Above: MAFFS parked on the ramp at Boise, April 20, 2017, for their annual training.
This is the second year in a row that all four military bases that operate C-130 aircraft with Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS) have assembled in one place to conduct their annual training and certification. Today, Thursday, was all indoor ground school, held in the theater at the Idaho National Guard facility at Gowen Field in Boise.
On Friday their plans are to fly the aircraft and make water drops in the Boise National Forest.
Each of the four bases sent two MAFFS-equipped C-130’s plus at least one additional C-130 with support equipment. The MAFFS bases are at Reno, Colorado Springs, Cheyenne, and Channel Islands (in southern California). Reno, last year and this year, has had just one MAFFS unit available, since the U.S. Forest Service HC-130H has been using one of the eight that are available, but this week Reno will be training with two. The USFS HC-130H is parked across the runway from the National Guard side of the airport at the National Interagency Fire Center. We’ll check, but it may have hauled the MAFFS up to Boise so that Reno could use it.
We will have much more about the MAFFS training later this week, with more photos and hopefully, interviews.
It looks like a very inexpensive and costs effective porgram to me. Is there a true gross $ amount to the program for the tax payer. It only looks 200+ personal in that auditorium.
There are more than 400 people involved, but not all of them are required to attend every class.