The New York National Guard was busy flying up and down the Hudson River on Tuesday.
Their work with the Blackhawk helicopters is part of their annual training.
While the training looks repetitive, it prepares them for any disaster that could come their way.
Load the bucket, then drop it off.
This is how it goes for several hours, once a year, as the New York National Guard trains for just one of its missions.
Captain Matthias Quackenbush says, "We stay current if the state needs us to respond to a fire here in New York or any other state really in the northeast region."
Or really any other state in the country.
If called, it would take a few days, but the guard could help with those massive wildfires out in Arizona and New Mexico.
These water buckets fight those fires, dumping more than 600 gallons of water at a time.
This yearly training keeps their skills up to date.
Sgt. First Class Mark Casey says, "It is a new experience every time we do this mission for the state. There is always something new that will pop up and we have to be ready for."
So for two hours on Tuesday, two helicopters were used to train the 12 soldiers.
It is a learning experience from the time they hook up that bucket on the ground, to dropping the water back into the Hudson.
Captain Quackenbush says, "You go from a 15,000 pound aircraft to adding an additional 5,000 to 6,000 of water. Your controls feel different and air speed is very important. Once you do a power check to see if it can handle the load, we begin forward flight."
And while the training is fun for these aviators, it is also a valuable resource for New Yorkers.
The training could save your home, protect land or a nature preserve from fire.
Every pick up, every drop off is helping you if a disaster ever struck here at home.
