I had the privilege of delivering the invocation at the graduation ceremony for Recruit Classes 50 & 50-A On Dec. 18. Recruit Class 50-A represented a group of prior service personnel that attended a reduced version of a normal rookie school, due to the fact that they came from other departments and had attended other rookie schools. Recruit Class 50 went through the entire training required for entry-level firefighters, without prior experience.
Believe it or not, this experience took me back to my graduation from Recruit Class 16, in March of 1986. I really don’t remember a lot about my graduation. I seem to remember more about the 1-week survival school that some of us attended in October 1985, so that we could enter stations, until the next rookie school convened. Back to Friday, I enjoyed seeing the graduates get their badges pinned on by wives, girlfriends, husbands, boyfriends, children, parents, friends and instructors.
These men and women will go to the stations, right in the knick of time. Staffing shortages have put a burden on those that have had to work, in order to maintain minimum staffing requirements. What this has equated to is a mandatory overtime list that has been spinning like a roulette wheel. With Christmas upon us, it becomes even harder for people to be held over on mandatory overtime. I remember taking a mandatory assignment for a firefighter one year, so that he could be home with his young family.
Listening to these firefighters share their appreciation to instructors and hearing from the class spokespersons was quite inspiring. It was great to hear these firefighters talk about what they already consider to be the best job on earth. The funny thing is that I am a retired firefighter who knew it was the best job on earth. These men and women will see and experience many things, over the course of their careers.
The ceremony ended with one of the firefighters receiving an early Christmas present. His brother is a Marine, stationed in the Philippines. He had not been home for three years and was not supposed to be home now, but in an effort to be a part of this milestone moment in his brother’s life, he was able to get home. It was a great ending to an already great ceremony. I wish these men and women the very best as they serve the citizens of Chesterfield and neighboring jurisdictions.
