Ohio Army, Air National Guard firefighters
continuously hone skills:
178th Wing firefighters train with fellow Airmen at Rickenbacker
By 178th Wing Public Affairs
 Airman 1st Class Anthony Le, Ohio National Guard
Airmen with 178th Wing Fire Emergency Services practice with live fire during their annual training day Aug. 3, 2017, at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio, Annual training is required for firefighters and helps improving mission readiness. |
COLUMBUS, Ohio (10/13/17) — More than 10 members of the 178th Wing Fire Emergency Services took part in an annual live fire training exercise Aug. 3 at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base.
“It’s an annual requirement for firefighters to have live fire training,” said Senior Master Sgt. Brian K. Stiteler, deputy chief of the 178th Fire Emergency Services. “Being in the Air Force, especially, they don’t have the opportunity to see actual fire all the time. This way they see it every year and will be prepared when they would encounter the real thing.”
Stiteler said it was a much needed exercise and would help improve mission readiness for his firefighters.
“Muscle memory is extremely important in our occupation,” Stiteler said. “The more that I can put a guy or a gal in this environment, the better they are going to be able to respond and recognize something being out of the ordinary in the real environment.”
Senior Airman Peter Morris, a firefighter with the 178th Fire Emergency Services flight, said that the exercise helps him to be ready for his job.
“It’s been a while since I had the opportunity to do burn on an aircraft so it’s great to get inside one to see what it looks like and what we’re supposed to do,” Morris said. “Any chance we get to be around the aircrafts will help us to see what it’s like in the real world, especially when we deploy.”
The firefighters went through an exercise that simulated a situation where there was a plane crash caused by an in-flight emergency. |
