department of Defense emergency time and distance response mandates, where response time is most often the critical factor in successful emergency mitigation.

Members of the Nellis-Creech Fire Emergency Services Flight, Fire Station 6, listen to a speaker during the Fire Station 6 ribbon cutting ceremony March 4, 2015, at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The new fire house provides a location for fire trucks and firefighters to quickly respond to the growing northern portion of the base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Adarius Petty/Released)

Right to left, U.S. Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, Col. Richard Boutwell, 99th Air Base Wing commander, John Beauchamp, Nellis-Creech Fire Emergency Services fire chief, and Chief Master Sgt. Steve McDonald, ACC command chief, pose for a photo following the ribbon cutting ceremony for Fire Station 6 on March 4, 2015, at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The new fire house provides a location for fire trucks and firefighters to quickly respond to the growing northern portion of the base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Adarius Petty/Released)

The Nellis-Creech Fire Emergency Services Flight’s Fire Station 6 personnel applaud the speaker during the Fire Station 6 ribbon cutting ceremony March 4, 2015, at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The new facility will keep the unit’s mission in line with DoD emergency time and distance response mandates, where 'response time' is most often the critical factor in successful emergency mitigation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Adarius Petty/Released)

U.S. Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, left, and John Beauchamp, Nellis-Creech Fire Emergency Services fire chief, drive a truck to break the ribbon during a ceremony for the new Fire Station 6 on March 4, 2015, at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The new fire house provides a location for fire trucks and firefighters to quickly respond to the growing northern portion of the base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Adarius Petty/Released)

USS Shoup conducts flight operations

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 29, 2016) – Damage Controlman 2nd Class Matthew Kill, assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86), stands by in firefighting gear during flight operations on the flight deck, during Rim of the Pacific 2016. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Holly L. Herline)

PACIFIC OCEAN, UNITED STATES

08.04.2016

Courtesy Photo

Navy Media Content Services

Prime BEEF a recipe for success

Airmen with the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron litter carry a training dummy during the Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) challenge at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., July 22, 2016. The purpose of the Prime BEEF challenge is a way to put field experience to the test in a competitive environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Donald Knechtel)

28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
July 29, 2016

ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. | The Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force challenge kicked off at Ellsworth AFB July 22 with more than 130 participants.

Prime BEEF teams consist of 28th Civil Engineer Squadron personnel who are organized, equipped and trained to respond within hours to worldwide emergencies and to support the Air Force's mission with base build-up, sustainment and recovery operations.

The challenge they underwent consisted of endurance events such as Self Aid Buddy Care, a realistic simulation of providing medical care to victims in a Humvee accident, and the M4 relay, which simulated a weapon system being down and bringing it back up to an operational level.

“The purpose of the Prime BEEF challenge is a way to put field experience to the test in a competitive environment,” said Master Sgt. Mitchell Meis, 28th CES emergency readiness chief.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s, during events such as the Berlin Crisis, Lebanon Crisis and Cuban Missile Crisis, aircraft and support personnel were being deployed without runways, water supply, electricity, housing and other facilities necessary to support them. Civil engineer personnel we needed to rapidly respond and provide basing facilities. The Air Force's answer was the Prime BEEF program.

Members of Prime BEEF have proven it to be one of the Air Force’s most versatile and productive programs by providing bed-down of small structures and sustainment resources in a deployed environment. In 2014, the Prime BEEF challenge at Ellsworth was created by Robert Cronan, retired Chief Master Sgt., as a way to train 28th CES personnel on various disaster scenarios.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to experience front-line emergencies,” said Airman 1st Class Willie Lyons, 28th CES customer service technician.

Lyons also mentioned it helps Airmen prepare for deployment, and helps prevent them from being thrown into something unexpected.

“It started in 2014 as a way to challenge shops within the squadron on scenarios that may happen in a battlefield environment,” Meis said.

Meis explained the challenges’ importance, stating it also builds morale and promotes esprit de corps for the Airmen through healthy competition.

“I feel the challenge builds confidence in our personnel by coming together and doing a field day that is challenging, morale building, and also serves to educate our civil engineers on expeditionary war time tasks,” Meis said.

Airmen treat wounds on volunteer casualties at the Self Aid Buddy Care (SABC) station during the Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) challenge at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., July 22, 2016. The Prime BEEF challenge consists of five events such as the Litter Carry, Six Passenger Push, SABC, M4 relay and Battle Buddy stations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Donald Knechtel)

Camp Guernsey hosts transient firefighters

A wildland firefighting crew from New Jersey loads its gear and prepares to depart for one of the many fires burning in the region at the temporary Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey. Camp Guernsey JTC staff worked quickly to accommodate the emergency management effort. (Wyoming Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy McGuire)

WY, UNITED STATES
08.02.2016
Story by Sgt. 1st Class James McGuire
Wyoming National Guard

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - While most of Wyoming's wild land firefighting assets are engaged with fires, and a very high fire danger level is in effect
throughout much of the Cowboy State, Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center quickly made arrangements to support a request to become a staging area for firefighting crews from around the country.

Camp Guernsey operations officer Maj. Michael Fields said the request was received July 28 and the following day 123 firefighters were flown in from Eastern states, ready to be dispatched from Guernsey to anywhere in the six-state Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Forest Service's jurisdiction.

"We waived the 30-day rule to reserve facilities on camp. Billeting said
they had rooms and the dining facility assured us they could support them," said Fields.
"They may be staying here minutes to days," said R.J. Johnson, a fire
equipment research and development manager from the Bureau of Land
Management in Idaho, and the manager of the Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey.

"The mission is to marry up fire crews with tools and transportation and to take care of all their logistical needs," added Johnson.

The crews, currently from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia, are flown to Casper, Wyoming, and then bused to Camp Guernsey where they await dispatch to a 14-day assignment at any of the numerous fires burning in the region.

"This is an ideal central spot where we can round up a couple hundred
people, give them a bed and shower, feed them and get them on the buses," said Gary Hobbs, Wyoming State Forestry Task Force leader, who is assisting the coordination effort at Guernsey.

"Billeting and the (dining facility) have been outstanding. We had a crew
come in last night that got a couple bites of dinner down and got called up. It's very fluid here. Others might sit and wait for a while."

Numbers have fluctuated over the first few days from 123 to 185 firefighters staged at Guernsey. Hobbs said the effort may last through August depending on the fire situation.

The Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center services Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas and North and South Dakota.

R.J. Johnson, a fire equipment research and development manager from the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho, tracks crews and assignments at the temporary Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey, where wildland firefighters are staging for assignment to fires in the region. Camp Guernsey JTC staff worked quickly to accommodate the emergency management effort. (Wyoming Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy McGuire)

Gary Hobbs, Wyoming State Forestry Task Force Leader, briefs Camp Guernsey Joint Training Center leaders on the status of the temporary Rocky Mountain Area Mobilization Center at Guernsey, where wildland firefighters are staging for assignment to fires in the region. Hobbs is a former fire chief with the Wyoming Army National Guard and was assigned to Camp Guernsey. (Wyoming Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jimmy McGuire)

Navy pilot safely ejects before fighter crash in Nevada

US Navy 040225-N-9907G-001 An F-A-18C Hornet assigned to the Strike Fighter Squadron One Five (VFA-15) makes its final approach before landing. From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

FALLON, Nev. — A Navy pilot has safely ejected from a fighter jet that crashed in the northern Nevada desert during a training mission near the Fallon Naval Air Station. Air station spokesman Joseph Vincent confirmed the F/A-18C Hornet crashed about 10:45 a.m. Tuesday about 10 miles southeast of the naval base in Fallon, about 60 miles east of Reno. Vincent says the pilot was returning to the base from a routine training mission when he was forced to eject from the aircraft.
Ground crews picked him up. Vincent has no details on the pilot's condition. He says he was taken to a clinic on the base, then transferred to Banner Churchill Regional Medical Center in Fallon.
The plane is attached to the Naval Aviation War-fighting Development Center based at Fallon NAS.
The accident remains under investigation.