Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy

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.

08/21/2024

The Southern Area Advanced Mountain Heavy Equipment Operator Academy (AMHEOA) will take place September 8 – September 13, 2024.

Heavy equipment operators will have the opportunity for hands-on learning in "real life scenarios" during the first ever “Advanced Mountain Heavy Equipment Operator Academy” at the 15,251-acre Kentucky Ridge State Forest field site in Pineville, KY.

The AMHEOA is managed by a Type-3 Interagency Management Team that encourages collaboration between several state and federal agencies throughout the Southeast, including the Kentucky Division of Forestry and the USDA Forest Service.

The AMHEOA creates an avenue for interagency partners to receive consistent heavy equipment training, which helps improve and standardize education for the wildland firefighting community.

This course is designed to be a hands-on, seat-in-the-equipment, multi-scenario training, with individual coaching and guidance.

07/12/2022

This group the “Cadre” of the Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy, are what make this Academy a success. Thanks again, for all of your hard work and dedication. We hope to see y’all again in October, 2023.

07/11/2022

The Congressional V.I.P Day at the Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy was held on June 24, 2022. Here are a few pictures. Thanks again to all of our V.I.P’s who attended.

07/07/2022

We finish this 2022 Academy accident free and covid free, proving to be a successful 10 days of invaluable training for these operators, and for the Cadre Team. We want to thank the Students, Coaches, Cadre Team, and all of the volunteers that helped us mend this Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy together once again. See y’all again in October of 2023 in Georgia.

07/01/2022

Emergency Management Team explains their role at the GHEOA.

06/29/2022

As our students start to prepare to demob in the coming days from the Academy, and travel back to their home units. We would like to thank them for their hard work, dedication, and concentration throughout their time here at the Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy.

06/28/2022

Wildfires happen in all types of terrain and topography. This operation in particular involves dealing with ditches and crossings. The students are trained on how to react while making the proper maneuvers in this real life training session.

06/28/2022

Bulldozers are not the only equipment being operated here at the Geographic Area Heavy Equipment Operator Academy. The students are getting live hands-on, in-the-seat training sessions on multiple types of equipment used in Wildland Firefighting.