Tyndall teams with Florida Forestry Service

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Andrea Valencia
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Jim Roncaglione, 325th Operations Support Squadron chief of airspace management, and Bobby Richardson, 325th Civil Engineer Squadron assistant fire chief, attended the annual Florida Forestry Service personnel meeting Aug. 16.

The two men briefed the foresters about Tyndall's mission and how the base's flying patterns affected their areas. They also discussed safety concerns and the need for cooperation should an incident involving Tyndall's aircraft occur.

"We asked them to come out because a lot of our foresters don't know anything about the aircraft," said Daniel Stanley, Forest Area supervisor. "It's good for them to know about what the aircraft are doing over our areas."

Roncaglione started off his brief with a basic overview of Tyndall's mission and units. He also gave a description of each of the aircraft, their capabilities and what types of training and flying they would be doing.

He explained the base's military operation areas, which cover most of the forestry areas. Each area has different parameters for altitude and types of training allowed.

"We cover a lot of acreage when we're dealing with our own helicopters or fixed wing aircraft for fires," said Stanley. "We need to know how the military planes train and what altitudes they fly at, so there's no interference when we have our own missions."

Richardson went over the general hazards associated with a possible downed aircraft and proper emergency response procedures. The Forestry Service has procedures for their own downed aircraft, but none for military planes, especially with the possibility of live ordnance on board.

"If there is an accident, the response needs to be a coordinated effort; we can't do it all alone," said Richardson.

With the installation's transition to Air Combat Command, there will be an influx of additional F-22 Raptors, which will increase sorties and flights in the military operating areas. Tyndall and the Forestry Service are working to build and maintain a relationship, so in the event of a possible accident in their areas, action will be well coordinated.

"We are very glad to have them out here," said Stanley. "We learned a lot today; we've had many questions over the years and Bobby and Jim covered them all very well."