Frank Borgeson Interview, July 21, 1984

Frank Borgeson describes his career as a pilot for smokejumpers which began in 1958 when he worked as a pilot for Johnson Flying Service out of McCall, Idaho. Borgeson talks about flying for the U.S. Forest Service directly and becoming the Chief Pilot for the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula, Montana, in 1966. He describes flying planes like the Travelaire 6000 and Ford Trimotor on both fire jumps and rescue jumps. Borgeson talks about the training and skill of smokejumpers. He also discusses becoming the first permanent Chief Pilot at the national level in 1976, based out of Boise, Idaho. He describes his duties in that position, which included leading the Infrared Detection Program, which was developed at the Northern Forest Fire Laboratory in Missoula, Montana.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/smokejumpers/1110/thumbnail.jp