Courtesy Photo | Chief Tom Thompson of the Fire and Emergency Services Department at Marine Corps...... read more read more
BARSTOW, Calif. - The man who guided the Marine Corps Logistics Base Fire Department to become number one in the Department of Defense is leaving for greener, and much larger, pastures.
Fire Chief Tommy Thompson announced via base-widest email Oct. 14 that he was leaving effective Nov. 5 to begin in his new post as chief of the Camp Pendleton Fire Department Nov. 6.
“I applied (at Pendleton) through USA jobs and went for my interview (Oct. 12) at 10:30 and halfway home I got a call from (the Security and Emergency Services Battalion commanding officer) offering me the job. I accepted and they want me by Nov. 6,” Thompson said.
Thompson’s work is cut out for him while he tries to do for massive Camp Pendleton what he did for much smaller MCLB Barstow.
The fire department at Pendleton covers some 200 square miles compared to MCLB Barstow’s 6.25 square miles, said Thompson.
“(MCLB) has 57 (fire personnel), (Pendleton) has 176 people. There are two fire stations here at Barstow while Pendleton has eleven.”
The number of people falling within the Pendleton wire works out to about thirty times the number under Thompson’s jurisdiction now.
Thompson’s hard work has earned MCLB Barstow massive amounts of recognition during his two years as chief, including: Best Fire Department in the Marine Corps in 2005, ‘09, ’10; Best Fire Department and Best Fire Prevention Program in the entire DoD in 2007; DoD heroism awards in 2008 and ’10; Best Firefighter and Best Firefighter Emergency Medical Technician in the Marine Corps; Best Fire Officer in the DoD in 2010 and the GEICO Public Service Award in 2008 and 2010, which has been won only twice by the Marine Corps and both of those were won by MCLB Barstow.
Typically, Thompson credits those around him with earning the recognition.
“When I took over as fire chief and we started this drive for excellence there were a lot of holes in the program.
“The awards we’ve achieved with MCLB and the support I’ve gotten from my folks here and the command have set me up for success,” Thompson said.
He thinks his method of going for excellence will translate well to the much larger Camp Pend-Pendleton fire department.
“I hope to take the stuff that we’ve done here and align in to that mission through the (Commission on Fire Accreditation International) model which we have obtained here and start building our program from there,” Thompson said.
With the right planning, Thompson said he’ll be able to take on the number one department in the Marine Corps.
“I plan on within two years of hard work and selling those folks that we’ll be accredited and competing with the best in the Marine Corps … which is Barstow,” the native of Inglewood, Calif., said.
In the meantime, Assistant Chief Lance Milanez will be taking the reins until the new chief is named. “That’s up to the commanding officer and the director on who they want to recruit for chief,” Thompson said. “I’ve given them my recommendations, but it’s up to them to make the choice.”
Meanwhile, Thompson said he’s never going to forget his time at MCLB Barstow.
“I’m going to miss everybody, especially my folks. I’ve got the best product in town and it’s successful. We’ve done some amazing things here in a very short amount of time,” Thompson said.
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.14.2011 18:02 |
| Story ID: | 81375 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 652 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Award-winning MCLB Barstow fire chief ready for Camp Pendleton top spot, by Keith Hayes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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