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Joint Base Charleston Airman supports fire protection efforts for Southwest Asia wing

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Airman 1st Class Samuel Siewert is a fire protection journeyman deployed with the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron fire department at a non-disclosed base here.

He is deployed from the 628th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. Airman Siewert's hometown is Oconomowoc, Wisc.

As an emergency responder, Airman Siewert and his fellow firefighters are responsible for protecting thousands of deployed personnel and billions of dollars of Air Force assets from fire.

Air Force firefighters, according to their career field description, are required to plan, organize and direct fire protection activities. They are also required to be knowledgeable on fire safety and prevention and capable of fire response to control and extinguish aircraft, structure, wildland and miscellaneous fires. To do all those tasks, firefighters also have to be capable to drive or operate and be certified on numerous types of fire response vehicles and equipment.

At Airman Siewert's deployed location, the main responsibility of firefighters is to provide fire protection for U.S. forces and assets. They respond to both medical and fire emergencies for both structural and aircraft. In the event of an aircraft fire, firefighters have a two-minute response time to make it on scene. Once on scene, they establish a water supply from an emergency water tank and draft, or vacuum, the water from the tank for other crews.

Other skills Air Force firefighters like Airman Siewert are required to hold include conducting and evaluating training on specialized fire protection equipment and procedures. They also perform inspections and organizational maintenance on fire protection vehicles, equipment and protective clothing. They manage and operate fire alarm communications centers and support the electrical power production Airmen with resetting aircraft arresting systems.

An additional note, Airman Siewert was selected as the 437th Airlift Wing's Airman of the Year at Joint Base Charleston and was nominated as one of only a few Airmen to compete for one of Air Mobility Command's Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2009.

The 380th ECES is a unit of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. The wing is home to the KC-10 Extender, U-2 Dragon Lady, E-3 Sentry and RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. The wing is comprised of four groups and 12 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance, and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia. The 380th AEW supports operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.