Leadership gets fired up for training

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Erica Rodriguez
  • 17th training Wing Public Affairs
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Leadership from Goodfellow and other DOD agencies attended the Fire Marshal Course at the Louis F. Garland DOD Fire Academy here March 18 to 20.

The three-day Fire Marshal Course is required by DOD Instruction 6055.06 for any officer or civilian assuming command over a DOD Fire Emergency Service program. This course aims to show participants the responsibilities and challenges within today's FES.

"Our career field, Fire Emergency Services, doesn't have officers in it, so from a growth path for officers in a civil engineering environment, they typically don't ever see us once they leave a first or second lieutenant rank," said Master Sgt. Stephen S. Thompson, 312th Training Squadron course supervisor. "Typically, they will spend just a couple shifts in the fire department learning about our operations, so the next time an officer is introduced to us is when they take command of a squadron with firefighting capabilities, and sometimes, we can be as big as one-third of their responsibility."

According to Air Force Instruction 32-2001, the Civil Engineer Squadron, the CE commander or the base CE is the fire marshal. A fire marshal is responsible for overseeing FES programs and provides the fire chief the resources available to execute an FES mission. Fire marshals must attend the Fire Marshal Course within six months of assuming fire marshal duties.

The fire academy has hosted the course for 20 years now aiming to train 60 students per year from all the services. The curriculum changes with each class to reflect changes over time and advances in the FES program and based on previous courses feedback.

Class curriculum currently includes rappelling buildings, simulating confined spaces while dressed in full protective gear, conducting bunker drills, operating hose lines, extinguishing live fires and classroom time with guest speakers.

"The little bit we did gave an appreciation for how physical it is," said Col. Dominic J. Bernardi III, 17th Mission Support Group Commander. "You soon realize it's not just the mental and science part of fighting the fire. You learn just how heavy the hoses are, how powerful they are with the water pressure and doing all that with the weight of the gear. The trainees have to be in shape."

The leaders will take back what they learned from the course to their commands to better lead the FES programs they oversee.

"Being the pseudo fire marshal over in Honduras, it allows me to gather my thoughts to refortify some of the things we have been doing and to identify key areas we may need to focus on while I am there in that position," said Maj. David Diaz, 612th Air Base Squadron's base civil engineer. "The instructors provided a level of support that I don't typically see in technical training courses. We knew they were professionals bar none, but the level of instruction that they provided and the professionalism that they provided was outstanding."