ARMY FIRE FIGHTING: A Historical Perspective - Softcover

Ward, Leroy Allen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1468523708 ISBN 13: 9781468523706

Verlag: AuthorHouse, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Army Firefighting details the history of this low-density military occupational specialty which represents a small section of the Corps of Engineers. Beginning with the Civil War through present day, this historical perspective contains the lineage and history of Army fire fighting units and includes unit rosters, activations and deactivations, deployment locations and description of some of the major fires fought. The book also contains photographs of Army fire fighters during World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm and the War on Terrorism. Using interviews, correspondence and diaries, as well as archived material, Leroy Allen Ward tells the remarkable story of the Army's Engineer Firefighters.

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ARMY FIRE FIGHTING

A Historical PerspectiveBy Leroy Allen Ward

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2013 Leroy Allen Ward
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-2370-6

Contents

Photography Credits............................................ixAcknowledgments................................................xvIntroduction...................................................xixPart I: Combat Firefighters....................................1Chapter 1 Military Occupational Specialty......................3Chapter 2 Training.............................................7Chapter 3 The Combat Zone......................................11Chapter 4 Equipment............................................19Part II: History...............................................27Chapter 1 The Beginnings.......................................29Chapter 2 World War I..........................................35Chapter 3 World War II.........................................41Chapter 4 Korean War...........................................65Chapter 5 8075th Army Firefighting Company.....................73Chapter 6 Vietnam..............................................91Chapter 7 Present Day..........................................99Part III: Appendices...........................................121Appendix 1 Medals Awarded to Firefighters......................123Appendix 2 Firefighter Line of Duty Deaths.....................133Appendix 3 Units and Locations/Deployments.....................139Appendix 4 Unit Rosters........................................187Appendix 5 Unit Lineage and Honors.............................215Appendix 6 Korean War Era......................................249Biblography....................................................251

Chapter One

Military Occupational Specialty

The army calls their enlisted jobs MOSs, or military occupation specialties, while the commissioned officers specialties are categorized by "branches" or "fields."

The original firefighter MOS was 383, later changed to 525, then to 51M, and then, in 2003, to 21M. The most recent change, to 12M, was made in October 2010. These changes are directed by the Department of the Army to reflect technological developments; changes in doctrine, force structure, functions, or missions; or correction of performance deficiencies.

While MOS numbering as generally used includes two numbers followed by a letter, a full designation consists of at least five characters (e.g., 21M10, 21M20, 21M30). The first three characters identify the MOS; the fourth character, a number from one to five, indicates the level of skill within the MOS. The fifth character is normally zero. In some cases, a letter is used as a special qualification identifier to indicate a soldier's specific duty assignment or special qualifications. Special qualifications that firefighters may be issued are for career management NCO, drill sergeant, equal opportunity advisor, recruiter, retention NCO, instructor/writer, and observer controller/trainer, active component reserve component.

Each enlisted MOS has from one to five skill levels, depending on the types of duty positions encompassed by the MOS. The four occupational specialty codes levels for firefighters, as derived from the Department of the Army Pamphlet 611-21(2007), are:

MOS 21M10, which is comprised of Private E-1 through Specialist E-4, "performs rescue and firefighting operations during structural fires, aircraft emergencies, vehicle emergencies, wildland fires" and "hazardous materials incidents." These soldier/firefighters also "operate and maintain firefighting equipment and vehicles during emergency and nonemergency operations."

MOS 21M20 (Sergeant E-5) position is responsible for "directing rescue and firefighting operations during structural fires, aircraft emergencies, vehicle emergencies, wildland fires" and "hazardous materials incidents." This position is also responsible for "maintaining the records and reports on fire department operations."

MOS 21M30 (Staff Sergeant E-6) position "supervises rescue and firefighting operations during structural fires, aircraft emergencies, vehicle emergencies, wildland fires" and "hazardous materials incidents." Additionally this position is responsible for "conducting fire prevention operations, including inspections and prefire planning."

MOS 21M40 (Sergeant First Class E-7) position exercises overall "command and control during rescue and firefighting operations during structural fires, aircraft emergencies, vehicle emergencies, wildland fires" and "hazardous materials incidents." They will supplement the MOS 21M30 positions in conducting "fire prevention operations, to include determining building classification and installation-level inspections." This position is also responsible for the conducting the "initial fire-ground investigations."

On January 8, 1942, under War Department Circular No. 5, the ranks of technician third grade (T/3), technician fourth grade (T/4), and technician fifth grade (T/5) were created, replacing the existing specialist ranks. Initially, the technician ranks used the same insignia as staff sergeant, sergeant, and corporal, respectively, but on September 4, 1942, Change No. 1 to AR 600-35 added a "T" for "Technician" to the standard design that corresponded with that grade. Technicians were not addressed as such, but rather by the neighboring rank in the same pay grade (e.g., a T/5 was addressed as "Corporal"; a T/4 as "Sergeant"; and a T/3 as "Staff Sergeant").

Officially, a technician did not have the authority to give commands or issue orders, but could, under combat conditions, be placed second in command of a squad by a sergeant. Unofficially, most units treated technicians as though they were members of their neighboring rank. The technician ranks were removed from the rank system in 1948, although the concept was brought back with the rank of specialist in 1955. In 1965 the ranks of Specialist 8 and Specialist 9 were discontinued; in 1978 the rank of Specialist 7 was discontinued; and in 1985 the ranks of Specialist 5 and Specialist 6 were discontinued, leaving only the Specialist 4 rank still being used today.

Technical Manual 12-427, Change No. 5, Military Occupational Classificiation of Enlisted Personnel (1949) is the first reference where the army MOSs are converted from a three-digit to a four-digit code.

Special Regulation (SR) 615-25-15, Enlisted Personnel Military Occupational Specialties (1950), provided a listing of military occupational specialty grades authorized for each specialty. With this regulation, MOS 383 was split. The regulation provided for MOS 1383, fire chief, with authorized grades of E-5, E-6, and E-7; and MOS 4383, firefighter. An E-7 fire chief was authorized when four or more fire companies were under single supervision; an E-6 fire chief was authorized for supervising two or three fire companies; and an E-5 was authorized for the position of fire chief of a single company. Grade E-4 was authorized for the position of assistant fire company chief, and E-3 was authorized for the positions of fire truck driver, firefighter, and pump operator. This regulation also indicated that MOS 8383, fire superintendent, would be filled by warrant officers and would be implemented at a later date. This author has not found any records indicating this implementation.

By contrast, the War Department Technical Manual (TM) 12-406, Officer Classification, Commissioned and Warrant (1946), listed the following officer military occupational specialties: firefighting unit commander (9401), fire marshal...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: AuthorHouse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1468523708
• ISBN 13: 9781468523706
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 276
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: KreGa Onlinehandel GmbH; 4950000000000; info@krega-onlinehandel.de; ; Birkenweg 31; Brakel; 33034; Deutschland