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Manas AB fire department switches to contract services

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jerome Baysmore
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan --  The 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron turned over fire protection and prevention responsibilities to civilian contract fire fighters in a small ceremony here June 2.

Manas AB is one of the first bases to outsource fire protection services in the U.S. Air Forces Central area of responsibility.

"The AF civil engineering community has been stressed with a lot of taskings ever since 9/11," said Lt. Col. Mike Griffin, 376th ECES commander and base fire marshal. "This is a great opportunity to relieve some of those stressed career fields by allowing contractor support or the outsourcing of civil engineer functions.

Colonel Griffin added that the 36 military fire fighter positions seen over the past six years have now switched to about 28 contractors--but the level of service will remain the same.

"I'm just excited--it's been more than six or so years, and we've had all of that military camaraderie but now we've got an opportunity for some great continuity," he said. "With the civilian contractors here, we won't have the four-month 'rotational amnesia.'

"We will have a consistent fire chief throughout the year so those things that we get challenged with every four months we won't see anymore," Colonel Griffin said. "'Team Manas,' will be a lot more pre-set with our fire protection and emergency services program."

Senior Master Sgt. Tony Phillips, 376th ECES outgoing fire chief agreed that the recent switch is beneficial to both the military and civilian personnel.

"I was looking forward to coming here for four months to be the fire chief and gain the experience," he said. "But the switch to civilian contract is bittersweet. I will be here in a (quality assurance) capacity so I'll be able to interact with the fire chief and the civilian contractors to learn a little bit about the aspects of contract fire fighting."

Although the Manas AB fire department had a recent changeover, most of the contractors have their roots in the military and the new program is very similar.

"The fire emergency services and paramilitary organizations have rank structures like the active duty," said Mr. Jodie McKanna, Manas AB fire chief and retired senior master sergeant. "So going from active-duty to the contract is quite similar.

"I spent 25 years in the fire service with 22 in the Air Force and the personnel I have are all prior military--I think we bring a lot to the game," he added. "We have as much experience as our active-duty counterparts from a fire fighting standpoint, which provides our customer a great service."

Mr. McKenna added that he feels the contract will also help ease the burden on the active-duty fire fighters.

"I think it's a great opportunity both for the military and civilian counterparts," he concluded. "Due to the overextension of the fire prevention career field, they decided to contract out Manas AB. We believe that's going to help lessen the burden for the active-duty personnel by not having as many rotations within the AEF cycle."