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Active Army Troops Train to Join Oregon Wildfire Fight
Thursday, July 18, 2002
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Castillo said he was in Boise in August last year working with NIFC as soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., fought fires in Washington state. Then and now, he expects the area's September rainy season to play a major part in ending the crisis, he added.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Hundreds of active duty soldiers from Fort Riley, Kan., are training up before they deploy to Oregon next week to help firefighters contain blazes in that Pacific Northwest state.

Capt. John Castillo, an Army engineer from Fort Lewis, Wash., reported for duty in Boise, Idaho, today as a military liaison to the National Interagency Fire Center, which oversees the country's firefighting efforts. He and other military representatives in Boise coordinate the interagency center and any active units called to help fight wildfires.

An NIFC team will go to Fort Riley to give three days of basic firefighting training to about 550 soldiers in a field artillery battalion, Castillo said. The Kansans are then expected to arrive Tuesday in Boise before heading to the Oregon site Wednesday for two days of familiarization training.

"Then, they'll go out to the fire line," he said.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

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