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California Air National Guardsmen from the 146th Airlift Wing at Channel Island ANGB launched two C-130Hs outfitted for aerial firefighting on 5 May to help fight wildfires in Southern California. Twelve missions were flown, dropping more than 32,000 pounds of flame retardant on the region. The unit's C-130s are equipped with the modular airborne firefighting system, or MAFFS, and joined air and ground units fighting wildfires in several Southern California counties. The 146th AW has been flying aerial firefighting missions since the 1970s. Today, three Air National Guard and one Air Force Reserve Command C-130 units fly eight MAFFS-equipped planes to assist federal and state forestry and fire protection agencies to battle wild fires.
Photo By MSgt. Rod Thornburg
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