We shot this photo of U.S. Forest Service air tanker 116, an HC-130H, in Boise on April 20. It was there to deliver the MAFFS unit it has been using so that the Reno National Guard folks can train with it and the other one normally assigned to Reno. After the training the unit will be retrieved by T-116 and hauled back to McClellan in California where that tanker is based.
Two C-130’s and their crews from each of four military bases — Channel Islands, Cheyenne, Colorado Springs, and Reno — are going through their annual training and recertification in Boise this week.
Tanker 116 is using the spare MAFFS unit that was pressed into service when MAFFS 7 crashed this date in 2012. Today is the 5th anniversary of that tragedy on the White Draw fire near Edgemont SD. A moment of silence please in remembrance. Thank you. Stay safe.