DoW names winners of the 2025 DoW Fire and Emergency Services Awards

The Department of War named nine winners of the 2025 Fire and Emergency Services Awards, selected from 41 nominations by Fire and Emergency Services Working Group representatives from the Military Services and the Defense Logistics Agency. “These remarkable individuals form the bedrock of our operational readiness, ensuring the safety and security of our service members, their families, and the critical infrastructure supporting our national defense,” stated Robert E. Thompson, Performing the Duties of the Assistant Secretary of War for Energy, Installations, and Environment. “Their expertise in fire prevention, public education, and emergency response enables them to continuously provide essential services that preserve mission capability and protect lives.”

Three fire departments earned top honors. Small Fire Department of the Year went to Naval Support Activity Annapolis, Maryland, which answered 1,800 mutual aid calls—covering 97 vehicle collisions, more than 900 EMS requests, and 800 structural incidents—delivered 7,156 training hours to 25 personnel with 100 percent compliance, and hosted a multi-jurisdictional mass-casualty drill with more than 10 agencies to simulate transporting 50 patients by medevac helicopters, mass-casualty buses, and ambulances.

Fort Stewart–Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, received Medium Fire Department of the Year after containing a fire on an M113 armored personnel carrier, extricating the crew and limiting damage to the engine to protect an $8 million combat asset. The department ran two rescue task force exercises that certified one instructor and trained 200 emergency responders, and produced eight educational videos and seven written articles during Fire Prevention Week, reaching 26,470 people in five days.

Metro San Diego, California, earned Large Fire Department of the Year for mitigating a four-day, 16,000-acre wildland fire on San Clemente Island without loss to endangered wildlife and while protecting key facilities. The department educated more than 11,000 service members and community members through fire prevention classes and handled 3,000 emergency incidents, including five structure fires, 15 shipboard emergencies, 50 hazardous materials events, 15 technical rescues, and more than 2,000 EMS calls.

The 628th Civil Engineer Squadron at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, won Fire Prevention Program of the Year after completing 896 annual inspections, identifying 290 fire safety deficits and hazards, and eliminating 166 potential community risks to safeguard 132,000 people. The squadron conducted 82 training and outreach events that educated 12,000 residents, and it chaired a ‘Letters from Santa’ campaign that responded to 81 letters from six drop boxes.

In the individual categories, Senior Airman Jacob J. Meyer of Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom, was named Military Firefighter of the Year. He led the response to an 800-pound fuel spill to protect a KC-135 Stratotanker, enabling it to refuel six NATO fighter jets that night with 20,000 pounds of fuel. He served 90 days as Station Captain, managing 34 firefighters, conducting 130 training hours, leading responses to 47 fire incidents, and providing 24 hours of joint training with the Special Operations Wing for 14 personnel across three agencies.

Civilian Firefighter of the Year went to Katsuhiro Watanabe of Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, who created an internal HAZMAT Awareness course for Japanese speakers that certified six firefighters. He isolated a toxic gas release during a HAZMAT incident on the USS George Washington, protecting more than $4.5 billion in assets and ensuring mission readiness, and he mitigated 519 fire incidents while leading 24 ship drills.

Senior Master Sergeant Aaron P. Strayhorn of Misawa Air Base, Japan, was named Military Fire Officer of the Year after leading 848 Airmen through a 7.6 magnitude earthquake and directing the unit control center through 59 infrastructure crises to recover the installation in 11 hours. He led three large-scale command-and-control exercises with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, established the first bilateral exchange program in seven years that underpinned a successful joint B-1 fire response, and simplified fire department altering codes from 53 to seven, increasing dispatch notification time by 38 percent.

Civilian Fire Officer of the Year honors went to Richard Matteson of Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, who commanded the response to an F-35 crash in extreme arctic conditions by integrating nine wing and mutual aid teams to save the pilot. He treated a life-threatening chainsaw injury by applying a tourniquet and coordinating rapid transport to a trauma center, and he partnered with the Bureau of Land Management to safeguard a military campground from a 170,000-acre wildfire by clearing 12 acres of fuels to protect 29 log cabins valued at $312,000.

Fire Service Instructor of the Year is Tiana Y. Bykowski of Hill Air Force Base, Utah, who led the “Red Card” wildland fire certification program that qualified 63 firefighters and supported mitigation of 23 emergencies over seven days, protecting 2 million acres and $1.2 billion in assets. She trained 133 firefighters, managed 12,000 training hours that produced 96 certifications, oversaw another 12,000 training hours for 148 firefighters, and strengthened DOW’s Nuclear Surety Program in partnership with the Department of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center by providing design and construction support expertise for the Center’s $108 million campus serving 2,000 staff.

More information is available at https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/emr/fes/index.html.