by Ron Holt, Black River Unit Forester
Twenty students from various positions around the state attended the 2025 Wildland Dozer Operator Academy in Wedgefield Oct. 6-10.
The successful week of hands-on learning took place at the old seed orchard and greenhouse site on Manchester State Forest.
While the weather was a little warm and humid the first part of the week, temperatures gradually lowered a bit, making it a little more comfortable.
New Experiences
This marks the first year that foresters were part of the training as “swampers.” They performed alongside equipment operators and learned what it’s like to sit in the dozer seat.
Students included two fire management officers, six project foresters, one assistant forest director, eight wildland firefighters and three Sand Hills State Forest personnel.
All participated in classroom presentations on Monday, and they also took part in a rollover escape exercise and a live Code Red exercise, which included several dispatchers from around the state.
Tuesday
Pee Dee and Coastal firetracks were used at the first firetrack station. Other stations included loading/unloading, basic maneuvering and maintenance/in woods fixes.
Wednesday through Friday
The second half of the week included five rotating stations: tactics/blade work, plowing/righting a flipped over plow/loading a broken plow, obstacles (stump recovery, crossing a canal, snags, underground hazards), slope/waterbars and the bog recovery station.
Night operations
Thursday night included a night operations exercise, which was conducted after an awesome meal of grilled pork chops, Boston butts, mashed potatoes and green beans cooked by Clarendon/Sumter Sector Wildland Firefighter Eric Brown. Briefings were held each morning, and explanations were given concerning Incident Command System roles. Students filled out crew time reports (CTRs) and emergency equipment shift tickets (EESTs) each day based on samples in the Incident Action Plan. It was good to see two to three instructors who were former students of the academy.
Without the support from the employees from all over the agency, this class would not be possible.
Many thanks to the following people:
| Safety | Mike Ney and Kip Terry |
| Logistics | David Owen and Brandon Craig (also Staging Area Manager) –a HUGE role!!!!! |
| Status Check-In | David Jenkins |
| Plans | Doug Mills (also Maintenance/Inspection) |
| Maps | Ben Kendall |
| Ground Support | Cody Watts and Ray Allsbrook |
| Firetrack instructors | Shawn Feldner, Jonathan Berry, George Martin and Kip Terry |
| Other Station Instructors (some were also Night Ops coaches) | Doug Mills Rufus Roberts Wayne Smith Joseph Marlowe Chris McCorkle Eric Brown Wayne Eaddy Darryl Jones- Code Red Stephen Polk- Code Red Colton Webb- also Night Ops IC/OSC Scott Ulmer Jacob Vandenbosh- also transported Coastal firetrack Scotty Harrington Ron Clark Brian Parnell Russell Hale Clay Howard Jackie Welch (also taught one classroom session) Jonathan York Roger Byrd |
And special thanks to:
Justin Holt for production of the student and instructor manuals.
McDuffie Miles and Jordan Barnette for transporting the Pee Dee firetrack.
Bran Tisdale and Zack Simpson for shuttling the Pee Dee water tender.
Manchester State Forest Staff for mowing around the site prior to the academy and for bringing necessary equipment.
Night Operations role player Steve Ward
Michelle Johnson and Madeline Stewart for taking photos and videos.
Fleet vehicle delivery drivers: Piedmont dispatchers, Jennifer Coleman, Dana Austin, and Ashley McFadden.
SCFC dispatchers, from every region, for participating in the Code Red.
James Brunson for helping coordinate the firetrack training and bringing equipment.