Rappelers

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The Custer Gallatin National Forest hosts the Gallatin Rappel Crew which is situated on the Bozeman Ranger District at Shenango Helibase Base, located just below Storm Castle Peak.  This crew is one of 12 National Rappel Crews that are hosted by forests throughout the western US.  Rappellers are specially trained aviation wildland firefighters that work with helicopters beyond the helitack capabilities.

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Rappellers function in the wildland fighter workforce as helitack personnel which provide operational and logistical support to firefighting efforts both in emerging and longer duration campaign fires being managed by the federal government.  What rappellers provide in addition to this helitack function is an expanded IA (initial attack, first on scene) ability by being able to insert firefighters, via rappel, into areas such as heavily timbered area that no other means are possible from the ground for engaging fires effectively.

To be a rappeller, one is put through rigorous training to be able to pack out of fires they are inserted to.  Remote fires can be upwards of 10 miles from the closest road and equipment / supplies lasting 48-72 hours without resupply can put the average pack weight close to 120 lbs.  Due to these harsh bodily challenges, fitness and hiking ability are paramount to the making of a strong rappeller in the wildland firefighting personnel arena.  In the month leading up to rappel specific training, the Gallatin Rappel Crew implements a fitness regime that builds off a fitness base employees come into the job with to tackle these challenges.

Rappel training is held at a national level academy located in Salmon, ID.  The National Rookie Rappel Academy is a weeklong training event that is taught by the full community of rappel crews.  This training encompasses procedures for personnel to safely go from loading onto specially equipped helicopters, perform in flight procedures, and then insertion into remote areas in the vicinity of fires.  Rappellers are a nationally utilized resource that can be ordered up to boost other rappel crews located throughout the country for IA purposes.  For the systematic utilization of rappellers across the full spectrum of rappel crews, the training procedures and requirements are the same throughout the country, thus a centralized national level academy is crucial for safe working practices in the aerial delivered firefighter system.

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