Wildland Firefigher (Aviation)

Wildland Firefigher (Aviation)

Department: Department of Agriculture

Location(s): Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington, Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco, California, Denver, Colorado, Washington, District of Columbia, Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, New Orleans, Louisiana, Boston, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kansas City, Missouri, Albuquerque, New Mexico, New York, New York, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Portland, Oregon, Austin, Texas, La Grande, Oregon, Medford, Oregon

Salary Range: $27.36 - $27.36 Per Hour

Job Summary: This position is located within a National Forest. The position is located on a fire crew as a crewmember within the fire management organization. This position is established on a Forest unit to serve as an Airtanker Base Ramp Manager. Maintains airtanker base, aircraft ramp, facilities, vehicles and equipment.

Major Duties:

• Applies specific rules, regulations, and procedures to perform a complete segment of airtanker loading assignments.
• Directing other workers in the prescribed and safe loading of fire-retardant materials into airtankers of various sizes and configurations.
• Directs pilots, parking tenders, and loaders around the tarmac, hangar, or landing field using portable radios and hand signals.
• Performs calculations, reviews aircraft documentation, and inspects loading of retardant chemicals to ensure that individual aircraft weight limitations are not exceeded, and the retardant is within required specifications.
• May function as retardant crew member (RTCM) and aircraft timekeeper (ATIM) roles.
• Performs a variety of assignments made for developmental purposes that are designed to prepare the incumbent to perform the duties and responsibilities of the target position.
• This includes duties associated with the operation of the airtanker base and aerial retardant program Project Inspector on airtanker contracts.
• Participates in the maintenance of the base buildings, grounds, equipment, and water systems.
• Operates various gas and electric powered mowers, saws, generators, hand tools.
• Inventories and inspects equipment and supplies.
• Insures all items are in a usable condition and ready for immediate use. Provides input to the procuring and/or requisitioning of equipment, supplies, and services.
• Reports all fuel and retardant spills and ensures that they are promptly cleaned according to established environmental and/or hazardous materials procedures.
• Utilizes computer-based applications for program support. Prepares and inputs data into computerized records relating to aircraft use and payment, scheduling, incident and accident reports.

Qualifications: In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined below by the closing date of the announcement. For more information on the qualifications for this position, visit the Office of Personnel Management's General Schedule Qualification Standards. Your application and resume must clearly show that you possess the experience requirements. Transcripts must be provided for qualifications based on education. Provide course descriptions as necessary. GW-06: Applicants must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least GW-05 grade level in federal service or equivalent. For the GW-06 there is no substitution of education for this position. Examples of specialized experience includes: Assisted in providing facility maintenance, oversight and/or procedures for repairs and improvements. Assisting higher level personnel with contract preparation and/or administration. Using specialized airtanker equipment and ensuring equipment is in proper working order. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. In accordance with USDA Department Regulation 4430-792-2, this position is a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the USDA Drug Free Workplace Program and subject to pre-employment drug testing. All applicants selected for this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Incumbents of this position will be required to submit to a urinalysis on an ongoing random basis, after appointment as directed. To receive consideration for this position, you must provide updated required documents and meet all qualification requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

How to Apply: Please view Tips for Applicants - a guide to the Forest Service application process. Please read the entire announcement and all instructions before you begin. You must complete this application process and submit all required documents electronically by 11:59p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on the closing date of this announcement. Applying online is highly encouraged. We are available to assist you during business hours (7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Mountain Time Zone, Monday - Friday). If applying online poses a hardship, contact the Agency Contact listed below well before the closing date for an alternate method. All hardship application packages must be complete and submitted no later than noon ET on the closing date of the announcement to be entered into the system prior to its closing. Resumes must not exceed two pages. This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities on a case-by-case basis; contact the Agency Contact to request this. To begin, click "Apply" and follow the instructions to complete the Assessment Questionnaire and attach your resume and all required documents. Please verify that documents you are uploading from USAJOBs transfer into the Agency's staffing system as there is a limitation to the number of documents that can be transferred. However, once in the Agency's staffing system, you will have the opportunity to upload additional documents. Uploaded documents must be less than 5MB and in one of the following document formats: GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, PDF, TXT or Word (DOC or DOCX). Do not upload Adobe Portfolio documents because they are not viewable. Encrypted documents will not be accepted. Failure to submit required, legible documents may result in loss of consideration. Please ensure your resume does not exceed two pages. Applicants who submit a resume that exceeds two pages will be removed from consideration. Our office cannot be responsible for incompatible software, your system failure, etc.

Application Deadline: 2026-01-14