FFPCogs

Great shots...thanks.

How many of you does this apply to? http://news.yahoo.co...-185225577.html Whether you believe we should be here or not, to "tune out" what goes on here does our troops a great disservice as well as yourselves. By ignoring this war you are allowing our political leaders, (or potential leaders) to be given a pass on figuring out what we are going to do out here. No political grandstanding or paritsan views, it doesn't matter if your Democrat or Republican. You owe it to the 1950 dead, thousands wounded and 80,000+ still here fighting and dying not to turn your backs to this conflict and their sacrfice. Get informed, get involved, and get our leaders to decide....either get out or get it done. It was brought to my attention that my figures were incorrect. The approximate number of dead here is 2102...my apologies for the error.

RIP Lance Corporal Buckley, may your family find some solace for their loss and may you be revenged 1000 times over. Well since it was in the news I can now say that yes, we here are on an extremely heightened state of readiness. All troops are armed and weapons loaded and stringent measures, including constant supervision by armed guards, have been taken regarding our Afghan workforce on base.

It's been quite awhile since I filed a report from the "front lines" so here's a quick installment for anyone interested. In general news we've had a few guys leave and alot of new faces arrive in preparation for an expansion of the role here. We will be taking over from the Army on the helo ramp in a few months. Of note is the moving on of our Deputy Chief, who left Friday to pursue a career opportunity in the U.A.E. Thankfully a good man and good friend has been promoted to that position...Congrats Gibbo!! News of the day: This morning at about 06:15 the structural crews here at KAF were dispatched out to a fire at our newly opened PizzaHut concession. Upon arrival we found active fire venting in the 3/4 (or C/D) corner with it rapidly developing along the interior ceiling. A 45mm (1 1/2) line was stretched and an attack made from the exterior. FROM THE EXTERIOR!!!! some of you may be asking...why? Ahhh well there's the rub on todays "blaze". You see this incident took place during a rocket attack, in fact the poor PizzaHut trailer took a direct hit..thus the fire. Mercifully all the concessions were closed that early in the morning and there were no injuries. As is usual here, with Ramadan over, we took about 8 or 9 incoming rockets this morning, suprisingly with none of the usual duds. All of the presents from our pals outside the wire exploded for once. In fact twice during the response and once during the suppression effort we were forced to stop what we were doing and assume the prone rocket attack position as another volley came our way. A few came close enough to give a little rattle, but nothing too dangerous. Only one hit anything of any importance, and that happened while we were safely ensconced in our bunker at the station, which takes me back to the fire. The impact of the 107mm rocket shredded and blew out both the #3 and #4 (sorry C and D) walls a good 3 feet or better and every inch of the interior and it's equipment was thoroughly peppered by shrapnel. Sadly I must report that while the fire was really pretty minor and extinguished quickly, the structure and equipment within sustained mortal injuries and will be serving pizza no more. On a much more serious note. Yesterday saw another of the ubiquitous ramp ceremonies next to the firehouse, except this one had the dubious distinction of seeing seven soldiers being loaded for their final journey home. These were the seven killed when the Blackhawk went down the other day. There were also three Afghan interpreters killed in that downing as well. And I say downing because word here is that this UH-60 was shot down. I sincerely hope it wasn't, not that any loss of life is any more or less tragic, but a shoot down will open a whole new and far more dangerous aspect to this war. Remember it was our arming these Tali-bastards (then called Mujahadeen) back in the 80's which allowed them to shoot down scores of Russian helicopters and paralyze the Red's efforts to subdue the them. On top of that we've seen an increase in Green on Green attacks (ANA on Coalition training forces), but more troubling at present Blue on Green murders (ANP on Coalition training forces). I think that as we begin the turnover here the sleeper cells of Taliban inbeded in the Afghan National Army (Green)and the far more of them infiltrated into the Afghan National Police (Blue) will become more active against our and other Coalition troops. I can only hope I'm wrong or contingencies have been developed to thwart those acts. As Labor Day approaches I hope all have had a good summer back home. We've been fortunate here in that it's been stable at about 125 for weeks, with very little dust too!! Much better than last years 148. To all: Thanks for all you do back home, your efforts there make ours easier here...we know our families are safe because of you. Stay Safe I was remiss in not reporting one other tidbit of news which I personally find to be very good news indeed. About two weeks ago we had a rocket attack around midday. Seven rockets were fired but only two actually made it onto the base. And while that's good news it's not THE good news. The best part of this story is that the Tali-bastards that fired those rockets did so from a truck riding around outside the wire. Well their position was triangulated and up went a Kiowa and Apache to thank them. And thank them they did. All of our friends in that truck got their most fervent wish.....to meet Allah in person. Good for them and better for us!! Just one more thing: To any Bridgeport guys who might read this, I had the honor and privilidge to meet one of your own deployed out here the other day. He's a reservist. We chatted briefly and I hope to get the opportunity to meet up with him again, as meeting anyone from CT out here is unusual let alone a fellow fireman from right around the corner so to speak. I have to say it was nice to talk tactics with someone who understands them.... . Unfortunately since I never forget a face but am horrible with names, his escapes me at the moment. I do remember that he has 15 years on the job, is currently assigned as a Training Capt and I believe his last name starts with an F and is probably of German extraction...if that helps

Rest In Peace.

OK off topic for a sec. I'm not a gun owner or a member of the NRA, but I am a supporter of the United States Constitution which states in it's 2nd Amendment that we Americans have the right to bear arms. Remember one of the first thing the Nazis did when they took power in the interest of "public safety" was to ban private gun ownership and confiscate all the privately owned firearms they could get their hands on (except their own of course). And while I'm also not much of a conspiracy theorist, Obama and company, hell all of Washington's "elite" as far as I'm concerned, do seem to be aiming at a police state. I'll gladly bear the horrors of our violent nation and the freedoms we have left in spite of them over the "safety" of a gun free police state any day. Just my 2cents...sorry to go off topic.

All I can say is WTF is going on !!!! I hope this lunatic rots for all eternity after an agonizing and painful death. RIP to all those murdered and condolences to their families. May the injured heal quickly in both body and mind.

A loss for sure. Makes me realize how old I'm getting as the icons of my youth are all starting to pass on. Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, The Who and a number of other great bands from the late 60's and 70's have all lost founding or integral members in the last few years. Like the Jazz greats of my parents generation, ours is now losing the talent that made the soundtrack of our lives. Damn I'm getting old...and I realize it more and more every time I hear one of those great tunes as a commercial or TV theme song. RIP Jon and thanks for the music and the memories!!

RIP Chief

Very good posts gentlemen and well put. Thank you for the insight.

And herein lies the heart of my concerns: "The new system contemplates a partnership between career and volunteer fire services," Sandak said. "If you have a true partnership, as issues come up -- and there will be issues, I'm not denying that -- they'll look for solutions." The Charter Commission had the chance to build a fire service "inclusive of the volunteer service that exists" by granting all involved parties representation, including the public who has to pay for and live with it. Instead they chose to base all of our futures, career, volunteer and that same public alike, on an IF...and it's a very big if at that. Now it will fall to the public to decide if that IF is one they are willing to accept for Stamford. I think it's ludicrous and the height of hubris to believe that 30 years of trouble will be swept away with the sunrise come November 7th and that a "true partnership" will be the result. History has clearly shown there's very little in the way of a foundation for that to happen readily. So then what? Who will "look for solutions"? Who will be a part of that process? Who will decide those solutions? The hard truth is both "sides" have firmly entrenched and powerful factions which brought us here, either one of which could be the real "winners". They won't disappear come that first Wednesday in November and it may very well be them who decides our collective future... and that prospect is one that should send a shudder down any reasonable persons spine. Better to have mandated that partnership, inclusive of the public we serve, through the Charter, thus guaranteeing it will exist and a true combining..a "true partnership" of the services could take place. We shall see

Non sequiter

Yet another rather large wrinkle

I realize what the broad parameters are for the grant, what I'm interested in is the specifics as they relate to Stamford. What specifically are the dollars and cents of this now and in the near future? When and to what level will the residents be liable should this grant be accepted? Unfortunately as usual nowhere in the Ragvocate article are these specifics spelled out. Before the BoR votes on this shouldn't the public be informed of what these costs are, either by the media or by SFRD? Of just what we will be expected of them once the grant runs out? Shouldn't any prospective candidates be made aware that they could conceivably face a layoff in two years as well? Aren't all entitled to be provided such facts so they can make an informed decision? It is no different than demanding a full accounting of any of the other issues swirling around our Fire Service...like say those surrounding the Mayor's plan. And before you get your panties in a bunch I'm simply asking the questions asked of me by a number of my neighbors today after they read the article. Contrary to what you may think I want the grant to be accepted, but accepted without reservation or recrimination which can only happen with full transparency. The absolute worst thing would be for 8 guys to be hired only to face losing their jobs 2 years from now because the public doesn't want to pay for them once the grants run it's course.

I'm all for the grant but I think there are some unanswered questions that need some clarification: This grant pays the full salaries and benefits of these 8 new FFs for two years correct? What happens after that two years is up? Who will pay these salaries then? What's the salary step increase for year 3? Year 4? And year 5? How much will these 8 FFs cost 5+ years from now?

PM me with their info and I'll see to it they get their answer.

Three enlightened words to live by as we move into uncharted territory.... Representation, Integration, Standardization

Fair enough, thank you FD828. I think that in theory much of what you say has merit, although I seek a far more integrated system across the board. I will just add that I believe that the union will (or more likely must) have at least some impact on what the final determination is on just how integrated we can in fact become. Beyond doubt though there is much common ground from which to build, now it's just a matter of doing it in the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. I can say without reservation that we remain open to all reasonable proposals toward that end and in that vein. To the letter in question, my understanding is that it was written to enlighten the BoR on the potential pitfalls and unanswered questions of the proposed Charter language as written. It was hoped that through such enlightenment their decision would be to revisit and amend that language. Unfortunately this was not the case. Beyond that each VFD will, as a department, decide how they wish to proceed since that is how we all operate....as such my earlier statements vis a vis BFD stand.

Since I've been more than cooperative and forthright up to now it's time for a little quid pro quo. I'm still waiting...

From the Stamford Advocate: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/policereports/article/Off-duty-chief-resuscitates-boy-pulled-from-water-3701786.php Good job Stu!!!

D'oh...mmmmm twinkies

I'm not at all against combining career and volunteer departments, as post after post on this site has clearly illustrated if you bother to actually read them, I'm just against the way politicians in Stamford want to go about it. Now back to your regularly scheduled thread....

Maybe the same disasterous way their trying to do it in Stamford. For the sake of NR and whoever, I sure as hell hope not!!

Fair enough it is SFRDs grant and that's fine, but if that grant was gained on the premise of a volunteer portion then that portion should make it's way to the VFDs. If on the other hand the Senator misspoke, then by all means SFRD should use that money to increase staffing exclusively. Good question and one that the Revision Commission decided that the career department is well suited to answer...after all as written one of the Chief's main duties will be volunteer recruitment. While I could see how you may disagree I can say with all candor that we at BFD are working diligently to ensure as smooth a transition as possible should the proposed Charter changes pass, while at the same time working to develop viable cooperative alternatives should it not. As you might expect we will do all we can to bring about the changes we feel are in our residents and our best interests, but as you say the political process will decide and ultimately that will be that. Abso-friggin-lutely Yes it does and as far as I can see there is enough grey to keep the lawsuit door open. IMO it's a shame that a golden opportunity to build ourselves a better mousetrap was squandered, but that is the usual result when rhetoric stifles reason. Come November some are going to get just what they wanted and I will bet my bottom dollar that it won't be the victory they thought it would be...no matter which side "wins". As I said before...careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

A quick view of the FEMA website does indeed show that SAFER grants are available to VFDs for recruitment and retention programs as well as hiring career staff to augment as needed.