# News

## U.S. Air Force LogoUnited States Air Force

# Vandenberg AFB awarded best DoD fire department for 7th time

              - Published  Oct. 31, 2019
              -                             By Senior Airman Clayton Wear                                                    
              - 30th Space Wing Public Affairs

**VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --  **
As a space wing, **Vandenberg Air Force Base** lacks the aircraft and heavy use of its runway that would reflect greatly on a fire department during award season. Even in the lack of these two arenas, the 30th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department has been awarded not only the “Best Fire Department in the Air Force” but also the “Best Fire Department in the Department of Defense” for 2018.Following their mission to “serve, save, survive,” the department distinguished itself in California with their immediate response to the Montecito mudslide disaster in 2018. Due to blocked roads, this had one of Vandenberg AFB’s members as the site commander for the first 12 hours of response. For these actions, the department was also awarded the “2018 Air Force Heroism Award.”“The reality is most fire departments never win the ‘big one,’” said Mark Farias, 30th CES fire chief. “So it’s certainly an honor to be selected as the best of the best! As big of a deal as that is for us, it’s even more important to maintain that level of performance and service. We’ve been selected as the best in the business seven times since 2003...and we were not eligible to compete in the years in-between.”All while Vandenberg AFB’s fire department has lacked aircraft and a mission that is normal to an Air Force base, the fire department has innovated new ways to stay ready in a changing landscape. For example, Vandenberg AFB is the only base with a “hotshot” crew which specializes in wildland firefighting, a qualified urban search and rescue team and a water rescue team.“Our firefighters are the only Air Force nationally certified Type I USAR Team,” Farias said. “We pursued this capability because our most compelling natural disaster threats are earthquakes, and our base didn’t have any organic emergency intervention capability, so we felt as professionals that we needed to develop one...and we did! The same goes for our water rescue team. We have 46 miles of coastline that frequents a lot of recreational and commercial water activity. On a good day, the Coast Guard is 3 1/2 hours away, so we developed a water rescue team.”Most Vandenberg AFB fire officers are on a Type I, all-hazard team, or Type II, wildland team, National Incident Management Team and regularly respond to the worst incidents in the nation. Also, since the development of the water rescue team, they have recovered or rescued 17 people. For Farias, it is not his department's qualifications and success that make it so great but its culture.“One of our agency’s greatest innovations has been our culture,” Farias said. “This is our secret sauce--the unifying force across all of our sections and functions. Our culture is a point of pride for us and the envy of others. Our culture is our ‘why’-- our sense of purpose. When we’re clear about why we’re here, where we’re going, who we serve, and how we’re getting there...people start to feel ownership for what we do. They feel fulfilled because it’s personal.”Personal ownership is not just required for a “feel good” workday. Firefighting deals with very real, potentially dangerous problems. The department fosters the development of field leaders or those who are accountable to make time-sensitive decisions on their own.Leadership inoculation starts immediately after a firefighter arrives from technical school training. Known in the firefighter circles as the “Rookie Program,” new firefighters learn the ropes of their job for a full year before donning a yellow hard hat.“One of the things that came up during the Air Force fire chief conference this year was that our 12-month rookie program was specifically highlighted,” said Tech. Sgt. Mathew Quackenbush, 30th CES north battalion chief. “They were impressed so much so that they are trying to add this to the firefighting curriculum Air Force wide.”Focused on developing confident leaders at every level, the program includes all of the key components for a new firefighter to later progress into the fire officer ranks.“The program is very structured for them to hit their benchmarks,” Quackenbush said. “It focuses on structural fires, USAR, rope rescue, wildland firefighting and the space and missile capabilities that we have. Through the process, these members become better firefighters to support the base and community. We also developed a 12-month fire officer program that really develops their people skills, business skills and leadership skills. They learn strategic planning, budgeting, public speaking, coaching, mentoring, communicating and incident command.”The 30th CES Fire Department innovate how fire is fought. In the last few years, members have even trained outside agencies on the tricks of the trade. Through every ladder peg of leadership, the 30th CES Fire Department understands their impact on the mission.“We build our reputation one 911 call, one emergency response, one fire safety inspection at a time,” Farias said. “Knowing that every action we take has an impact on the lives of our customers, we are solution providers! We respond to and solve some of our community’s toughest problems. Our people dedicate themselves day in and day out to fulfilling our mission to serve, save, survive.”

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