FRIDAY FOTO (May 3, 2019)

That fought with us upon St. Florian’s Day.

(Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Brian Kimball)

Fear not, we’re not misquoting the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V. For one thing, it’s neither October 25 — Crispin’s Day — nor the anniversary of Henry’s 1415 battle against the French at Agincourt.

However, tomorrow (Saturday May 4) is St. Florian’s Day. The feast honors Florian, a Roman soldier and Christian martyr, who also happens to be the patron saint of firefighters.

Florian was born around 250 C.E., in what is now present-day Austria. He joined the Roman Army and advanced quickly to become commander of the Imperial Army in the Roman province of Noricum (most of modern day Poland). One of his many duties was being responsible for organizing fire brigades. Florian organized and trained this elite group of soldiers in their sole duty of fighting fires.

May 4 is also International Fire Fighters Day, so we thought we’d feature some of the “smoke eaters” in the U.S. military.  The April 23, 2018 photo above shows Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Eugene Elking extinguishing a fire while training with firefighters at the Royal Air Force facility at Molesworth, England.

If we may continue the Shakespearean conceit just a bit longer, the next photo proves  that firefighters are not only a “band of brothers. ” Here we see Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Kelley Johnson putting a firefighting helmet during a drill in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in San Diego on April 9, 2019.

(Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Hogan)

In the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, firefighters are called Damage Controlmen. Not only do they fight, and prevent, fires, they perform the tasks of damage control and maintaining ship stability. They also prepare defenses against chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) warfare attacks. And they instruct personnel in damage control and CBR defense and repair damage-control equipment and systems. (Incidentally, Navy Fire Controlmen maintain the control mechanism used in weapons systems on combat ships.)

(Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc Cuenca)

Navy firefighters may also have to deal with aircraft fires — at sea or on land — like these Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services personnel. This March 20, 2019 photo shows them observing a live-fire simulation of an FA-18F Super Hornet mock-up at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, Washington.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Madeleine E. Remillard)

Air Force firefighters, like their naval brethren, also have to deal with fiery jet fuel and bombs, missiles and machine gun bullets that may be in danger or already alight. The Air Force also shares with civilian fire departments the skills needed to battle aircraft fires — as they did during this training exercise at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas on April 17, 2019. Departments from Wichita Falls, Texas, and Lawton, Oklahoma, trained with the base’s firefighters at the Sheppard AFB fire pit.

(NATO Photo by Captain Tyler Mitchell)

National Guard units also have firefighters, and like active duty soldiers and airmen, they may be called upon to practice their specialty in a warzone. In this May 9, 2018 photo we see Missouri Air National Guard Technical Sergeant Dustin Hensley bracing an Afghan Soldier to assist with the pressure of a water hose from a P-19 Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Truck at Camp Maimanah Afghanistan. Hensley was part of the NATO-led  train, advise and assist mission.