<ul class="summary-list"><li>A soldier in Ukraine's first wave at Kursk said Russian troops were unarmed and not expecting an attack.</li><li>He told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/bc695adf-bd17-4242-b4bc-82235a97edbf">the FT</a> that his Stryker unit found its enemies "drinking coffee at a table."</li></ul>A Ukrainian soldier who participated in the first forays of last week's Kursk incursion said his unit caught Russian troops completely by surprise as the latter were having coffee.His account, published by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.ft.com/content/bc695adf-bd17-4242-b4bc-82235a97edbf">The Financial Times</a>, adds to a chorus of assessments that Russia had been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kursk-russia-looks-caught-off-guard-by-ukraine-attack-2024-8">unprepared and blindsided</a> by Ukraine's rare cross-border attack on August 6.The FT wrote that the soldier, identified as Volodymyr, was part of a unit operating a US-provided Stryker armored fighting vehicle.Volodymyr told the outlet that his unit entered Kursk in the late morning of August 6, and soon found a group of Russian troops "sitting in the forest, drinking coffee at a table.""Then our Stryker drives right into their table," he said, per the FT."We killed many of them on the first day. Because they were unarmed and didn't expect us," he added.Volodymyr said "dozens" of other Russian troops surrendered afterward.The FT's Ukraine correspondent, Christopher Miller, wrote that he interviewed Volodymyr's crew on Sunday when they returned to Ukraine.Their Stryker had been struck by a rocket-propelled grenade on Friday, which gave the driver a concussion, Miller reported.Ukraine's attack on Kursk has recentered global attention on the war to southern Russia, though fighting remains fierce and dire for Kyiv's troops on the older frontline in the east.Ukrainian leaders claimed on Monday to have <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-captured-hundreds-square-miles-russian-territory-general-2024-8">seized 1,000 square kilometers</a>, or about 380 square miles, of Russian soil, as well as 74 villages and towns.The fog of war has made it difficult to assess the true progress of day-to-day battle — unusual for a conflict that's been characterized by an excess of war footage posted online. Ukraine <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-west-in-the-dark-ahead-ukraine-kursk-assault-report-2024-8">said nothing officially about its attack for days</a>, even after its forces were spotted fighting miles past Russian defensive lines.Meanwhile, the Kremlin has, since the initial days of the incursion, called the Ukrainian attack a "terror" operation and repeatedly said it had stopped Kyiv's advance.But geolocated footage and reports from the ground suggest Ukraine is still pushing deeper into Kursk even after those claims. The speed at which Ukraine was able to force its way into Russia has surfaced new questions about the region's military preparedness and intelligence."The Ukrainian operations across the border in the Kursk and, possibly, Belgorod regions have been of longer duration and reach than either the Russians or Ukrainians initially expected," US Navy Ret. Vice Adm. Robert Murrett told Business Insider in an email.The Kremlin <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kursk-ukraine-exploited-russias-dysfunctional-military-command-2024-8">is still consolidating its defense of Kursk</a>, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin vowing that Ukraine would receive a "worthy response.""The next two to three days will be critical for both sides as this 'Battle of Kursk' takes on additional significance," added Murrett, who is now deputy director of Syracuse University's Institute for Security Policy and Law.Notably, Russian state media has not made any mention of an "invasion," instead referring to a "situation" in the country's south, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/BBCSteveR/status/1823311156427243713">according to the BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg.</a>Press services for the Russian defense ministry and the Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

A Ukrainian soldier said Russian troops in Kursk were 'sitting in the forest and drinking coffee,' unaware they were being invaded

A New Mexico-based company that flies firefighting aircraft dropped a record-setting 12 million pounds of retardant during the busy fire season

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 1971, the US set off its largest underground nuclear weapon test at a remote Alaskan island.</li><li>Before, scientists managed to relocate hundreds of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/otters-are-one-of-the-smartest-species-on-the-planet-2015-10">sea otters</a> that may have died in the explosion.</li></ul>When a large earthquake shook <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/years-after-fight-for-attu-aleutians-regain-us-military-focus-2022-6">Alaska's Aleutian Islands</a> in 2014, scientists with the US government hurried to assess the damage on <a target="_blank" href="https://amp.businessinsider.com/study-no-leaking-radiation-from-alaska-island-nuclear-site-2019-2">Amchitka Island</a>. They were looking for <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/d6405fa91e04423f91d21ad282a99129">leaking radiation</a> from underground nuclear tests performed decades before.During the first half of the 20th century, the remote island had been a wildlife preserve, until the US government converted it into a nuclear test site. Three atomic weapons went off at Amchitka in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the largest underground detonation the US has ever set off.No humans lived on the island, but the biggest blast, in 1971, killed at least 900 sea otters. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/atoms-for-peace-us-peaceful-nuclear-weapons-use-2021-10">Atomic Energy Commission</a>, the government agency in charge of nuclear research, had predicted at most <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/12/archives/900-otter-deaths-tied-to-atom-test-2-aec-scientists-report-definite.html">240</a> otters would die.If ecologists and others hadn't pushed to relocate some otters before the detonation, it probably would have been much worse."There was pressure from the state of Alaska as well as environmental groups," conservation biologist and author, Joe Roman told Business Insider. "They ended up moving hundreds of otters." Roman wrote about the otter relocation in his new book "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joe-roman-phd/eat-poop-die/9780316372923/">Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World</a>."<h2>Why were otters recolated?</h2>By the time the AEC was looking at Amchitka in the 1960s, the island's sea otter population was one of only a handful that had survived the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-effects-environment-marine-mammals-fish-plants-2023-9">sea mammals</a>' near extinction a century earlier.Their luscious pelts were prized as "soft gold." In the 1700s and 1800s, hunters killed about one million sea otters to sell their fur.<div type="image" title="Two otters cling to each other in the ocean." height="3337" width="5260" msid="106331367" hostid="261" sizebytes="449352"></div>The drop in population was alarming, from between 150,000 to 300,000 in the early 1700s to around 2,000 just 200 years later. Russia, Japan, Britain, and the US signed a fur treaty to help protect the animals in 1911. Over the next several decades, sea otter numbers rose to around 30,000.By 1959, the charismatic animals were starring in a nature film, "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bcS2HgetEE">The Sea Otters of Amchitka</a>." No one wanted to see those adorable otters decimated by an underground explosion, John Vania, an otter specialist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told the AEC.A confluence of occurrences made many Americans more environmentally conscious in the 1960s, from Ohio's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-of-cuyahoga-river-on-fire-before-epa-2019-6">Cuyahoga River continually catching fire</a> to Rachel Carson's exploration of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/animals-saved-endangered-species-act-passed-eagle-grizzly-wolf-alligator-2023-11#bald-eagle-1">dangers of pesticides</a> in her book "Silent Spring" to the largest <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/california-oil-spill-2015-5">oil spill</a> in US waters at the time, near Santa Barbara, California.Protestors didn't want a third <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-us-government-told-kodak-about-nuclear-bomb-testing-2023-7">nuclear test</a> at Amchitka at all. In fact, the conservation group Greenpeace formed out of an organization trying to stop the test.A US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, Karl Kenyon, had already worked on relocating some otters to areas they'd lived before the 18th century hunting. The detonations at Amchitka were a good reason to move even more, ecologists and biologists thought.If the AEC would pay for it, Vania said, the scientists could relocate the otters.<h2>The return of the kelp forests</h2>In addition to funding the relocation, the AEC supplied the scientists with a plane that could hold over 50 otters. Over the next few years, the scientists captured more than 700 otters in nets and carted them to southeast Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia.Over the next 50 years, the sea otter populations in many of these locations, like Sitka, Alaska, would go from several dozen to hundreds or thousands. "All the sea otters — of which there are thousands — in Sitka now are the descendants of these airlifted sea otters," Roman said.Eighty-nine otters went to British Columbia. Now there are over 7,000. An estimated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128014028000032">125,000 sea otters</a> live in the Pacific Ocean as of 2015.The otters' presence soon changed the landscapes where they live today. Their relocation allowed biologist Jim Estes to study islands with and without otters. As a result, he realized there was a link between otters, sea urchins, and kelp forests.<div type="image" title="beautiful kelp forests" height="667" width="1000" msid="106331368" hostid="261" sizebytes="52854"></div>"In the absence of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sea-otters-steal-surfboards-claims-joining-orca-uprising-2023-7">sea otters</a>, you have a lot of sea urchins," Roman said. "When you have a lot of urchins, they create what's called urchin barrens." The sea urchins eat the kelp holdfasts, which anchor the algae. Roman compares it to sawing down a forest. The kelp eventually disappear.One of the otters' favorite foods is sea urchin. And they can eat a lot of them. "They have very high metabolisms," Roman said. "They're eating machines." When the sea urchin numbers drop, the kelp return.In Sitka Sound, the sea otters reduced the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/japans-priciest-foods-harvested-expensive-2022-9">sea urchin population</a> by 99%. Kelp forests exploded in return. "The forests provide food and shelter for more than 800 species, including sea lions, harbor seals, lingcod, gobies, moray eels, octopuses, crabs, sea anemones, and brittle stars," Roman wrote.<div type="image" title="Many sea urchins on a wooden plate on a blue-and-white patterned surface" height="1500" width="2250" msid="106331371" hostid="261" sizebytes="502938"></div>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sunflower-sea-stars-save-ocean-kelp-forests-west-coast-study-2023-3">kelp forests</a> are also amazing at capturing carbon, a concern for the warming planet.The otters can also affect land animals, Roman wrote, either directly, as food for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ice-age-wolf-dna-suggests-dogs-were-domesticated-in-asia-2022-6">wolves</a> on Alaska's Pleasant Island, or indirectly, with the kelp forests that attracted birds that prey on fish.<h2>Competing with otters</h2><div type="image" title="Three sea otters float in the water" height="1500" width="2444" msid="106331374" hostid="261" sizebytes="129226"></div>Roman called the sea otter relocation one of the "most successful cases" of its kind. However, he said, "you don't really <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-reintroduced-cheetahs-some-scientists-call-it-a-pr-stunt-2022-10">release animals</a> in that way these days."For one thing, the US didn't consult indigenous and First Nations people before unleashing the otters. The mammals brought back the kelp forests, but they destroyed a reliable source of food for many people."Sea otters don't just eat urchins," Roman said. "They also eat geoducks and other valuable benthic invertebrates in the area." That includes crabs and clams. "And of course that brings them into conflict with fishers in that area," he said.Suddenly, otters appeared where they hadn't been for generations. "So no one remembers having sea otters in that area," Roman said. "They're used to harvesting these invertebrates, and they're quite abundant in the absence of a predator."Their voracious appetite is one reason some people call otters the "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/todd-mcleish/return-of-the-sea-otter/">rats of the sea</a>." For some Alaskans and Canadians, they're seen as a nuisance.When otters arrived in new regions of Alaska, Washington, and Oregon in the '60s and '70s, it was still legal to hunt them. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1973, changed that, though Alaska Natives can still hunt otters, whales, and seals."I spoke to Mike Miller, who's a native Sitkan," Roman said. "He promotes this idea of some balance" between the human population and the otters.It's an idea echoed by researchers, too. "We are wondering if there is a sweet spot where you can have it all," ecologist Kristy Kroeker <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230228-how-alaskas-sea-otters-came-back#">told the BBC</a>.While sea otter numbers are far greater than they were 100 years ago, the animals are still <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2023-09/us-fish-and-wildlife-service-announces-southern-sea-otters-will-retain">endangered</a>. They also face challenges due to the climate crisis. And not all the relocated populations survived. They disappeared from Oregon after about a decade.But sea otters' success elsewhere — especially their impact on kelp forests — has made Oregon want to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.opb.org/article/2022/08/04/report-bringing-sea-otters-back-to-oregon-coast-feasible-though-complicated/">try reintroducing</a> them again, just with more caution and the input of coastal tribes this time.

How US nuclear tests in the '70s led to today's thriving otter population on the Pacific west coast

Ford created a wildfire-ready Bronco firetruck concept based on vintage US Forest Service vehicles

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A US Forest Service police <keyword id="8312" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Dog">dog</keyword> survived nine stab wounds he suffered during a marijuana raid in California, <a href="https://apnews.com/4ed3278ebc9a119516e79b5df1c354b0">the Associated Press reported. </a></li><li>The 11-year-old dog, who goes by the name "Ice," was previously stabbed in a 2016 incident while officers were apprehending a suspect, <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/meet-our-k9-officers">according to the US Forest Service. </a></li><li>Ice has been commended for his bravery, including with the 2016 Law Enforcement and Investigations Director’s Award for Valor and Heroism. </li></ul>A star US Forest Service police dog survived after suffering nine stab wounds in an attack during a marijuana raid in California, <a href="https://apnews.com/4ed3278ebc9a119516e79b5df1c354b0">the Associated Press reported.</a>On August 27, the 11-year-old Belgian Malinois who goes by the name "Ice" was attacked while trying to catch a suspect who ran from a marijuana raid, the AP reported. Suffering through the multiple stabs, Ice held on to the suspect until his handler, Patrol Capt. Christopher Magallon, came to arrest the suspect, according to the AP.Magallon called a helicopter which airlifted him to a veterinary center 70 miles away from where they were when they made the arrest, the AP reported. Ice, who had been wearing a protective vest, was released that afternoon, according to the AP.This is not the first time that Ice risked danger to protect their community. In 2016, Ice was stabbed while officers were apprehending a suspect. At the time, Ice had also held on to the suspect until officers were able to make the arrest, <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/meet-our-k9-officers">according to the US Forest Service</a>, and was later transported to a veterinary hospital for surgery."When I realized Ice had been stabbed, he was bleeding profusely, and though critically injured, he never let out a whine or whimper," Magallon said in a <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> release by the US Forest Service at the time.Ice is a decorated K-9 dog, who has won a number of accolades for his service. After the 2016 attack, he won the Law Enforcement and Investigations Director's Award for Valor and <keyword id="7029" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hero">Hero</keyword>ism, the AP reported. In 2017, he was named the top dog in the Law Enforcement/Arson Dogs category in the American Humane Hero Dog Awards, <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/inside-fs/delivering-mission/excel/ice-wins-american-humane-hero-dog-awards">according to the US Forest Service.</a><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/dog-kuno-braved-al-qaeda-machine-gun-fire-awarded-medal-2020-8">An army dog who charged through a hail of machine-gun fire and tackled an Al-Qaeda fighter is to receive the animal equivalent of a Medal of Honor</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/calculating-dog-age-human-years-2020-7">Your 1-year-old dog isn't 7 human years old, contrary to the traditional math. It's more like 30 years old, new research shows.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/ruffwear-highlands-dog-sleeping-bag-review">This packable sleeping bag keeps my dogs comfortable on camping trips — it's pricey but durable and easy to clean</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sunshine-mills-dog-food-natures-menu-chicken-quail-recall-salmonella-2020-8">A type of dog food from Sunshine Mills is being recalled over salmonella concerns</a></li></ul>

An 11-year-old US Forest Service police dog survived 9 stab wounds during a marijuana raid

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is seen as a microcosm of the US economy given its huge size.</li><li>The famed investor's company reported lower revenues and profits in several divisions last quarter.</li></ul>Warren Buffett's company is so large and diversified that it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-consumer-spending-recession-economy-rates-inflation-2023-8">widely seen</a> as a miniature version of the American economy. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/brk-b-stock" rel="">Berkshire Hathaway</a> reported weakness across several subsidiaries in its recent <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-cash-bonds-chevron-stock-buybacks-berkshire-earnings-nuggets-2023-11">third-quarter earnings</a>, which could foreshadow a wider economic slump or even a full-blown recession.Buffett's conglomerate owns everything from insurers and railroads to utilities, real-estate brokers, auto dealers, homebuilders, manufacturers, and retailers. Its latest <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-berkshire-hathaway-earnings-q3-record-cash-stock-portfolio-2023-11?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">financial report</a> featured plenty of downbeat commentary, such as the fact that "results of several of our building products, consumer products, service and retailing businesses deteriorated."Here's a roundup of Berkshire's weak spots last quarter:<ul><li>BNSF Railway - operating revenues fell by 12% and earnings by 15%. Revenues from transporting consumer products tumbled 18% as volumes fell 7%, in part because of reduced west coast imports. Revenues from moving industrial products, agricultural products, and coal were also down.</li><li>Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - revenues and after-tax earnings both fell by 14% last quarter, contributing to a hefty 81% plunge in profits for the first nine months of this year. The real estate giant blamed lower revenues and margins from its brokerage services on a 22% plunge in the number of transactions it has brokered this year. It attributed weaker mortgage-services revenue and margins on a 33% drop in closed transactions this year. "These declines were attributable to the impact of rising interest rates, including lower existing home sales and mortgage refinancing demand," Berkshire said.</li><li>Manufacturing: consumer products - revenues fell by 2% in the third quarter and 13% in the nine months to September. "The declines reflected lower revenues at Forest River and nearly all of our apparel and footwear operations," Berkshire said. Forest River's revenues fell 17% last quarter as sales volumes of recreational vehicles were hit by "rising interest rates, inflation and other macroeconomic conditions." Meanwhile, apparel revenues slumped by 15% in the first nine months of this year due to "lower volumes from declining customer demand."</li><li>Manufacturing: building products - revenues fell by 11% and pre-tax earnings slid by 6% last quarter. Clayton Homes' revenue from home sales tumbled 17% in the nine months ended September. Revenue from Berkshire's other building-products businesses dropped by 11% over the same period. "The effects of significant increases in home mortgage interest rates in the US over the past year has slowed demand for our homebuilding businesses and our other building products businesses," Berkshire said.</li><li>Retailing revenues rose by just 1.1% in the first nine months of this year, as strong demand for new vehicles offset weakness in the used-car business, where revenues fell 9% and sales volumes dropped by 5%. Berkshire's other retail businesses saw a 27% drop in pre-tax earnings as profits plunged by 31% at its home furnishings businesses, which saw "lower customer traffic."</li></ul>It's worth underscoring that Berkshire's overall operating profits rose by 41% to nearly $11 billion last quarter, as weakness in several of its consumer-facing businesses was offset by strong performances in insurance and other divisions.Still, Buffett's company appears to have suffered from mounting pressure on American households, which have faced a double whammy of surging prices and soaring interest rates since last spring.Many consumers are now <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-oleary-inflation-interest-rates-downsizing-housing-mortgages-auto-loans-2023-11">spending much more on food, energy, and rent</a> than they were a couple years ago, as inflation hit a 40-year high of over 9% last summer, and has remained close to 4% in recent months. They also face steeper monthly payments on their credit cards, car loans, mortgages, and other debts, after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates from nearly zero to over 5% in a bid to cool price growth.The surge in mortgage rates has <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/housing-market-explained-mortgage-rates-fed-inventory-home-prices-house-2023-6">frozen the US housing market</a>, which likely explains why Berkshire's real estate brokerage, homebuilders, and building-products businesses are struggling. Meanwhile, financial strains on consumers have probably hurt demand for Berkshire's apparel, footwear, home furnishings, used cars, RVs, and railroad shipments.Buffett foreshadowed the challenges, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffett-us-economy-outlook-recession-interest-rates-berkshire-hathaway-2023-5?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">warning</a> in May that most of Berkshire's businesses would report profit declines this year. Borrowing costs have jumped, and the government is no longer flooding the economy with money to fight the pandemic, he noted."That period has ended," he said. "It's a different climate than it was six months ago."While the US has escaped recession so far, Berkshire's earnings suggest there are some cracks in the economy.

Warren Buffett's company is so massive it's like a mini US economy - and its latest earnings may stoke recession fears

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A <keyword id="11944993" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wildfire" source="Orion">wildfire</keyword> in Mariposa, <keyword id="11892889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="california" source="Orion">California</keyword>, has engulfed 11,900 acres of land near <keyword id="12078722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="yosemite" source="Orion">Yosemite</keyword> National Park. </li><li>Approximately 6,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes for their own safety. </li></ul>Approximately 6,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes in Mariposa, California, as a wildfire blazes through the Sierra National Forest, which borders the Yosemite National Park.The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as CalFire, <a href="https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2022/7/22/oak-fire/updates/1473ac6b-0fd3-43f3-a8cc-a4df35136cb2/">stated</a> that the Oak Fire had engulfed 11,900 acres of land, with thousands of residents living within a 54-square-mile evacuation zone told to leave their homes. Explosive fire behavior is challenging firefighters," said Cal Fire,<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/oak-fire-mariposa-california-yosemite-b2129899.html">per The Independent.</a>CalFire has said the blaze had destroyed 10 buildings and threatened another 2,693.<div type="image" title="A home burn as the Oak Fire burns through the area on July 23, 2022 near Mariposa, California." height="4000" width="5333" msid="93090052" hostid="261" sizebytes="1904144"></div>The cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but the fire department has said that extreme drought conditions have led to critical fuel moisture levels in the area. More than 2,000 personnel were involved in battling the blaze using 225 engines, 23 water tenders, and 17 helicopters, according to Jaime Williams, a public information officer for CalFire, <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Oak-Fire-prompts-evacuations-in-Mariposa-County-17323652.php">per the San Francisco Chronicle.</a><div type="image" title="A Cal Fire firefighter monitors the Oak Fire on July 23, 2022 near Mariposa, California." height="2469" width="3292" msid="93090055" hostid="261" sizebytes="352340"></div>The department states that fire activity picked up on Saturday afternoon as temperatures in the area rose. Daniel Patterson, a spokesman for the Sierra National Forest, has said that <keyword id="11896311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword> is the reason for increasing temperatures in the area, which has caused droughts and increasing numbers of wildfires, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/thousands-of-americans-ordered-to-flee-homes-due-to-explosive-yosemite-wildfire-12657950">Sky News reports. </a><div type="image" title="A Cal Fire firefighter lights a backfire while battling the Oak Fire on July 23, 2022 near Mariposa, California." height="3894" width="5193" msid="93090058" hostid="261" sizebytes="276298"></div>"Climate change, with rising temperatures and shifts in precipitation patterns, is amplifying the risk of wildfires," the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/unprecedented-wildfires-arctic">previously said. </a>The U.S. Forest Service has <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/news/releases/forest-service-taking-emergency-action-protect-giant-sequoias">recently had to take emergency steps</a> to save giant sequoia groves from wildfires.

Thousands told to evacuate homes in California as wildfire engulfs forests bordering Yosemite National Park

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Every few months, a swath of central North Carolina becomes the territory of Pineland, where aspiring <keyword id="2863052" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Green-Berets">Green Berets</keyword> test their mettle and their skills.</li><li><keyword id="10586493" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="robin-sage">Robin Sage</keyword>, as it is known, is the culminating exercise in the Special Forces pipeline and is where those students get their first real taste of what Special Forces does.</li></ul>Every few months, several North Carolina counties host a unique special-operations event.Robin Sage is a four-week exercise that all Special Forces candidates must pass before they graduate and don the coveted <keyword id="4314283" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Green-Beret">Green Beret</keyword>.Named after Col. Jerry Michael Sage, an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/legendary-leaders-who-transformed-us-military-special-operations-units-2020-11" target="_top">Office of Strategic Services (OSS)</a> operative who was captured by the Nazis and attempted to escape more than 12 times before succeeding, Robin Sage is the culminating exercise of the Special Forces pipeline.<div type="image" title="Army Special Forces Green Beret Robin Sage" height="1500" width="2000" msid="80241992" hostid="261"></div>It takes place in the fictional country of Pineland, which spans about 50,000 square miles in the woods of North Carolina.The Army's Special Forces, known as Green Berets, mainly specialize in training and supporting foreign forces, counterterrorism, and reconnaissance, as well as carrying out its own small-scale raids and ambushes.Green Berets operate in 12-man detachments and work with and through partner forces. They receive extensive cultural and linguistic training that enables them to operate anywhere in the world.But it is during Robin Sage that they get their first real taste of what Special Forces does.<h2>The road to Robin Sage</h2><div type="image" title="Army Special Forces Green Beret Robin Sage" height="1497" width="1996" msid="80241995" hostid="261"></div>To make it to Robin Sage, prospective Green Berets must first pass the Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS), a 21-day course that pushes candidates to their physical and mental limits.Those who successfully complete SFAS move on to the Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC), or Q Course.There have been almost 30 different versions of Q Course during its nearly 60-year history. Until recently, it was close to two years long. However, the course was revamped in 2019 and now lasts about six months. It is broken into four major phases: Small Unit Tactics, Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE), Military Occupational Specialty training, and Robin Sage.After several months of training, students come together for Robin Sage and work as a team using the different skills they have learned.<h2>Free Pineland!</h2><div type="image" title="Army Special Forces Green Beret Robin Sage Pineland" height="1292" width="2000" msid="80241997" hostid="261"></div>In the fictional scenario of Robin Sage, Special Forces candidates must help a guerrilla force, which is usually led by retired Green Berets, overthrow the illegitimate government of Pineland."Today, we read a lot about proxy warfare, and that is what Robin Sage is in a nutshell," Steve Balestrieri, a <a href="https://twitter.com/steveb7sfg?lang=en" target="_top">retired Special Forces warrant officer</a> who also served as an instructor for the course, told Insider."The Special Forces candidates have to meet up with and make rapport with a third-world nation guerrilla force, train them up, and then work by, with, and through that guerrilla force to conduct combat operations against a numerically superior enemy occupying force," Balestrieri said.During Robin Sage, students are tested on what they have learned in Q Course. They teach their partner force small-unit tactics, provide medical care, build outposts, and establish communications with headquarters.They also conduct reconnaissance, raids, ambushes, and numerous other missions and are tested on other challenges they might encounter on the battlefield.For example, teams are often presented with war-crime scenarios, where their partner force wants to "execute" a prisoner or "destroy" a village. It falls on the team to successfully negotiate those delicate situations without losing the support of their allies or violating the laws of war.<div type="image" title="Army Special Forces Green Beret Robin Sage" height="1441" width="2000" msid="80241999" hostid="261"></div>It's the ever-important human element that makes Robin Sage special. The social interactions between the team and the "guerrillas" might mean mission success or failure on the battlefield."Our Robin Sage [infiltration] was supposed to be brutal, our rucks weighing more than 100 pounds each," John Black, a retired Green Beret, told Insider."We had packed everything in preparation for more than two weeks in the field with no resupply. Two Blackhawk choppers dropped us off behind enemy lines where we were to meet our partner force in the middle of the night," Black said. "We walked and walked with this guy for hours in what seemed like a circle - he was lost. The captain asked to help him navigate with the map. Turned out we had been circling the camp for hours and the solution was simple - ask if he needed help."Perhaps the most important aspect of Robin Sage is the hands-on lesson it provides to future operators about the main mission of Special Forces, which is unconventional warfare - activities that help a resistance movement or insurgent force take on a bigger power."As a Green Beret, I feel Robin Sage is imperative and really gets you to think about the real mission of Special Forces, to work with and through a partner force," Black added. "Very little of what a Green Beret does is kicking in doors and getting bad guys. Robin Sage definitely helped prepare me for life as an operator on a team."<div type="image" title="Army Special Forces Green Beret Robin Sage" height="1333" width="2000" msid="80242002" hostid="261"></div>"What makes Robin Special is how well and smoothly it's run from the time the student teams go into isolation until they [infiltrate] and are actively engaged with the G-Force," Balestrieri said, referring to the guerrilla force."It rams home how important is, when operating in a guerrilla warfare/unconventional warfare environment, to at least have the nominal support of the population," Balestrieri added.Robin Sage is so realistic that a few years ago, a student was killed and another wounded by a police officer who wasn't aware of the event and thought that they were robbers. Since then, before every Robin Sage begins, local communities are thoroughly notified.The exercise and its lessons largely are what differentiate Green Berets from other US special-operations units."Robin Sage is tremendously important in the career of every Special Forces soldier, because it takes everything that you've been taught thus far in the SFQC and gears it toward SF's true mission, which is unconventional warfare," Balestrieri said.As the US <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/army-special-operations-role-in-great-power-competition-with-china-2020-9" target="_top">prepares for a renewed era</a> of great-power competition with China and Russia, and as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-bureaucratic-change-sign-of-military-return-to-irregular-warfare-2021-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">irregular warfare becomes increasingly important</a>, Robin Sage is more relevant than ever.Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (National Service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate.

How the Army's 'Robin Sage' puts Special Forces hopefuls to a final, make-or-break test in the forests of North Carolina

<ul class="summary-list"><li>My partner and I got married in Mount Hood National <keyword id="6371230" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="forest" source="Orion">Forest</keyword> with just five of our friends.</li><li>We walked each other down the aisle and really felt like we were entering this marriage together. </li><li>I didn't select the bridesmaid dresses and instead gave my friends a color palette to follow.</li></ul>Neither my partner nor I consider ourselves very traditional people, so we knew we wanted <a href="https://www.insider.com/important-lessons-for-couples-before-wedding-2021-7">our wedding day</a> to reflect that.I also aimed to keep our ceremony as low-key and low-cost as possible while still achieving <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-ideas-to-make-your-wedding-unique-from-wedding-planner-2021-7">a beautiful and special day</a>, so I got married in Mount Hood National Forest with just my closest friends.Here are 10 of the best unconventional things I did for my <keyword id="11896825" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wedding" source="Orion">wedding</keyword>:<h2>We walked each other down the aisle</h2><div type="image" title="Two people, one in a black suit and one in a white wedding dress, walking through the forest together" height="1600" width="1068" msid="86730593" hostid="261"></div>We kept our ceremony very small - five guests and no family - so we knew we wouldn't walk down the aisle with our parents.We had originally thought each of us would walk down the aisle alone, but moments before the ceremony began, my partner and I decided to do it together.It ended up being one of my favorite parts of the day and really symbolized that we were <a href="https://www.insider.com/things-every-married-couple-should-do-accordingt-to-therapist-2021-6">entering this marriage together</a>. <h2>Omitting the first look meant we could get ready together</h2><div type="image" title="A person in a wedding dressing pinning something onto a person in a black suit" height="1600" width="1068" msid="86730597" hostid="261"></div>Many couples make a moment of the first look - or the first time they see each other on their wedding day - but we <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-to-know-before-you-do-popular-wedding-trends-advice-2021-8">opted out of that tradition</a>. We booked <a href="https://www.madelinerosephoto.com/">our photographer</a> for only a few hours to save money, so we wanted to make the most of our time with them.Plus we wanted to get ready and enjoy the morning together without having to hide from each other.<h2>We had no venue costs since our ceremony was on state-owned land</h2>We wanted to exchange vows in nature, so Mount Hood National Forest was the perfect backdrop, but the fact that it was free truly sealed the deal.We had our ceremony <a href="https://www.insider.com/hikes-around-the-world-2019-3">on a trail</a> on a cool Thursday morning to avoid foot traffic and it worked out perfectly. The few hikers we did see congratulated us, and we were able to easily move aside with our small group.If you want to do the same, research permit and fee requirements for different locations because they vary by the type of land and state. <h2>We didn't have any altar decor</h2><div type="image" title="A wedding party and guests at a forest ceremony" height="1066" width="1422" msid="86730600" hostid="261"></div>Since we were <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-fall-hikes-in-the-us-2018-10">on a public trail</a>, we didn't want to bring altar decor of any kind with us.Although I was worried it would look a little too plain, it turned out so striking. The forest is lush and beautiful on its own, and we really let that shine by not having added decor. <h2>I didn't pay for makeup or hair services</h2>I opted to do my own makeup and hair because I wanted to feel like myself on the big day. I've never been one to wear a lot of makeup and my hair pretty much always looks the same.I was a little nervous about the photos, so I hired <a href="https://www.insider.com/makeup-trends-makeup-artists-hate-2018-5">a makeup artist</a> to do a one-hour consultation with me a couple of months prior. This helped me learn new techniques and feel more confident executing my look the day of. <h2>Instead of selecting bridesmaid dresses, I gave my friends a color palette to follow</h2><div type="image" title="A person in a wedding dress holding a bouquet surrounded by bridesmaids wearing fall tones, in a forest" height="1066" width="1422" msid="86730603" hostid="261"></div>I knew my friends would be in a lot of photos, so I decided to give them a color palette instead of choosing traditional matching <a href="https://www.insider.com/woman-sent-bridesmaids-google-form-to-organize-wedding-2021-7">bridesmaid dresses</a>.I really like how it turned out - their mismatched dresses created an interesting and unique look. <h2>We incorporated film photography and Polaroids into our day</h2><div type="image" title="A person in a wedding dress taking a picture of a person in a black suit in the forest" height="1600" width="1068" msid="86730606" hostid="261"></div>My partner and I are both <a href="https://madelinerosephoto.com/">fans of film photography</a> and brought a couple of our cameras with us for the big day.Before the ceremony started, I decided to snap a picture of my spouse-to-be standing at the altar. We took turns using the Polaroid for single portraits, and they are so special to me.We also <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-to-get-best-wedding-pictures-according-to-wedding-photographer-2021-9">hired our photography team</a> to shoot Super-8mm video footage and medium-format portraits. <h2>We had a private first dance</h2><div type="image" title="A person wearing a button down and tie kissing a person in a wedding dress" height="1068" width="1424" msid="86730608" hostid="261"></div>We had our ceremony with friends in the morning followed by brunch and cake.After a bit of eating and conversing, our friends headed out and left me and my partner to have the rest of the day to ourselves.We decided we wanted to have our first dance alone in the living room of our Airbnb, and it was such a <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-i-learned-about-love-at-weddings-as-professional-bridesmaid-2021-6">sweet, intimate moment</a>. <h2>Our ceremony didn't include gendered language </h2>The gendered history of marriage has always made me a little uncomfortable, so we opted to have a gender-neutral ceremony.We got some inspiration from an online source and worked with our officiant to customize our script and make it feel true to us. <h2>We kept our ceremony small and celebrated with friends later</h2><div type="image" title="Friends at a wedding celebrator surrounding a table in a wooden room" height="1068" width="1424" msid="86730610" hostid="261"></div>Even though our ceremony was pretty private on a weekday morning, we still wanted to celebrate with more of our friends, so we ended up throwing a small backyard party.We kept it casual without table settings or a formal start time and could not have had more fun.It was nice having our wedding day feel really intimate but then still <a href="https://www.insider.com/i-had-an-expensive-wedding-regret-it-2019-7">celebrating with our larger friend group</a> - it was the best of both worlds.

I got married in the forest. Here are 10 unconventional things we did to make our small wedding extra special.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Fed Chair Jerome Powell has only "terrible" options, financial researcher Luke Gromen said.</li><li>Powell faces historic inflation and the risk of recession and financial catastrophe, he said.</li></ul>Jerome Powell has only "terrible" options to choose from, as the Federal Reserve chair weighs the threat of historic inflation against the risk of a financial and economic disaster, a veteran researcher says.Powell's latest headache, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-bank-failure-what-happened-bank-run-explained-2023-3">recent flurry of bank failures</a>, points to a much bigger threat to America, Luke Gromen <a href="https://www.realvision.com/shows/the-deep-dive/videos/navigating-the-most-dangerous-investing-environment-in-decades-lebD?tab=details" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told RealVision</a> in a recent interview. The head of Forest for the Trees, a financial-research firm, said the core issue lies with the government's debt and deficit spending."It's not a banking system problem," he said. "It's a US Treasury G7 sovereign debt, balance of payments problem.""Treasuries underpin everything," Gromen continued. "It's the collateral for the whole system. So if we're going to have a Treasury problem, we're going to have an everything problem."The federal government has about $31.5 trillion of debt, exceeding the US economy's fourth-quarter GDP of $26 trillion, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/02/14/facts-about-the-us-national-debt/#:~:text=Nearly%20all%20of%20that%20debt,the%20fourth%20quarter%20of%202022." target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Pew Research Center says</a>. Servicing the debt costs about $400 billion a year, or nearly 7% of the government's annual budget. The federal deficit also grew by nearly $250 billion to $723 billion this fiscal year.The US government partly funds its deficit by issuing Treasuries. Silicon Valley Bank imploded in part because the surge in interest rates over the past year slashed the value of its long-dated Treasuries. The lender opted to sell some of those government bonds to shore up its finances, causing its customers to panic and withdraw their largely uninsured deposits. The bank run spurred the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to take control of the bank and guarantee all of its deposits.Gromen argued the banking saga is symptomatic of the problem dogging the Fed and the US government. Demand for Treasuries from foreign central banks has waned over the past decade or so, and rising interest rates mean the government's debt is growing more expensive, he said.If the Fed keeps hiking rates to crush inflation, it risks causing a recession that results in lower tax revenues, banks selling Treasuries to offset more loan defaults, and the government spending aggressively to shore up the economy, he said. That would exacerbate America's debt and deficit issues, he noted.A recession would likely pull down asset prices as well, which could deter consumers from spending, erode GDP, and cause a "debt death spiral," Gromen said. Essentially, the Fed has to choose between letting inflation run riot, or tightening its policies further and risking a financial and economic disaster.Gromen warned that if Powell forges ahead in fighting inflation, he could "collapse the system," cause the Treasury market to fail, and spark Western sovereign debt defaults."Paul Volcker could be a hard ass because the US government, the Treasury market functioning was never put at risk by what he was doing," Gromen said, referring to the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/paul-volcker-dies-at-age-92-obituary-fed-chair-2019-12">former Fed chair</a> who "broke the back" of inflation in the 1980s. "It is by Powell and we can see that.""He tried to bluff the markets while he was holding a hand with three high," he continued, referring to Powell's pledge to conquer inflation. "When the markets have a royal flush, trying to bluff it with three high is a stupid move."Gromen's advice to investors navigating the tricky backdrop is to avoid excessive leverage, allocate 5% to 10% of their portfolios to gold, and hold about 2% of bitcoin, as he expects the most popular cryptocurrency to outperform.

The US economy faces an 'everything problem' – and the Fed has only bad options, researcher says

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="10952629" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Lightning-eMotors">Lightning eMotors</keyword> shot up as much as 89% on Tuesday after the electric-vehicle maker signed a $850 million partnership deal with a Berkshire Hathaway-backed bus maker.</li><li>Lightning will work with <keyword id="11833484" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="forest-river">Forest River</keyword> to deliver up to 7,500 zero-emission buses. </li><li>The company's stock hit its highest price since going public in May through a SPAC deal. </li></ul><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/zev-stock">Shares of Lightning eMotors</a> rose as much as 89% on Tuesday, hitting their highest level since going public via SPAC, after entering a $850 million partnership deal with a Berkshire Hathaway-backed bus maker.Lightning eMotors and will work with Forest River, the largest shuttle-bus maker in North America, to deliver up to 7,500 zero-emission shuttle buses in the US and Canada starting this year to 2025.Lightning shares pared from intraday highs and traded roughly 67% higher as of 2:30 p.m. in New York.The EV maker will build fully electric powertrains at its Loveland, Colorado, facility, and provide charging products and services to Forest River. The powertrain systems will then be shipped to Forest River's factory in Goshen, Indiana, where final assembly will take place for Class 4 and 5 electric passenger buses. The buses will have batteries that can support ranges on a single charge between 80 miles and 160 miles, the companies said in a joint statement. Forest River runs more than 100 bus dealerships in the US and Canada and the vehicles may be sold and serviced there, with the aim to deliver the new shuttle buses to dealerships by the end of 2021.

Lightning eMotors jumps 89% after entering a $850 million EV partnership with Berkshire Hathaway's Forest River

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Aerial <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/firefighters">firefighters</a> go through intense training before they fight active <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/wildfires">wildfires</a> from the sky.</li><li>These <keyword id="6359722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="firefighters">firefighters</keyword> work with government agencies like the <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/us-forest-service">US Forest Service</a> and state governments.</li><li>Insider spent three days with Bridger's training team in Arizona to see pilots train.</li></ul>Following is a transcript of the <keyword id="21654" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="video">video</keyword>.Barrett Farrell: After we've gotten back from flying, we saved someone's house or saved someone's crop, because that's their livelihood and that's how they make their living. That's well worth the risk that we take.Narrator: When wildfires spread, they can be too powerful for firefighters on the ground.Instructor: Flaps 10. Ready for the water.Narrator: That's where aerial firefighters come in.Trainee: Set power.Instructor: Power set. Feathers armed. Right there, feel that? There it is. Scooper 282 is inbound, loaded for the drop.Trainee: And three, two, one, drop.Instructor: Load's away.Narrator: These are the pilots who operate specially built aircraft to target a fire with more than 1,000 gallons of water, working with agencies like the US Forest Service and state governments.Tim Sheehy: We're seeing a massive <keyword id="41285" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wildfire">wildfire</keyword> threat worldwide, and it's straining the infrastructure of a system that was designed for a two- to three-month fire season into a persistent year-round threat. Our people are trained and tailored to ensure that we're providing the absolute best support on time, on target, because after all, the fires are won and lost on the ground.Narrator: In January, we spent three days with Bridger Aerospace in Mesa, Arizona, to see its <keyword id="6356223" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pilot">pilot</keyword>s train and recertify ahead of what's expected to be a very busy fire season. CEO Tim Sheehy is a former Navy SEAL, and he's also getting his annual retraining to pilot the Super Scooper himself during wildfire season. This is the weapon these pilots use to fight fires: the $30 million CL-415EAF, more commonly known as the Super Scooper.Sheehy: They are the only aircraft that's purpose-built to fight fires. That's all they do, and they do it well.Tim Cherwin: This aircraft skims across the surface of the water, picks up 1,400 gallons of water, and you carry that water to a fire, drop that water on the fire to assist wildland firefighters who are on the ground. A few months goes by after not doing a lot of flying. It's good to get back in the seat, get some reps on the water, some scoops.Narrator: Pilots in training practice handling the aircraft in a variety of scenarios.Cherwin: Scooper pilots, you've got to be a master of all things. You're often dealing with multiple aircraft in an area. You have to be able to fly up in the altitudes, and you also have to be able to fly low level, down and dirty in the smoke, in the mountains, where there's low visibility and high terrain.Narrator: At 30,000 pounds, the Scooper is 30 feet tall and has a 93-foot wingspan. "Nimble" may not be the first word that comes to mind.Sheehy: We're flying it in extremely narrow canyons, very low altitude, banking high-g turns at a high rate of turn. Flying an aircraft this big that low in that dangerous of an environment is very rare.Farrell: It's gonna be, you know, max power. We're already at flaps 10. My name's Barrett Farrell, and I am a first officer on the Scooper here at Bridger Aerospace. In 1990, I was 4 years old. There was a <keyword id="45847" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Forest-fire">forest fire</keyword> on the mountain just south of where I grew up. I was able to watch a B-17 tanker dropping retardant. And after experiencing that, when I was about 12 years old, I always knew I wanted to be involved in aerial firefighting.Instructor: You have control?Trainee: I have control. Clear to take off.Instructor: Ready to go?Trainee: Yep.Narrator: In training, pilots react in simulated emergency scenarios, like an engine failure.Trainee: OK, simulated a right-hand engine failure.Narrator: Where they practice feathering, or adjusting the pitch of a failed propeller to reduce drag and fly safely to a landing spot.Instructor: Confirm right-hand ultimate feather?Trainee: Confirmed.Instructor: Feathering down. Has it feathered?Trainee: Positive feather.Instructor: Positive feather.Farrell: With an engine failure, we never know when that's going to happen, and so we want to train to make sure when we have that engine failure, the muscle memory is already there for what we have to do.Narrator: Pilots also practice making an emergency descent.Instructor: Hey, 172, 12 o'clock, right in front of us. 4,000.Trainee: OK, starting to level.Instructor: OK, we avoided the traffic.Sheehy: Training is focused on failures and being ready for those failures so that when they happen, we can respond quickly, with certainty and with assurance that what we're doing is the best outcome for what that failure has done.Narrator: But the most important part of training is practicing the aircraft's main function, performing the scoop and the drop.Sheehy: One of the things that's unique about aerial firefighting, of course, is you're not flying at 30,000 feet. You're not flying at 10,000 feet. That aircraft will come in, and it'll be dropping 100 feet, 50 feet.Instructor: Get ready for the water. Now, see how you kept that speed up? Keep that nose coming down. Right there, get ready to add some power, now. Ope. Airborne.Narrator: Before making contact with the water, the aircraft slows down to 90 knots.Farrell: Once we actually decide we're coming in to pick up a load of water, the flying pilot will call for "flaps on speed."Trainee: Flaps on speed.Farrell: We come in, we touch down, we're on the water for approximately 12 seconds with the probes down. I'll call "probes up."Trainee: Probes are up.Farrell: And now the aircraft will begin to accelerate so we can come up out of the water with a load of water. The most challenging part is definitely making sure you get the load of water where the ground firefighters want it. There's a lot going on with it when we're coming in to make that drop there versus our airspeed, what the wind's doing, and the topography of the terrain. It can be very challenging to make sure we get that right where they want it.Pilot: Since it's already on your side, how about you take a good look for me here, Jim. And then we'll make a left down one.Farrell: We're contacting the air attack, who's our communication between the ground firefighters and us, so we'll tell him, "Hey, we're inbound with a load."Instructor: Air attack, 262 inbound for the drop.Farrell: Now, once we're getting set up for the drop, captain will say, "OK, I'm lined up."Instructor: Scooper 282 is inbound, loaded for the drop.Farrell: And I'll reassure him that, "You're armed and ready for the drop."Instructor: You're armed, ready for the drop.Farrell: And once we get there, we'll actually press the water-drop button.Trainee: And three, two, one, drop.Farrell: And returning back to our water source to go pick up another load of water. Mainly the main feeling is like, man, I want to make sure I'm helping that guy on the ground, because he's the one who really needs this. And so that's the pressures I have.Cherwin: Training really never stops. You're always constantly studying. You're always constantly having to review your manuals and procedures and systems on the aircraft.Farrell: When you have other people from the community come out and tell you, "Thanks for the help," or, "Thanks for being here, guys," you know, "You saved my house," it lets you realize the big picture of what we're doing here.

You Searched For "us forest service" and got 12 results

A Ukrainian soldier said Russian troops in Kursk were 'sitting in the forest and drinking coffee,' unaware they were being invaded

Matthew Loh

A New Mexico-based company that flies firefighting aircraft dropped a record-setting 12 million pounds of retardant during the busy fire season

Taylor Rains

How US nuclear tests in the '70s led to today's thriving otter population on the Pacific west coast

Jenny McGrath

Ford created a wildfire-ready Bronco firetruck concept based on vintage US Forest Service vehicles

Tim Levin

An 11-year-old US Forest Service police dog survived 9 stab wounds during a marijuana raid

Inyoung Choi

Warren Buffett's company is so massive it's like a mini US economy - and its latest earnings may stoke recession fears

Theron Mohamed

Thousands told to evacuate homes in California as wildfire engulfs forests bordering Yosemite National Park

Bethany Dawson

How the Army's 'Robin Sage' puts Special Forces hopefuls to a final, make-or-break test in the forests of North Carolina

Stavros Atlamazoglou

I got married in the forest. Here are 10 unconventional things we did to make our small wedding extra special.

Lyndsey DeMarco

The US economy faces an 'everything problem' – and the Fed has only bad options, researcher says

Theron Mohamed

Lightning eMotors jumps 89% after entering a $850 million EV partnership with Berkshire Hathaway's Forest River

Carla Mozée

How aerial firefighters are trained to fight forest fires

Clayton Dyer,Graham Flanagan