Philippe Bodino receives the 2015 Walt Darran International Aerial Firefighting Award

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories MiscTags , ,
Walt Darran Award 2015
Left to right: Jerome Laval, CAL FIRE pilot; Richard Alder, General Manager, National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) in Australia; Philippe Bodino; Rear Admiral Terry Loughran (CB FRAes) Royal Navy, Tangent Link Chairman, and conference speaker; and Jeff Cavarra, Program Manager at DynCorp International. Photo by Frédéric Marsaly.

The 2015 Aerial Fire Fighting Europe conference took place this year in Zadar, Croatia on April 29 and 30. During the dinner event on the 29th the second Walt Darran International Aerial Firefighting Award was presented to Philippe Bodino. The Award is given annually to recognize a significant contribution by an individual or organization to aerial firefighting.

Colonel Philippe Bodino is a French firefighter who was heavily involved in ground firefighting but was also an “officier aero” (ie, Air Tactical Group Supervisor, or ATGS). He was director of the French Fire Academy (Ecole Nationale Superieur des Officiers de Sapeur-Pompiers) and led a group who wrote the manual for Sécurité Civile Fire Fighters on how to manage aerial fire fighting assets over incidents so that the aircraft could efficiently support ground troops.

The award for Mr. Bodino was presented by Richard Alder, General Manager of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) in Australia. Mounted on the award is a model of Tanker 93, an S-2 flown by Mr. Darran when he was based at Chico, California.

The Walt Darran International Aerial Firefighting Award is named after the late Walt Darran who was a highly experienced airtanker pilot from California, USA, a constant and passionate advocate for safety and improvement in the aerial firefighting industry. In 2014, the first award was presented to George Petterson.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Frédéric Marsaly for supplying the information and the photo.

Typos, let us know, and please keep in mind the commenting ground rules before you post a comment.

3 thoughts on “Philippe Bodino receives the 2015 Walt Darran International Aerial Firefighting Award”

  2. “In recognition of the most significant contribution for global aerial fire fighting” says the plaque supporting a model of Walt’s last tanker (T93).

    Thanks to Ben Drew of Tangent Link for the concept and a great organisation of the 2015 AFF Conference.

    Thanks to Dyncorp for sponsoring the ceremony and the dinner.

    looking forward to attend 2016 AFF Tangent Link Conference.

    Jerome

  3. Congratulations to Colonel Philippe Bodino ! Award well deserved for all contributions to improve procedures, safety and efficiency in aerial fire fighting.

Comments are closed.