Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy

10/06/2026

We are all wishing Clint Huffman a very happy retirement! Clint has been around since the inception of the Academy, which started as an idea on a napkin! He served on the Steering Committee for many many years, attended multiple academies, and "enjoyed every minute of it"! You will surely be missed, Clint. We thank you for your service.

09/17/2026

A very special thanks to Mountain Top Media's Konor Kidd for coming out to Pine Mountain State Resort Park to help us spread the word about the impressive training happening this week during the Southern Area Advanced Mountain Dozer Academy! We have over 50 Cadre assisting 18 students through 3 different rigorous field courses. We all send our appreciation to the Station for demonstrating the importance of the Academy.

09/15/2026

Meet the Students of the 2026 KY Southern Area Advanced Mountain Academy!

09/14/2026

The Southern Area Advanced Mountain Heavy Equipment Operator Academy welcomes the 2026 student cohort! We have 18 students attending this year’s Academy from multiple State Forestry Agencies as well as those representing our federal counterparts from the U.S. Forest Service, Department of War, and Wildland Fire Service. They serve the following agencies from the Southern Area: Kentucky Division of Forestry, State of Tennessee Dept of Agriculture Forestry Division, Virginia Department of Forestry, U.S. Forest Service - George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, Talladega National Forest, North Carolina Forest Service, Croatan National Forest, Ozark National Forest, Georgia Forestry Commission, Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, Savannah River Site, Daniel Boone National Forest, and National Forests in Mississippi.

09/13/2026

⚠️ The Southern Area Advanced Mountain Heavy Equipment Operator Academy in Pineville, Kentucky will commence this week! Operations will be centered around Pine Mountain State Resort Park and Kentucky Division of Forestry's Kentucky Ridge State Forest. Please drive safely and expect slower traffic due to heavy equipment being on the roadways within the Park as well as on 190 leading to the Davisburg Trail. ⚠️

09/10/2026

This year will mark the second Advanced Mountain Heavy Equipment Operator Academy offered by the GHEOA. This training experience will be like no other Academy held in the Southern Area thus far. The mountainous terrain of eastern Kentucky, including that of Kentucky Ridge State Forest, presents extreme and unexpected obstacles to heavy equipment operators in the form of steep slopes, sheer drop-offs, and hidden fuel sources such as coal seams and gas lines. This Academy will focus on mitigation tactics for this challenging landscape.

09/13/2024

https://youtu.be/0aw6u5DUaqE?si=rAWwIzEnHE8iwLyw

The inaugural Interagency Advanced Mountain Dozer Academy conducted at Pine Mountain State Resort Park and the Kentucky Ridge State Forest in Pineville, KY.

09/12/2024

The Advanced Mountain Equipment Operator Academy is managed by a type 3 incident management team. Boards like these are used to keep staff and the public up to date on information pertaining to an incident. In this case this is where students of the academy will get their daily information. Information is a crucial part of any incident or training. The information boards are updated every morning by the team of Public Information Officers.

09/11/2024

Students from multiple State and Federal agencies at the Advanced Mountain Equipment Operator Academy are learning the limits of the equipment they are operating.

09/10/2024

Welcome to the 2024 Southern Area Advanced Mountain Equipment Academy. The academy is taking place at Pine Mountain State Park in Bell county Kentucky.