WEBVTT 00:01.040 --> 00:03.340 My name is johnny taylor collier . I'm 00:03.340 --> 00:05.562 a staff sergeant , I'm a firefighter at 00:05.562 --> 00:08.390 Misawa Air Base . I'm originally from 00:08.390 --> 00:10.612 yahoo Organ . It's a little tiny town . 00:10.940 --> 00:14.890 Um so I was going to college there , I 00:14.890 --> 00:17.001 left a little earlier . I just wanted 00:17.001 --> 00:18.890 to do something different , I was 00:18.890 --> 00:20.779 anxious to get out and I wanted a 00:20.779 --> 00:22.946 challenge . I was in a rush and I just 00:22.946 --> 00:24.946 said that I wanted a job that I was 00:24.946 --> 00:27.001 gonna be maybe physically challenged 00:27.001 --> 00:29.223 with , I was gonna learn a lot of stuff 00:29.223 --> 00:31.390 and never known before . So if nothing 00:31.390 --> 00:33.612 else would have a greater understanding 00:33.612 --> 00:35.779 of what these guys do because you just 00:35.779 --> 00:35.310 see them , you know from time to time 00:35.310 --> 00:37.310 during an emergency , but you don't 00:37.310 --> 00:39.421 know what their life really entails . 00:39.421 --> 00:41.477 So I went to tech school here . I am 00:42.040 --> 00:44.207 every job in the Air Force you need to 00:44.207 --> 00:46.207 be confident , competent with and I 00:46.207 --> 00:48.429 think that maybe just being in the fire 00:48.429 --> 00:50.540 department puts you in a spotlight on 00:50.540 --> 00:52.920 that a little heavier than another job . 00:52.920 --> 00:54.820 So if we are not competent and 00:54.820 --> 00:56.820 confident in our job than someone's 00:56.820 --> 00:58.764 life is at stake and that's why we 00:58.764 --> 01:00.764 train every day , even now we're on 01:00.764 --> 01:02.931 call on standby . So regardless of the 01:02.931 --> 01:05.230 situation , even if maybe you're not 01:05.240 --> 01:07.407 the most comfortable because there are 01:07.407 --> 01:09.573 a lot of different things we do and we 01:09.573 --> 01:11.740 have people that are those like expert 01:11.740 --> 01:11.620 gurus in different fields , they're on 01:11.620 --> 01:13.731 the call with you too . So that's the 01:13.731 --> 01:15.731 beauty of being on a truck with the 01:15.731 --> 01:17.953 team . Is that even if you do have your 01:17.953 --> 01:20.176 fault , it's okay to accept that and be 01:20.176 --> 01:19.410 open with that . They're there to pick 01:19.410 --> 01:21.299 up the slack and make us like one 01:21.299 --> 01:25.260 cohesive unit . I was chosen 01:25.260 --> 01:27.540 from Saudi Airbase for the Air Force 01:27.540 --> 01:29.707 Firefighter of the Year and it will be 01:29.707 --> 01:31.929 competing for D . O . D . Firefighter . 01:31.929 --> 01:34.300 So I think as far as this award goes , 01:34.310 --> 01:36.532 I'm very grateful . But mostly I'm just 01:36.532 --> 01:38.940 grateful for my team being in Massawa 01:38.940 --> 01:40.996 for the last four years . I've met a 01:40.996 --> 01:43.051 lot of really awesome people and the 01:43.051 --> 01:45.051 japanese nationals that I work with 01:45.051 --> 01:47.051 absolutely love them . They've been 01:47.051 --> 01:49.051 working here 2030 years , they know 01:49.051 --> 01:51.162 everything about this place . There's 01:51.162 --> 01:53.051 so much to learn from them and my 01:53.051 --> 01:55.051 accomplishments are a reflection of 01:55.051 --> 01:57.273 everybody else within this department . 01:57.273 --> 01:59.496 It is not just me by any means . I wish 01:59.496 --> 01:59.240 that I could share it with everybody 01:59.240 --> 02:01.462 and I'm just glad that missile his name 02:01.462 --> 02:03.629 is attached so that at least the Solid 02:03.629 --> 02:05.629 Fire Department gets recognition as 02:05.629 --> 02:09.270 well . Coming here , I wasn't under the 02:09.270 --> 02:11.270 impression that I was gonna try and 02:11.270 --> 02:13.548 cross train and I was going to get out . 02:13.548 --> 02:15.770 I didn't have a 20 year commitment goal 02:15.770 --> 02:15.480 in mind , but I didn't have like , oh , 02:15.480 --> 02:17.470 I'm just going to do for and leave 02:17.480 --> 02:19.760 either . So I was just being open 02:19.760 --> 02:22.280 minded to the opportunities um that 02:22.290 --> 02:24.290 presented themselves to me and just 02:24.290 --> 02:26.346 trying to take advantage of anything 02:26.346 --> 02:28.123 that came my way . So as far as 02:28.123 --> 02:30.179 commissioning and getting out of the 02:30.179 --> 02:31.846 fire department , that wasn't 02:31.846 --> 02:33.734 necessarily my intent , it's just 02:33.734 --> 02:33.540 something I wanted to try . Once I 02:33.540 --> 02:36.370 found myself eligible , I didn't want 02:36.370 --> 02:38.680 to regret not giving it a shot and then 02:38.680 --> 02:40.847 wondering what my life could have been 02:40.847 --> 02:42.680 if I hadn't . So life is quickly 02:42.680 --> 02:44.680 changing . I'm very lucky to have a 02:44.680 --> 02:46.902 supportive spouse that's like there for 02:46.902 --> 02:49.013 me , 100% of the way he's like , just 02:49.013 --> 02:51.124 as excited as I am , and he's totally 02:51.124 --> 02:53.402 okay with picking up moving , changing , 02:53.402 --> 02:55.458 you know , at the drop of a hat , We 02:55.458 --> 02:57.624 had a totally different life plan , we 02:57.624 --> 02:59.791 had like a house set up in january and 02:59.791 --> 03:01.680 we just cut everything off and we 03:01.680 --> 03:03.847 started all over again . And I'm lucky 03:03.847 --> 03:06.013 to have that kind of support behind me 03:06.013 --> 03:08.480 with such big changes , it definitely 03:08.480 --> 03:10.702 makes it easier and way more of a fun , 03:10.702 --> 03:12.702 exciting path to go down instead of 03:12.702 --> 03:14.960 like an apprehensive path to go down . 03:14.970 --> 03:17.850 So I am super excited to see where that 03:17.850 --> 03:20.150 takes me us in this new life .