Military Support for Fighting Wildfires Act of 2023

This bill requires the Defense Secretary to reimburse states for costs incurred fighting certain wildfires (replacing a discretionary "may" with a mandatory "shall"). It creates the FireGuard Program, authorizing the National Guard to use remote sensing data for wildfire detection, monitoring, and emergency response through interagency partnerships. The bill also mandates transferring at least seven demilitarized military aircraft to federal agencies for wildfire suppression and removes reimbursement requirements for geospatial resources used in wildfire response. Additional provisions update drone usage rules for National Guard operations during emergencies and direct a study on using Chinook helicopters for wildfire and search-and-rescue missions. These changes directly affect state firefighting budgets, federal agencies (like FEMA and land management departments), and National Guard operations.