European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 14, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday. March 14. 1988 the stars and stripes Canadian forces Sivilic part. Cylc Walker attend to Cpl. Nod Green while Green plays the part of an injured firefighter who has just been rescued from a burning building. Canadian base gets fired up Over exercise Story and photos Ryjoski i iowan Stuttgart Bureau Lahr. West Germany loudspeakers boomed out warnings of in air at tack. Jets screamed overhead. Explosions rocked the midday Calm and smoke Bil Lowed from several buildings. It was no time in have second thoughts about being a military firefighter. An Aerial ladder truck roared up to one building shrouded in Haze and began to drench it from above while other trucks attended to nearby disasters. What they Don t know is that these air Craft Are coming Back in 10 minutes said a Canadian air Force warrant officer Jim Bowes. We re trying to see How Many of them we can catch  the commotion was artificial since it was pan of a monthly Star fighter exercise at Canadian forces base Lahr. But unlike warrant officer Jim Bowes is silhouetted against the backdrop of a Smoky fire. Other combatants the firefighters Don t wonder whether they will Ever have to use their combat skills. The nature of their Job Means that Day will arrive Many times for them regardless of whether War Breaks out. So when some . F-16 jets roared by cooperatively and Howes fellow tactical evaluation officer. Warrant officer . Kit Carson set some smoke bombs two firefighting platoons responded to the imag ined threat with All the seriousness they will need to handle a real fire next summer next week or 10 minutes from now. There Aren t any emergencies we can t handle said warrant officer Cliff Jeffrey a platoon Leader responsible for responding to crashes and other disasters on the Airfield. There arc just some areas in which we might be  Jeffrey s Crew proved its abilities a few hours later by quickly snuffing out a Low ering training fire fed by 372 Gallons of Jet fuel and by quickly retrieving two mannequin victims from a dark two Story smoke filled Concrete training building. The other platoon on duty had spent most of the afternoon attending to the mock emergencies among the buildings on the administrative and housing Side of the base. The fire Hall would be a Pri Mary attack target in War so during the exercise the trucks arrived at the mock disaster scenes from several pre arranged hiding places. After the afternoon mock air attack Carson held a debriefing to Point out the strengths and weaknesses of the Pla Toon s work. The response was Good he said but the platoon needed to Lay More Hose. And the platoon chief should exer Cise More command and control he told them not handling the Hose himself or helping someone put a mask on. Anything we say in the debrief is meant to be constructive criticism he told the firefighters. Firefighting is an air Force Trade in the Canadian forces. Army and Navy installations also have fire Halls but civilians staff them. The department roster at the Lahr air Force base includes 43 military employees and eight civilians. All arc men. We do have women in the fire Trade but none of them Are in Europe Bowes said. Several firefighters offered vague and modest reasons for taking up a Job Fea Turing dangerous work an irregular sgt. Eduard Lajunie. Seasoned firefighter schedule and Long hours of waiting. I worked Here As a student at the fire Hall to cant extra credit. Then i heard the Job was open and i figured it was a Way to earn some Money said civilian James Cou Ricc 23, son of a Canadian forces member who has since returned to Canada. Set. Eduard Lajoie of Remote Noranda Quebec said he has worked 14 years As a military firefighter the last three of them at cab Lahr. It was isl some thing to do. There s not much going on in Noranda he  firefighters work in platoons of up to 11 men. With one platoon on duty at All times. The work rotation Calls for a platoon to work three Days from 8 . To 5 . To work three nights from 5 . To 8 ., during which they can sleep in the absence of emergencies and then to take six Days off. That schedule becomes irrelevant when the forces hold the monthly Star fighter exercises named for the Cf-104 jets that Canadian pilots flew until recently. Exercises last from two to four Days. During the exercise the four platoons rotate in 12-hour shifts from an Alert state at their Battle positions to the reinforced Concrete bunkers where they try often unsuccessfully to sleep