An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Iraqi air force firefighters demonstrate capability

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Sanjay Allen
  • Air Component Coordination Element-Iraq Public Affairs
NEW AL MUTHANA AIR BASE, Iraq --  As U.S. Forces across Iraq transition from combat operations to advising and assisting, the importance of proficiency training and certification of the Iraqi air force increases significantly.

Advisors from the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission-Air Force and firefighters from the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at Sather AB conducted compliance training on Aug. 5 and 9 with members of the Iraqi air force firefighters.

"We try to make the training as realistic as possible so that if there is an incident or accident out here on the flight line, they can respond appropriately," said Maj. John Creighton, ITAM-AF logistics. "What we're looking for is the response time; how long it takes them to respond from the flight line for the emergency."

Iraqi firefighters demonstrated their ability to rescue aircrew members during a simulated fire and their ability to put out an aircraft fire during "live fire" exercises.

The training that all the firefighters -- Iraq Special Operations Forces, New Al Muthana and Baghdad International Airport -- have put in is paying off.

"The Iraqi air force is making tremendous progress," said Brig. Gen. Scott Hanson, ITAM-AF director and 321st Air Expeditionary Wing commander. "They increase their capacity every day. Today's fire fighting exercise was one more example of the steps that I see taking place every day to grow capabilities for the nation of Iraq."

Now that the Iraqi air force firefighters have shown they are capable of putting out fires and rescuing fellow airmen, it doesn't mean they can rest on their laurels and wait for an emergency. Being a firefighter means constant training to stay proficient.

"They are headed in the right direction," said Senior Master Sgt. Stephen Turner, 447th ECES fire emergency services chief. "It will be up to them and their efforts to continue to train and communicate with each other. Firefighter's duties are continuously evolving. The more they train together, the better they will be able to handle anything they are presented with."

Sergeant Turner, who is deployed from the South Carolina Air National Guard, explained that firefighting operations are scheduled to be turned over to a contracted company by the end of August but the agencies will continue to talk and train with each other.

"One day Sather will be turned back over to the Iraqi's," he said. "It is nice to know that they can rely on each other for mutual aid if such a situation required them to work together."

As US Forces continue the Responsible Drawdown of Forces and the Air Force footprint shrinks to approximately 7,000 Airmen in Iraq, the training proves the be another step toward the Iraqi air force being able to sustain itself.

"It's important, I think, as we move ahead to understand how our role may change and how this training and advise and assist role continues to play a critical, if not perhaps, the most important role in Iraq for the U.S. forces," General Hanson said.

The general also talked about the importance of continued growth and proficiency training for the Iraqi firefighters.

"We do that in our United States military," he said. "We field forces that are ready to do the mission. But it requires continual training. Regular training to keep your proficiency, to gain experience and to mature your skills and to develop instructors so that the next generation of Iraqi air force firefighters will be taught by Iraqis themselves and they will have an enduring capability to guard the air field and protect lives."

The firefighter's mindset is universal. It crosses borders, oceans and cultural boundaries and their approach to training remains the same with a goal to protect property and save lives.

"We have enjoyed the interaction with our Iraqi firefighters," Sergeant Turner said. "We didn't know what to expect from them when we arrived but we quickly found out that firefighters everywhere are pretty much the same. We're comfortable running into a building on fire when everyone else is running out of it. We train to get better because lives are on the line."