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| McChord Field firefighters will be transitioning to positions at other bases across the country as they are replaced by civilian firefighters. |
Published: 02:29PM July 28th, 2016
Staff Sergeant Christian Mejia had no idea last year when he and his wife, Kaitlin, and their three young children moved to Joint Base Lewis-McChord from Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras that they’d be moving again within 24 months.
The 26-year-old Miami native joined the Air Force seven years ago and was able to join a military firefighter program within eight months. Here, at JBLM, he’s part of the soon-to-be dismantled Air Force firefighters with the 627th Civil Engineer Squadron.
“I’m ready to move on, but I am sad my family won’t be able to buy a house or stay long,” Mejia said. “It’s been a tremendous experience here, but it was discouraging to find out we (are) leaving.”
JBLM’s shift from military to civilian firefighters has been in the works for about a year and is expected to be accomplished by July 2017. There are currently 21 Air Force firefighters on JBLM, many of which will be moved to other bases that still use Air Force firefighters in coming months, according to Staff Sgt. Jose Cardenas, of the 627th Civil Engineer Squadron. He is coordinating the JBLM’s Airmen’s transition.
“My job is to get our guys moved out of here,” Cardenas said.
Cardenas, who has been at JBLM for the past two years, said it is a little sad the department will no longer be composed of military firefighters. Instead, it will be led by a civilian fire chief and filled with Department of Defense-hired positions.
Seven of the current Air Force firefighters will stay on with the department, in GS-7 positions, as they were retiring and have been hired on as civilian firefighters. It’s also sad that Friday’s Firefighter Combat Challenge will be the last such event, Cardenas said.
“It’s all about the legacy,” he said. “(JBLM) has had a Firefighter Combat Challenge for about 70 years,” he said.
The daylong Firefighter Combat Challenge takes place at the McChord Field Station 105, Building 6, and offers a multitude of activities — from a hose pull and body drag to tool carry, cone course, tire flip, hose throw and bucket brigade. Prizes are awarded to the top teams, but it’s more about the camaraderie and the legacy, according to Cardenas.
Technical Sergeant Roger Halle, also of the 627th Civil Engineer Squadron, will have to miss the Firefighter Combat Challenge Friday, as he and his family will be packing to move to his next assignment in eastern Washington in the coming weeks. Halle, 33, is from Missouri and joined the Air Force 10 years ago with the intent of becoming a military firefighter.
Halle and his wife, Stephanie, have four sons, ages 8, 6, 4 and 2, and another son, already named Dax Browning Halle, set to be born in October.
It’s been a rush for the family to sell their area home — which, Halle said, sold within 24 hours of being placed on the market — and purchase another house in the Spokane area near his firefighter assignment at Fairchild Air Force Base. The home the couple found in Spokane is set to close Thursday, Halle said.
“It’s all been working together great,” he said, “As (Mejia) said, it’s been a great experience (at JBLM), but we’re ready to go — on to the new experience.”
Despite this, Halle said he’s not ruling out being sent back to JBLM in the future, as he’s planning to stay in the military another 10 years. Halle said time has shown, some other joint force bases that dismantled military firefighters have later opted to reestablish those.
For example, Hill Air Force Base in Utah and Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado Springs, Colo., Halle said, were reestablished.
“Some are gone, but others come back,” he said.
