Story by Courtney Pollock July 29, 2021 at 05:56AM Thomas Wiley, assistant fire chief for training at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES), has embraced the opportunity to improve and implement many changes within the department. Since arriving to Rota almost six years ago, he has seen many of his projects and efforts come to fruition, yielding one of the best medium fire departments within the Navy. “Overall, you start somewhere and you make these subtle changes but over time – over a span of six years – it makes a big difference,” said Wiley. “I think we’ve come a long way as a department in that time…and it’s not just me, it takes a team to do that.” While the department’s overall success is a team effort, Wiley’s contributions have not gone unnoticed. He was recently awarded Department of Defense (DOD) fire instructor of the year in addition to awards he won earlier this year as fire instructor of the year for Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central (EURAFCENT) and Navy fire instructor of the year.
