A Day in the Life of a U.S. Air Force Fire Fighter During the Cold War

“Sometimes It Was Hell on Earth”

I decided to write my memoirs so my grandkids and friends might enjoy some of the adventures I had while I was in the Air Force. I not only did something interesting, I did something very exciting. I had a great life growing up. I had wonderful parents and I was allowed do a lot of things most kids did not get to do. I always wanted to be a pilot, so one day while I was in college I stopped by the Air Force recruiter, to see what I would have to do to become a pilot for them. The recruiter gave me some tests and I passed them. I then took a physical, but I did not pass the eye test. I decided to stay in school. When I passed the test to get into the Air Force, the recruiters would not let me go. One day during the Christmas break he called me and said he could get me into weather if I would enlist before the end of the year. I was tired of school, so I signed up. I did not tell my parents until the day before I was to leave for basic training and that was a big mistake. They were very upset I was leaving school for the Air Force. I had already signed up, so I had to go. When I got to basic training the T.I. thought it was very funny when I told him what I was going to do in the Air Force. He told me they would decide what I would do and to just forget what my recruiter had said. Up to that time in my life, I was a big shot and I did what I wanted to do. No one was going to stop me. The Air Force changed my thinking about that very quickly. I became a government issue [G I] and they owned me. After basic I was sent to school in the intelligence field. I hated that, so I asked to be transferred and I ended up at Carswell AFB, as a fire fighter. My time at Carswell AFB, was some of the most exciting times I had in my life. I went on hundreds of emergences and chased a bunch of aircraft down the runway in my time at the base, but I am only going to tell you about the ones I can remember. I do want to say these stories are how I remember them; I hope they are how they happened. To be honest, I did not like everything in the Air Force. I complained like all G Is, I found out the world did not evolve around me. My life in the Air Force was a good one, I was glad I got to do it. I grew up a lot during my short career I was never a hero. My mission was to put out fires, and that is what the Air Force paid me to do. I hope I earned my pay. I did learn in the Fire Department to make every day count as it could be your last one.