Civilian employers get a grip on Airlift Wing operations

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

VIENNA

Amelie Anderson was interested in seeing how military firefighters train to get the upper hand on a blaze under simulated circumstances, but she also knows that each fire can dictate who will work with whom.

“This gives me a better understanding of what our reservists are doing when here, and in their second job,” said Anderson, an assistant to Kent State University’s executive officer of human resources.

Anderson was referring to a 30-minute fire-fighting demonstration that was part of today’s 910th Airlift Wing’s Employer Awareness Day at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.

She was one of between 50 and 60 civilian employers of reservists who attended the daylong program, the main goal of which was to increase the awareness that civilian employers have of the important part Air Force reservists play in defending the country, organizers said.

The program also allowed the employers to experience fire-fighting and other capabilities 910th’members provide to national defense.

Anderson and the others watched as several of the estimated 44 reservist firefighters, some of whom are trained to handle hazardous materials, entered a two-story structure that was filled with smoke. The firefighters are assigned to the 910th Civil Engineer Squadron.

Afterward, they saw the capabilities of a Striker 1,500-gallon crash truck, which needed only a few minutes to spray nearly all of its water about 170 feet.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.