442nd CES firefighters receive national fire academy certifications

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric Hartman
  • 442nd Civil Engineers Squadron
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  Ten 442nd Airmen headed to Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. March 1-5 to participate in a variety of supervisory-level incident management training programs.

For the 442nd Civil Engineers Squadron Citizen Airmen, the training took place at the Air Force Reserve Command Expeditionary Combat Support Training Certification Center.

During the week-long training, members received instruction on basic supervision and expectations, the national incident management system, essentials of firefighting jeopardy, and an instructor development program. Additionally, students were given the opportunity to apply these incident-management skills during live-fire training evolutions, which included vehicle and structural fires.

Students were required to serve as initial, first arriving, incident commanders, relay information to additional, responding units, and assign tactical objectives in support of their strategic goals in order to mitigate the hazards.

All 10 members also successfully completed two National Fire Academy training programs, and received NFA certifications. The programs were "Firefighter Safety-Calling the Mayday" and "Calling the Mayday-Hands-on Training for Firefighters." These programs are designed with the primary focus of firefighter safety in mind.

Many firefighters are injured or killed each year in the United States because they become trapped or disoriented in a fire, and wait too long to call for help. This training focuses on recognizing the parameters when firefighters need assistance and how to properly call for the assistance. In addition to classroom instruction and a written examination, the program also incorporated a practical skills evaluation where crews are put into multiple trapped firefighter situations, requiring the members to call for help and initiate self-rescue actions under duress.

The 442nd CES currently has four NCO's at the University of Alabama Fire College attending the Fire Officer III and Fire Officer IV advanced certification program as part of their Air Force specialty code upgrade training.