After flying 242 sorties and dropping 609,960 gallons of fire retardant on the wildfires burning in New Mexico and Arizona, the National Interagency Fire Center released Air Reserve Component personnel and their Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System 2-equipped C-130s on 13 July 2011. The aerial firefighting missions began 16 June, when the deployed C-130 crews initiated operations from Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. The units participating in this deployment included the 302nd Airlift Wing, the Air Force Reserve C-130H unit at Peterson AFB, Colorado, 145th AW, the North Carolina Air National Guard C-130H unit at Charlotte, and the 146th AW, the California Air National Guard C-130J wing at Channel Island ANGB.
