A wildfire along South Korea’s eastern coast has prompted a national emergency, and a call to U.S. soldiers stationed there to join the effort.
Air crews spent the weekend fetching river water and dumping it over the blaze, according to a release from the 2nd Infantry Division.
“We were on our final day of training at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex when we were notified of the mission,” Chief Warrant Officer 2 Johnta Daniels, a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot said in a Saturday release. “We operate with Koreans on a regular basis. It has always been training, which prepared us for real-world missions like this.”
Four helicopters and 21 soldiers, from the 2nd Assault Helicopter Battalion and 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade teamed up with the Republic of Korea Army III Corps Command to help out.
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One of the pilots on the scene was Capt. Julia McKusick, whose crew aided in recovery efforts after witnessing a civilian aircraft crash last year, the release said.
Channel News Asia has reported one death, 35 injuries and more than 4,000 evacuations, according to the release.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
