Interview with a member of the UME 👩🏽‍🚒

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"The operation that has impacted me the most has undoubtedly been Balmis, both because of its duration, as we were deployed for more than a month, and because of all the vicissitudes that surrounded this operation."

1. Before accessing the UME. Where have you been assigned?

I was in a couple of Cavalry units, in Vec squadrons and Combat Vehicles. During that time, I participated in two international missions.

2. What are the entrance exams and the admission process like? 

The first requirement to belong to the UME is to be a military member of any army (Army, Navy, Air Force, or Common Corps). Once the initial commitment and/or the minimum time of permanence in the position has been fulfilled, applications for the positions can be submitted, according to the conditions of the same, which are published periodically in the Official Defense Bulletin (BOD).

Once the spots are requested, a pre-selection process will begin in which the merits you possess are evaluated, and after a final selection that takes place in Toledo, where physical tests, psychophysical assessments, and personal interviews are conducted, the process will conclude with the assignment of the spots.

Subsequently, all personnel assigned to the UME must complete the Basic Emergency Course as a requirement to secure their position, if stipulated in the vacancy announcement.

3. To enter the UME, is it necessary to take any specific course? Once inside, do you continue training? 

Upon arriving at the unit, it is mandatory to complete the Basic Emergency Course (CBE). The CBE has a distance phase that lasts about 7 months during which a series of theoretical knowledge is acquired. At the end of this theoretical part, 6 weeks of practical training are conducted in Toledo. During these 6 weeks, various phases of instruction are covered, encompassing different subjects such as firefighting, medical training, vertical rescue, flooding...  The CBE provides basic knowledge to students that they will later develop in their battalions.

Later  when arriving at the battalions, training is continuous and a multitude of courses are held, some of them in the civil field.

4. What is day-to-day life like in the UME? 

The day always begins with a physical education session. This is of great importance as most interventions involve significant physical wear. After the shower, each Section usually has individualized instruction. As a general rule, each Company / Section trains for the campaign they are involved in, such as firefighting during the summer, and also trains for the next one, in this case, for floods which will be the next campaign they will enter. Apart from this, daily instruction also aligns with the alert level that Section has that week. Thus, if their alert level is high, the instruction will take place near the base and will try not to have a very high physical load so that the personnel are at their maximum capacity in case they need to be deployed in a real intervention throughout that day.

5. Within the UME, what specialties are there? 

Once assigned to the UME, and after completing the Basic Emergency Course, the specialization phase begins. Although all personnel have training in forest fire fighting, response to winter storms, or floods, there are assignments where a more specific specialization is carried out through the courses taught by the Military Emergency School.

6. Holiday theme how do you do it at the UME? 

Holidays are enjoyed as in the rest of the units of the Armed Forces, with the exception that they will attend to the special availability of the UME units in relation to specific campaigns.

7. Are there many maneuvers in the UME? What do you usually practice in these? 

Specific company maneuvers are usually carried out prior to the start of each campaign. It is common to conduct specific fire prevention drills where everything related to intervention in forest fires is practiced, and efforts are made to include prescribed burns to make the exercises as realistic as possible. Others are conducted in winter conditions where movement in the mountains, vehicle recovery, off-road driving, search and rescue in avalanches, etc., are practiced. There are also those we call multi-risk maneuvers, which combine water rescue, containment/pumping, and principles of vertical rescue. In addition to these types of maneuvers, there are Beta maneuvers at the Battalion level, where normally one of the Sections acts as a simulation. and is responsible for preparing different incidents so that the rest of the unit can  instruct in the most realistic conditions possible.  

10.  Is it easier to access the UME from the ET than from the Navy or the E.A? 

There is no greater ease, simply the percentage of UME personnel by military branches is distributed among 90% of the Army, 7% of the Air and Space Force, 2% of the Spanish Navy, and 1% of the Common Corps.

11. In which fires, floods, or other disasters have you been deployed? Which one has impacted you the most? 

The list would be very long but to mention the most well-known, the floods from the Dana in Murcia, the Balmis operation, and the Filomena storm. The last two this summer would be the wildfires in Navarra and Aragón. The operation that has impacted me the most has undoubtedly been Balmis, both because of its duration, as we were deployed for more than a month, and because of all the vicissitudes that surrounded that operation. 

12. How do you organize yourselves during fire season? Do you have to stay close to the base in case you need to be deployed? 

The unit is organized into several alert levels. The first level would be the alert personnel who stay overnight in the unit. This personnel is divided into the reconnaissance team, which is made up of 4 people with the chief or 2nd chief of Section in command and one of the two platoons of the Sc. The reconnaissance team leaves a maximum of 15 minutes after receiving the alert, while the platoon that is on alert staying overnight in the unit must be leaving with their vehicles within 1 hour at most from when they receive the alert. The 2nd platoon of the Sc has a maximum time to be leaving the base of 2.5 hours, and with them, most of their supports such as medical, Pm, engineering machines, etc. would leave. From that moment on, it is usual for most of the unit to have a response time of 3 hours. That maximum time set is not to join the unit but to already be leaving in convoy towards the emergency area.

13. How do you see the future? Do you see yourself finishing your military career in the UME? 

I would like to stay in the unit but I know I can return to any other unit to continue my military life. 

14. If you had to give advice to someone who wanted to join the UME, what would it be?

I would say it is a unit  beautiful and rewarding to be assigned to it, I would also say that the availability involved in being assigned to the UME is very high with everything that entails, you know when we leave but not when we return.

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