After 46 years of service, the Air Force’s top firefighter stepped down.
Donald Warner, chief of the Fire Emergency Services Division in the Air Force Civil Engineer Center Readiness Directorate at Tyndall AFB, Fla., retired Dec. 29, ending a career in firefighting that has spanned six decades.
“When I enlisted in 1965, the Air Force chose the firefighting career field for me,” Warner said. “They did a good job because I have loved it. I can’t think of anything else I would have rather done.”
Over his career, Warner has seen Air Force firefighting evolve and, for the past 11 years as the Air Force Fire Chief, has helped guide many of those changes.
华纳解释说：“我们的职业领域已经变得更加技术性，我们的职责责任大大扩大。”“当我进来时，我们几乎完全是崩溃的消防员。现在，我们是一支全力以赴的反应力量。”
Warner said the predominant call received by Air Force firefighters today is for emergency medical services response.
“We provide the first level of care typically on Air Force bases and have a lot of success stories,” he said. “Our firefighters save about 30 people per year. I’m very proud of that.”
The most apparent changes in Air Force firefighting have been in technological advances in vehicles and equipment, Warner said. In the past, the Air Force only used firefighting vehicles specified and built for the military.
他解释说：“他们非常基本。”“我们现在购买商业，现成的设备。这一变化与过去的商业实践有很大的不同，但是它使我们能够跟上技术的步伐，并使我们的消防员在离开空军后能够更具竞争力，并为职业做好准备。”
In overseeing Air Force fire department operations and some 10,000 Airmen and civilian firefighters, Warner has faced numerous challenges. Key among these was addressing staffing requirements in the face of budget constraints.
“In fire, we had to dramatically change how we operated and were forced to make some tough decisions on the size of our total force,” he said. Warner and his team at AFCEC and major commands found that varying the number of firefighters on duty was the only means of achieving the manpower savings required, providing more firefighters available during higher risk periods and fewer firefighters at other times.
他说：“我们将风险管理方法纳入了我们的业务，以确保我们的消防员根据当地的风险因素拥有适当数量的人员。”
华纳说，车辆和设备现代化方面最大的进步之一是开发超高压力消防技术。188金博网网址多少
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