Soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., assigned to Task Force Blaze put their wildland firefighting training into action for the first time Aug. 19 by taking on the wildfires burning in the state of Washington.
Following three days of classroom and field instruction from experienced wildland firefighters, the Soldiers were ready to face the flames.
“Guys are eager to get out there,” said 1st Sgt. William Moon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment. “They’re motivated to take on some of these smaller spot fires. They feel they’re ready to get out there and fight some bigger fires.”
Soldiers on the fire teams who have been in combat fire fights overseas said that they are now part of a different kind of fire fight.
“I feel all right,” said Pfc. Richard Swerski, Company B, 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. “I think I’m ready. I think we’re all ready. We work pretty well as a team -- laying the line down quickly.”
Swerski and nearly 500 of his fellow Soldiers from Fort Lewis spent the day performing mop-up operations on forest fires in the Tripod Complex in north central Washington.
“You’ve got to make sure that mop-up is complete before you move on,” Moon said.
The arduous work requires a high level of physical fitness and has an undeniable element of danger -- conditions to which U.S. Soldiers are accustomed.
“This is their first day on the line, and they’re still learning,” said Ted Hall, a Military Civilian Advisor and firefighter from Los Angeles County. “Training people in only two days is tough. I know that they’re doing great work, though.”