Using wildlife skills to support military

[Cara J]

In September Wildlife Services in Ohio welcomed a colleague, wildlife specialist Chris Bartholomew, on his return from Afghanistan. They marked the occasion by presenting him, at the military’s request, with the Air Force Award for Civilian Achievement, earned for his work at Bagram Airfield from March 31 to August 7, serving as the base’s lead for its Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) Program. This wasn’t Bartholomew’s first Afghanistan tour.  He served four-month deployments at Bagram in 2013 and Kandahar in 2015.  This year more than 152,000 birds and wildlife were handled, most by dispersal, at the largest regional U.S. military airbase, located in Parwan Province. “His diligence resulted in only one damaging aircraft strike during the peak migratory season,” the award noted.  He trained three flight safety teams at Bagram, Jalalabad and Kandahar Airfields, enabled more than 800 patrol hours, and offered habitat management advice to reduce threats to combat flight operations. He also surveyed Herat Airfield, proposing similar advice. Bartholomew appreciates working with the military overseas, saying “It’s a chance to focus on doing your job, try new techniques, and testing everything you’ve learned. “You immediately are accepted as part of the Safety Team family,” he explained, “and you [...]

 

Read more: http://wildlife.org/using-wildlife-skills-to-support-military/