CHIÈVRES, Belgium -- There were no sirens blaring, no fire to put out, but Belgian firefighters in their full gear drove their trucks to Chièvres Air Base to join their U.S. counterparts of the 424th Air Base Squadron on the peaceful morning of August 19.
Air Force Master Sgt. Abelardo Salas, who took on his duties as the squadron's fire chief at the NATO airfield in January 2017, approached Thierry Boembeke, the U.S. Army Garrison Benelux Directorate of Emergency Services fire chief on conducting a joint exercise to test their interoperability with the Belgian equipment.
"I wanted to learn about their capabilities, to ensure that our equipment was interchangeable and that we have the ability to communicate effectively during firefighting operations" Salas said.
Fighting fires is the specialty they all share. However, the Air Force team's core mission is to put out aircraft fires while the Belgians fight structural fires. In a crisis situation, they would complement each other with manpower, fire ground operations and water supplies.
This was nothing new for Boembeke, who has partnered with the local fire departments since 1990. "We regularly train together to ensure everything we have learned together in the past comes to us automatically in case of an emergency," he said. "It's important to do so, because the U.S. firefighters don't stay here long and even on the Belgian side, there are always new team members."
Maj. Michel Di Silvestro commands the Belgian team assigned to the nearby fire station representing the 'Hainaut-Centre zone - Chièvres Post.' He has a decade of training experience with the Air Force and has supported numerous garrison full scale exercises. "We have learned a lot from each other over time, but I want to continue to test our ability to collaborate and to communicate," he said.
After a short slide presentation on the 424th ABS's mission and a tour of the facilities, it was time to practice skills together. Teams made of one firefighter from each organization conducted search and rescue operations. The pairs went through a simulated burning room to find potential casualties. The challenge was the language as firefighters normally guide each other through facilities. "When you don't know each other's language, it's an additional challenge," Salas said.
Once that training was over, all had a chance to participate in target practice aboard the U.S. fire trucks. The driver, who also has to operate the turret, had to knock down cones located on the ground, simulating putting out an aircraft fire on the ground.
All thought the three-hour exercise was valuable in many ways. "We were able to confirm that our hose connections are compatible, and our search and rescue techniques have a lot of similarities," Salas explained. "We have been working on this for years, but we must always update our skills and confirm that nothing has changed," Boembeke added.
During the meal that followed the training session, the group discussed the morning's events and agreed that there would be more opportunities to train together in the future. One of the simple things that will be done in the meantime is small cards with basic English and French words, so they can understand each other better.
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