Veteran's Fire Corps - Prescott National Forest - Fall 2011

On monday we drove out to the Groom Creek area to cut an extra 60 acre chunk out of where we had already burned. Tuesday to Thursday we drove out to Cherry, an area in the West Zone of Prescott National Forest. With the drop in the weather it is difficult to get the fire to light on tuesday. However, on Wednesday the test fire is unsuccessful and we are unable to burn all together. Thursday we have drip torches in hand and finish up the burn site. Friday is a tools and vehicles maintenance day.

The Daily Courier: Veterans get wildland fire training to help transition back to civilian life

By: Joanna Dodder Nellans
View the original article by clicking here.

PRESCOTT, AZ (Nov. 12, 2011) - A new program on Arizona's national forests is trying to help put a dent in the high unemployment rate for young veterans while fostering environmental conservation education.

The Veterans Fire Corps program hired veterans who formed teams of wildland firefighters to help with prescribed burns and brush thinning on the Prescott and Apache-Sitgreaves national forests, with the help of the Student Conservation Association. They've also helped build fence and trails.

It's a perfect transition, the veterans working out of Prescott said.

"It relates to our military history and makes me feel comfortable," said Chris Stacy, a native of Ketchikan in Southeast Alaska who logged 9,000 miles as a lead vehicle convoy driver delivering supplies in Iraq and continues to serve in the National Guard. "We all integrated really fast."

For example, wildland firefighting crews use the Incident Command System that the military created.

"It's an easy transition," agreed Marshall Kulp, who worked at an Army refueling station in Iraq and just got out of the Army this spring. "The enemy is fire."

The two jobs also share an emphasis on responsibility and discipline, Kulp added.

Four veterans are working here with project leader Bobby Woelz of the Student Conservation Association.

The veterans get a stipend, lodging, food and medical coverage along with an opportunity to enroll in the AmeriCorps Education Award program and get extra college tuition or loan support in the future. All four already have some level of college education.

They completed rigorous training in wilderness first aid, fire ecology, chainsaw use and wildland firefighting, earning red cards that make them eligible for wildland firefighting jobs.

While the national unemployment rate is about 9 percent, the unemployment rate for the nation's 2.3 million war veterans is over 13 percent.

The program also furthers the Student Conservation Association's goal of building the next generation of conservation leaders and inspiring environmental stewardship.

The goal appears to have been fulfilled on the Prescott National Forest.

The Veterans Fire Corps team members working on the Prescott National Forest all hail from other states, and most said they previously had no idea that Arizona even had forests.

"I thought it was all desert," said Kulp, who grew up in Indianapolis.

Now nearing the end of their three-month stint, the team members are considering jobs related to public lands and environmental conservation.

Kulp wants to be a smokejumper. He said he really enjoys the discipline, camaraderie, outdoors physical work and the opportunity to help people. He already has a degree in outdoor recreation and resource management.

Tim Gurnett, an Omaha native who has spent the past 5.5 years in active duty in Iceland, Bahrain, Kuwait and Hawaii, wants to be a law enforcement officer on public lands. He got a taste of the work during training on the Prescott National Forest, and next year he's headed to the National Park Service Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program Academy in Rangely, Colo. He's nearly finished earning an environmental studies degree.

"The whole experience will really stick with me," Gurnett said. "It gives you a different respect for people who work in the forest."

Kelli Smith, who hails from Palmdale, Calif. and already has a degree in anthropology after serving four years in Army air defense in El Paso, is joining a Prescott Forest archaeologist during a typical day's work before heading to a dig in Utah soon.

And Stacy said he's thinking about getting a helicopter pilot's license and finishing college. He's also expressed interest in being an SCA congressional intern focusing on water conservation and climate change.

Woelz said the vets are more mature and responsible than other young adults when they first join Student Conservation Association teams.

"They make my job a lot easier in some respects," he said.

Prescott National Forest Fire Staff Officer Pete Gordon said the veterans have been hard working, eager and motivated to learn.

"I'm just proud that we're doing a little bit here to pay back the folks who made a sacrifice to our country," he said.

Bobby received his start in conservation by volunteering for four months on an ecological reserve in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala with the non-profit organization, Volunteer Petén. While receiving his degree in Anthropology from Metropolitan State College of Denver he interned with Fifth Sun Development Fund as an Environmental Anthropologist in the rural villages of Northern Mexico. This is Bobby’s fifth season with the SCA, previously serving two season in Fire and two seasons in Trails. He is a passionate outdoor enthusiast, conservationist, and is a certified Wildland Firefighter Type 1, Chainsaw A Feller, Cross-cut B Feller, Wilderness First Responder, and a Leave No Trace Master Educator. When he’s not leading the V.F.C. conducting prescribed burns in Prescott National Forest you might find him riding his enduro across the desert and canyoneering with his better half (and fellow SCA Project Leader), Anna, throughout Arizona and Utah.

Feel free to email or call Bobby with any questions or interest about the Veteran’s Fire Corps.

248 Vallejo, ST. APT. B
Prescott, AZ 86301-7524
C: 208.608.6324
rwoelz@thesca.org

My name is Tim Gurnett, I am from Omaha Nebraska. I joined the Navy right out of high school and did 5 years as a MP. I got out to do try something different. I really enjoy the work we are doing out here, and I look forward to my future career in land mangenment.

My name is Marshall Stephen Kulp. I was born in Bloomington, Indiana on September 30, 1984. My parents divorced when I was three years old. My mother gained custody of me and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. Throughout my childhood, I competed in athletics: baseball, swimming, soccer, football, wrestling, track and field and cross country. During high school, I lettered in 12 Varsity sports in four years and won various Conference, City, and multiple team tournaments in Cross Country, Wrestling, and Track. Academically, I fared well, earning a Cumulative 3.7 GPA and becoming a Who’s Who Among High School students. After graduation, I attended Indiana University. There, I signed up for the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) between the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) and the Indiana National Guard. This program took the financial stress off my parents by paying my college tuition, providing me a monthly stipend, and military training. After graduating college, I entered the US Army as a Second Lieutenant. I received transportation training and was then stationed in Germany. Soon after, I deployed to Iraq. In March 2011, after serving 3 ½ years in the US Army, I resigned my commission and became a civilian. Soon after, I moved from Indianapolis to Denver, Colorado where I landed a summer job as a Park Ranger for the Colorado State Park Service and pursued a wildland fire fighting position as an intern with SCA’s Veterans’ Fire Corp (VFC). I am now a member of the VFC.

Another week of prescribed fires. Monday we prep the Groom Creek area including digging line around large snags (dead trees that are still providing for wildlife) so that they wont burn and sawing an area to help contain the fire when its time to burn. This week the plan is to burn Tuesday and Thursday and to monitor the fire on Wednesday and Friday (maybe even Saturday). The prescribed for Tuesday was burned a few years ago, this is what the Forest Service refers to as a maintenance burn. We are there to protect structures from future fire by reducing the fuels load and clearing some of the understory to make room for new growth. Tuesday the VFC holds the line. Wednesday we monitored the area after the burn. Thursday is an "initial entry" burn. Their is a lot of fuels on the ground. This burn is expected to burn hot. It does but cools rather quickly. Friday the VFC preforms tool maintenance, vehicle maintenance and any other odds and ends we need to complete for the week.

The weekend before brought the area much rain so their will be no prescribed burning this week. That does not mean a week of relaxation in the "fire world." It means a week of back breaking prep work. We start the days going out to Chino Valley and meeting with Crew 2's second-in-command, Corey. Corey directs us to archaeological sites that wont get burned, or new areas where hand line needs to be dug. This week we got to work with saws, pulaski's, mcleod's, blowers, rakes and anything else that will get the job done. It's a great week in the Fire World!

Monday morning we are in route to Chino Valley to meet Crew 2, we have to finish brushing the trail we started on Friday. When we reach Chino we fuel up our Dolmar (small container filled with fuel and oil for our chainsaws). We prep our equipment and get in the mindset to work. When Crew 2 is ready to leave so are we. We follow the green truck out to the site. First is a hike up from the road to the trail where we stopped Friday. Brushing projects begin on the trail and sawyers and swampers are hard at work. Work does not take long to finish and we break for lunch. After lunch we will hike back to the trucks and head back to Chino Valley. At the trucks we perform an AAR (After Action Review) to recap the trail maintenance project including both days. We review what was supposed to happen and any bumps we came to along the way. When the day is over we perform tool maintenance.
On Tuesday we are to meet Crew 2 again at 0800 and perform more trail maintenance and brushing operations. On the AZ-89N about 2 miles from the Chino Valley office we see three green trucks pass us, trucks we know to belong to Crew 2. Over the radio they announce to the Dispatch that they are in route to the “Lookout Fire.” Unsure of what to do next we call our agency contact, Assistant FMO for the East Zone of Prescott National Forest, Jason Clauson. Mr. Clauson has us contact the FMO of the East Zone to find out where they need us. We head to the Prescott Fire Center to see him. We have not received our “Red Cards” yet so we cannot help with the wildfire. Today will be the day we catch up on our team needs, vehicle maintenance, and tool inspection/repair. At 1300 we are told to head to the White Spar Campground area and find trail 396. This trail, we learn, is a trail that is a part of the Prescott Circle Trail Project. We clean up and perform maintenance on 396 until end of day.
Wednesday we meet with a gentleman by the name of Evan, he is based out of the Downtown Prescott Forest Service Office. Evan is a “Trail Guy.” We learn more about the Circle Trail Project; it is a connection of trails that form a circle around the Prescott Basin. We are to construct trail in a new area to connect two existing trails. Today we learn the basics of constructing a new trail. Along the side of the mountain someone has flagged an area where the trail will be. We gather our hand tools and get to work. Between today and tomorrow we have to construct 800 yards of new trail. We complete a little more than half.
Thursday we meet Evan at the Downtown Prescott office and head back out to the Circle Trail. Today is a little different; we are working with a group of trail volunteers. The rest of the trail is completed by lunch time. The next area we drive to has not been brushed yet. We have three saws running, and four swampers. We prep the trail for a trail crew to lay in the trail at a later time. At the end of the day we perform an AAR and Evan informs us that Friday we will be working with his trail crew and doing trail maintenance on Mingus Mountain.
Friday morning we meet Erin, Lauren and Cricket (Evan’s team) at the hardware store down the street from out headquarters in Prescott at 0730. It is a forty-five minute drive to the Mingus Mountain trail we will work on. We go over a safety brief at the trucks and Erin lets us know the plan for the day. We will hike in about 2 miles in then begin the trail maintenance. The trail is in the desert of the mountain with no shade cover. It is a hard day’s work maintaining this trail and when 1230 rolls around we search for a shaded area to eat our lunch. After lunch we work our way back the way we came finishing up some of the work we missed. At 1430 we head back to the trucks and back to our HQ in Prescott. Another successful week for the VFC.

Members of the Prescott National Forest VFC Team (and the Apache-Sitgreaves VFC Team ), enjoyed two weeks of SCA Orientation, Red Card (wildland fire), and Wilderness First Aid training. The first week was designated for Red Card training. We took S-190 (Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior), S-130 (Firefighter Training), I-100 (Introduction to Incident Command System, and L-180 (Human Factors on the Fireline). On Friday, September 2nd, we performed our pack test and conducted a field training exercise (FTX). The pack test is designed to test our physical endurance. We carried 45 pounds for three miles in under 45 minutes. Our FTX was completely crew member run. Our squad boss was not the project leader but a fellow crew member. We established escape routes and safety zones, established a lookout, built a fireline, and had to use our fire shelters. It was good to practice the techniques and knowledge we gained in the classroom.

During the second week of training, our SCA supervisors took us into the Prescott National Forest to teach us about fire ecology and the effects of fire. We saw what a recently burned patch of forest looked like and what effects the fire caused. Then, two personnel from Aerie Backcountry Wilderness traveled down from Montana to certify us in adult/child CPR along and Wilderness First Aid. The class was conducted outside and was extremely thorough. After learning the book answers, we immediately practiced them. Our instructors provided us with hands-on real world scenarios that tested our ability to learn, react, work with others, and make prudent snap decisions.