| 03 May 2010
The Crash Trucks now sit idle; they get run up once a week for an operational maintenance check. Technically they are called ARFF apparatus, the acronym standing for Airport Rescue Fire Fighting. There are three of them; all produced by Oshkosh Corporation, a manufacturer of severe duty trucks. They once were in daily use protecting the airfield at Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine. Now, with the airfield closed, they are another chapter of a phasing out process that will culminate with the discontinuance of a fire protection organization that has been in existence for over half a century.
Still in service are a rescue squad truck, three structural engines (one a reserve piece) and a four wheel drive wildland pumper. Also still there, albeit in diminishing numbers, are the men who flesh out the ranks, the fire fighters. Two shifts of just over a dozen each to provide a daily minimum manpower requirement of not less than nine. This provides two full engine crews and a supervisor to fulfill the departmental motto: "Protecting Those Who Defend America".
The numbers have already been drawn down from a high of nearly sixty including fire suppression personnel, supervisors and a fire prevention office, which together constituted one of the largest fire departments in Maine. Department of Defense firefighters, including those at NASB, generally work a port and starboard shift schedule consisting of twenty-four hours on duty and twenty four off. Every seven shifts, or fourteen days, a regular work day is given as a day off for a total of three days in a row. Called a Kelly Day or K-day, this constitutes the fire fighter's equivalent of a weekend although it occurs on a rotational basis; if you Kelly on a Tuesday this time, your next one will be on a Thursday, and so on.
The DOD civilian Fire and Emergency Service departments are in essence one huge worldwide fire department with hundreds of stations. They are generally autonomous of the base that they happen to be stationed on and are instead overseen on a regional basis. NASB FD is actually Station # 27 of Navy Northeast Region, which stretches from Virginia to Maine. NASB is one of three Stations in Maine with NCTAMS LANT DET, Cutler and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard comprising the others.
This leaves those of employed by the DOD in an unusual situation with the base closing; if we want to stay in the area and don't have the time in service to allow retirement, we are faced with trying to transfer to another base that is within commuting distance, i.e.; Portsmouth. This will only be possible if the base in question has available slots for firefighters, generally as their firefighters retire out.
This will obviously not allow all of the NASB personnel to stay in the area. Many have already signed what is known as a Mobility Agreement in which the employee in question agrees to stay at their current location until Northeast Region determines that he is no longer needed there. At that time he will be assigned to a station within the region that is in need of an employee. This could be anywhere from Virginia west to Pennsylvania and north to Cutler. It assures a job but it's a crap shoot as to where you might be going.
The only other option for those not wanting to move but who would like to continue in Federal service would be to accept a job with the Veterans Administration at the VA Hospital in Togus, Maine. This is a limited possibility as it is not that large a department. Those who work there, like Fire Chief Frank True of Harpswell, who is also Assistant Fire Chief of Harpswell Neck FD, do not lose tenure or benefits by transferring out of the DOD to another branch of the Federal service.
Mike Demers of West Bath works on "A" Platoon at NASB FD. He is too young to retire and as a local boy, he has no interest in moving. On his days off from NASB, he serves as Fire Chief of West Bath FD. "I'd really like to get hired at Togus; they just went through a round of hiring, but I wasn't selected. If I don't make it in there, I'm considering going to the jetport in Bangor, I could still make that commute. I just don't want to leave the area; this is my home, my wife has a career here and my kids are settled in their school. "
"B" Platoon's James Backman was stationed in Brunswick in the Navy. His hometown is Winter Harbor, Maine and he was brought up lobstering and scalloping with his family. After getting out of the service, he applied with NASB FD and was hired. He bought a house in Brunswick where he lives with his wife, Stacy and their two children. His best option would also to be hired at Togus VA Hospital. "We bought our house when the real estate market in this area was booming, before the base went on the BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure) list. If we tried to sell it now, we'd lose our shirts, if we could sell it at all. Add to that all of the homes that will be available with the former Base Housing going on the market, it'd be a tough go. If region will agree to an altered work schedule for me, say two days on and three days off, I could work in Cutler and still live here. But as to 24on/24 off, there's no way that I could drive all the way to Cutler. I explained my situation to Region but there's been no reply so far. I talked to a Deputy Chief in Portsmouth but he said that they don't anticipate any openings until late in 2012. The timing just isn't there."
As for me, I can count myself as one of the fortunate ones. The minimum retirement criterion for Federal Firefighters without monetary penalties is 55 years of age and at least 20 years of service. I'll have the age next spring and will have 22 years of service then also. I agreed to an early retirement plan which means that I'll stay to close out the base and then depart Federal service at that time."
Lemay, two Allens, Caldwell, Perry, Yanok, Clark, Woodbury and Howard; these are just some of the names of Harpswell men who made their careers as members of NASB Fire Department. After next year, there will be no more.