Burn baby, burn: The committee heats up, and learns about environmental readiness
A man dressed in a yellow suit and ready to do anything sits in a chair attached to the bed of a pickup truck. He is ready to unleash his flame thrower.
“Let’s do this thing,” he shouts as the truck begins to roll. He lit everything up like a superhero and fanned the flame.
Col. Manny Ramirez is the man
The flame thrower is a wildfire suppressing torch.
Ramirez, the Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield garrison commander, was participating in a prescribed burn demonstration during this quarter’s Environmental Quality Control Committee meeting.
Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield garrison leadership, members of the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division’s Forestry Branch and Soldiers from across the installation attended the EQCC March 17 on Fort Stewart to learn more about the Forestry Branch and the role they play to help maintain readiness across the installation.
The Garrison commander chairs the quarterly EQCC as required by Army Regulation 200-1, Environmental Protection and Enhancement. Quarterly, senior mission commanders, directors, tenant leaders, and other key personnel are required to attend sessions in order to gain a better understanding and appreciation of actions and programs that may have environmental consequences that can affect their mission.
“After hosting the first couple EQCC meetings in the classroom, we realized that taking the committee members to different locations for a field trip-style approach to learning would leave a more lasting impression,” said Amanda Price, DPW Environmental public relations. “This way they get to see first-hand what our Environmental Division does to assist them in mission success on a daily basis.”
This quarter’s field trip landed attendees in the middle of a training area where they were able to learn about the installations forestry management program. Participants had the chance to hear an overview and to see how the branch uses an aerial drop and a terra torch to initiate and control a prescribed burning.
“We have the largest forestry management program in the Department of Defense,” said Jeff Mangun, DPW Forestry Branch chief. “We routinely prescribe burn around 120,000 acres a year to ensure wildfire hazard reduction and to provide a safe training space for the Soldiers stationed here.”
The Fort Stewart burn program isn’t just the largest in the DOD. Mangun also said the installation’s prescribed burn program is actually the largest in all of North America.
The burn program not only provides a safe area for our Soldiers to train, but it also helps to create a healthy ecosystem for many of the endangered and threatened species that live in the area.
“In addition to supporting the military mission, we follow State and Federal regulations that help protect the threatened and endangered species in our area,” Mangun said. “When these species are identified in the area, training restrictions must be placed in order to ensure their protection. However, as their habitats become healthier and start to grow, those restrictions are removed which ultimately enhances the training opportunities across the installation.”
A better understanding of the program will allow attendees to be more effective in completing their missions.
“The focus on environmental compliance is very important,” Ramirez said. “The hard work put forth by our Forestry Branch ensures that our Soldiers have ample space for training which in turn meets the mission requirements set forth by our current administration. Forestry management is something that’s been around a long time and is something that we will continue to strive to be the best at in order to maintain readiness across the installation.”
Amanda Price can be reached at to learn more about the EQCC. [email protected].