Illinois Guardsman, Firefighters Train to Fight Fires Without Hydrants

Illinois Guard, Local Firefighters Conduct Joint Tanker Shuttle Training

By Lt. Col. Bradford Leighton, Illinois National Guard

SPARTA, Ill. - The Illinois Army National Guard's Sparta-based firefighting units hosted eight regional civilian fire departments for a comprehensive, joint tanker shuttle training exercise Nov. 8 at the National Guard's Sparta Training Center, sharpening the Guard's critical operational readiness for domestic response missions across Illinois while maintaining deployable expeditionary capabilities for federal missions abroad.

Participating military units included the 615th Firefighting Headquarters, the 661st Firefighting Team and the 662nd Firefighting Team. Personnel and apparatus from the Sparta, Chester, Tilden, Marissa, Mount Vernon, Baldwin, Evansville, and Coulterville Fire Departments also joined.

During the exercise, military and civilian crews coordinated to draft and deliver an uninterrupted flow of water from an on-site pond to supply attack engines battling a simulated fire. Tanker shuttle operations are essential for rural communities that lack municipal fire hydrants, as well as for military firefighters deploying to austere operating environments worldwide where fixed water distribution systems are nonexistent.

"It was a great opportunity to learn how to interoperate and share techniques," said Sparta Fire Department Fire Chief Tim Rucks, who served as the incident commander during the training.

Rucks expressed optimism for the partnership's future, noting that he hopes joint exercises with the Guard's military firefighting elements will become a recurring fixture in regional training schedules.

The exercise also reinforced mutual aid readiness across Southern Illinois. Sparta and several surrounding municipal departments operate within the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, or MABAS, Division 34, a cooperative regional framework serving Randolph County and neighboring areas to rapidly mobilize apparatus, personnel and specialized resources during large-scale incidents. Integrating the Guard's tactical capabilities alongside MABAS partners enhances seamless interoperability during major domestic emergencies.

Army firefighters - classified under Military Occupational Specialty 12M - undergo rigorous training before joining operational units. Following 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training, Soldiers complete a 13-week Advanced Individual Training course at the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. The joint-service curriculum covers structural firefighting, crash-rescue and aircraft fire protection, hazardous materials operations, wildfire containment and emergency medical response, allowing Soldiers to earn dozens of Department of War and nationally recognized certifications aligned with civilian National Fire Protection Association, or NFPA, standards.

The training military firefighters receive is the same as civilian firefighters, said Sgt. 1st Class Chris Yenne, fire chief for the Illinois Army National Guard firefighters and, as a civilian, fire chief for the Mount Vernon Fire Department. The difference is how firefighters might operate in a war zone versus stateside.

"If you are far off at an Army [forward operating base] without a steady supply of water, you might pick and choose what fires you extinguish. For example, if it is a supply container that has critical supplies, then we are going to put that fire out. If it is a helicopter that crashed and you've got the personnel and classified material out, then you might just let it burn and conserve your water," Yenne said.

Several Army firefighters are also civilian firefighters, often using Army training as a springboard for a civilian job. Sgt. Bryan Bennett, an Army firefighter with the Guard's 662nd Firefighter Team and a full-time firefighter with the Carbondale Fire Department, said Army National Guard firefighters don't get the experience of responding to calls unless they are deployed.

"There is a certain amount of adrenaline involved in responding to calls that we don't get training one weekend a month," Bennett said.

Carbondale has an extensive water distribution system with fire hydrants throughout the city, so they don't train as much in tanker shuttle training. However, tanker shuttle training is vital for rural fire departments and military firefighters who often lack fire hydrants upon which to rely.

Other Army National Guard firefighters bring civilian skills to the Army. For example, Spc. Jacob Wilder is an intensive care unit nurse in Elmhurst and Spc. Kyle Leichtenberg is a tower climber for Nextlink Internet. Both bring unique skills that can prove useful to the Army National Guard firefighting units.

Staff Sgt. Matt Holdman, the assistant fire chief for the Army firefighters, arranged the joint training. As a civilian, he is a police officer in Chester, Illinois. Working as a professional police officer who is also trained as a firefighter offers many crossover benefits for both the Army and his community.

"We got a lot of great training [on Nov. 8]," Holdman said. "There might be times that we will need them or they will need us. This gave us a great opportunity to train together."