US Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Regional Office
740 Simms Street
Golden, Colorado 80401
File Code:
Route To:
5700
Subject:
South Dakota Army National Guard Approval
To:
Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest
Office of Aviation Services
Eastern Region
3190 NE Expressway, Suite 250
Atlanta, Georgia 30341
Date:
June 24, 2013
USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region and Department of Interior Eastern Region, has
approved South Dakota Army National Guard pilots and aircraft for use in Wildland Fire
Fighting and/or Emergency Life Saving missions activities as specified in the South Dakota
Interagency Cooperative Fire Management Agreement for the period of June 2013 through June
2014. This approval is in accordance with Forest Service Manual 5712.34 and Department of
Interior 351 DM 04 and OPM 13-41. The pilots have completed all training specified as
“Designated and Non-Designated Military Missions.” The training has been conducted as a joint
effort between the South Dakota Army National Guard the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of
Land Management. The training included: Basic Fire Behavior, Reconnaissance Techniques, and
Water Bucket Operations to ensure safe and effective operations. Agency Helicopter Inspector
Pilot (HIP) or Helicopter Operations Specialist (HOS) may be on board for training or mission
operation observation purposes. To promote safe and effective helicopter operations, the
Interagency Helicopter Operations Guide (IHOG) and appropriate National Guard Field Manuals
and Guides will be complied with during all wild land firefighting operations. ALL aircraft used
in support of multi-agency incidents will require radio communications sufficient to
communicate with other aircraft on VHF-AM frequencies and fire line personnel on VHF-FM
frequencies.
For fire assignments on multi-agency incidents, a qualified Helicopter Manager or Helicopter
Coordinator will be assigned to assist the flight crew to work with the Incident Management
Team. This will occur after the initial attack period and going into extended operations. The
Helicopter Manager or Coordinator will be experienced in fire behavior and aerial firefighting
tactics. A comprehensive briefing will include mission objectives, aircraft safety features and
aircraft performance. As a minimum, Pilots-In-Command (PIC) for the South Dakota Army
National Guard will have a designation of Readiness Level 1 (RL1).
The following pilots and aircraft are approved for Bucket Operations, Recon and Passenger
Transport provided certified seats are available in the aircraft. These pilots have been verified by
the Unit Commander as having met RL1 requirements, and have attended the unit’s annual
firefighting training:
FS--6200-12a
UH-60 Aircraft Commanders
LTC Snow, Mike
CW4 Reindl, Mike
MAJ Murphy, Jon
MAJ Flanery, Mike
1LT Suelflow, Dean
CW3 Wiley, Ryan
CW2 Otto, Josh
CW2 Hiles, Pat
APPROVED AIRCRAFT (Type and registration number)
UH-60A
78-22979
81-23571
81-23606
82-23751
87-24635
If you have questions concerning this approval contact the following:
USFS - Jim Lawson, Regional Helicopter Operations Specialist at 719-338-3918 or
jlawson01@fs.fed.us.
DOI – Frank Crump, OAS Eastern Regional Director, at 770-458-7474 or
frank_crump@ios.doi.gov.
Please keep a copy of this letter in each of the South Dakota National Guard Aircraft listed
above. This will ensure continuous ability to cooperate on interagency firefighting missions.
This letter of approval will expire on June 30, 2014.
/S/ SANDRA T. LAFARR
Regional Aviation Officer
cc: Todd Pechota
Jason Virtue
Jim Lawson
Glenn S Bartter
Debbie K Bozarth
Jim A Fletcher
Scott Sugg
Scott Fisher
/S/ FRANK CRUMP
FRANK CRUMP
Eastern Regional Director
DOI Office of Aviation Services