After a career that spanned 31 years in the Louisiana fire service, I was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, and one that I never expected. In 2014, I was offered a job as an emergency response site specialist, the equivalent of a deputy chief, for a new petrochemical company in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it turned out to be the most rewarding period of my entire career. (Because of company policy and Saudi law, I am not allowed to mention the company name and, because I would like to keep my job, it would be in my best interest to comply.)
The company that I work for has made industrial history because it is the largest petrochemical facility that has ever been constructed in a single phase, with 26 different plants rising out of the Saudi Arabian desert at one time.
This brings me to the emergency services division/fire department. Now, keep in mind that if the facility is being constructed from nothing, so was the fire department. At the time of this writing, our department is made up of around 50 members from five different countries. Our day staff, or upper command structure, is mostly American while our shift command is mostly English and Scottish. Our experienced firefighters are mostly Filipino while our newest firefighters are all Saudis.
It is this last group that this story is really about. During my career in Louisiana, I was fortunate and blessed to become a fire service instructor and worked for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Fire and Emergency Training Institute for 16 years of my 31-year career. During that time, I trained many firefighters in a variety of disciplines, including a few years with the Recruit Academy. It is this experience that led to me working as an instructor for the brand new fire department’s very first recruit academy in Saudi Arabia.
Recruit Class
We started with 15 young Saudi Arabian men who had just undergone 14 months of English language training. Some knew very little English at the start, and some did not know any at all. After the completion of the English language training, they were sent to us. Now it is important to say that although they went through English language training, none of the training included fire service language, and we all know what that is like. We then added five Filipino firefighters who knew very little English, and what they did know did not come with formal training.
The assigned instructors included me and another former LSU instructor. Deputy Chief Duane Mixon was the lead of the academy. Our training coordinator headed up the program from an administration position. We then added a young Saudi officer, Abdulmajeed Al Huthail, who loves the fire service and shows a lot of promise as a future leader of the department, which is important as the whole goal of this operation is to place it in the hands of the Saudis one day. But early on, the young Saudi officer was there to help with translation. As the academy went on, the young Saudi officer would prove his worth tenfold.
The first day of the academy was much like any other in that everyone introduced themselves and we started laying down the rules. This was our first indication of how vast the language barrier was. Our mindset when we started the academy was to do it like we had always done it (ever hear that before?). We began in a classroom and started throwing PowerPoint® presentations on the wall. We soon discovered that the only thing hitting the wall was our hard instructor heads. The young men could not grasp the subject at all because they had nothing to draw from. For most of these men, this was the first job they had ever had. We began teaching using the same verbiage and rhythm that we knew, and it was getting us nowhere fast. When we would give them a quiz on what they had been taught in class the day before, the results were less than stellar.
Changing Strategy
After a couple weeks, we knew we had to make a change. For those of you who have trained firefighters, you can attest to the fact that you will always have some students who are better hands-on learners than book learners-I had 20. After several discussions, I made the suggestion to shut down the computer, turn off the projector, and close the books. This academy would have to become a full on outside, physical academy.
Our leadership at the time agreed that we would not be able to achieve certification but we could build staffing worthy, operational firefighters. We would still follow the curriculum and the standard. This would be a first for my career.
Let me explain a little about the Saudi Arabian fire service. Unlike our American fire service, the Saudi fire service does not recognize things like duty, honor, tradition, and courage. In fact, being a firefighter in Saudi Arabia is considered a low-end, menial job. So finding a Saudi who has the fire service in his heart is a rare thing indeed. In examining these differing mindsets, we knew we had an uphill battle.
We also knew that we had 15 Saudis who were simply balls of clay who did not know that they were NOT supposed to love the fire service. Although we would have to compromise on how we taught the academy, we refused to compromise our love for what we do and who we are. We would affect hearts and minds. If we could not give them all of the technical knowledge, we could still give them the soul of the firefighter.
The Academy
The academy was held at the Saudi Aramco Advanced Live Fire Training Center. If there was a theme park for live fire instructors to go play, this would be the place.
It started like all academies on the training ground. By nature, Saudi people are sometimes not the biggest or strongest people. Most are small. Some are taller than others but most are not very physical in size or strength. So, early morning exercise became a battle of attrition. Eventually, they all became stronger in body and mind.
The mindset of the men coming in was very timid and shy. No one would be the first to volunteer to do something. In fact, we would have to demonstrate and explain things many times over. The men were afraid to make mistakes and did not want to be singled out. We were told that we had to be very careful with how we speak to them for they offend easily. Many times we would ask: “Do you understand? Yes?” In unison, they would respond, “Yes.” This was their response not because they understood but because they thought they were supposed to say yes.
I started doing things to affect the hearts and minds of the recruits. I would talk to them about what the job is, what it means. I began to speak of tradition and honor and sacrifice. Here I was, in their eyes this big, old, salty firefighter with the leather helmet talking to them like I just walked out of central casting. As corny or ridiculous as that sounds, we began to see something happen. The light was beginning to come on. Although we still had a long way to go, they were starting to get it.
Like in any academy, you have those who rise to the top and those who just try to get by. We saw leaders start to emerge. They began to challenge and motivate each other. The skills we were teaching were starting to take hold in their minds and bodies and the love of the job was taking hold in their hearts.
Memorable Moment
One of the most memorable moments, of which there are more than I can list here, took place about three months in during our first night burns on flammable liquids. What I saw and heard that night I will never forget.
The industrial petroleum complex unit, which is made up of many different props, was our focal point for most of the academy. We would train on one prop at a time and slowly add more props as the recruits’ ability and confidence increased. By the time of the night burn, these young men could fight as many as eight or nine props at a time by moving from one to another as the fires were extinguished.
All external field lights were turned off and one by one we lit 11 different fires; and one by one, they pushed and they fought. As each fire was extinguished, it began to get darker and darker until the last fire was extinguished. Then, as I stood there in the darkness of a training center on the other side of the world, I heard the joyous screams and cheers of pride and accomplishment roar out of these young men as though they had fought a great battle and were victorious-for they were. They did not win the fight of simply battling the fire. They won the battle within themselves of shaking off what they were told of being a Saudi firefighter. On that night, at that moment in the dark, we all became brothers.
Brotherhood
The academy would continue on for another three months after that. They would train and fight many more fires and endure more hardships. But now they were different. They were now firefighters. At the end of the academy, I told them how proud I was of them and how much being a part of history meant to me.
I told them that, in my heart, we had trained the very best firefighters in the entire kingdom of Saudi Arabia and would put them up against any other crew that could be found. I told them that I would stand with them as my brothers and, as we continue to move forward with making history here, nothing will ever compare with having the honor and blessing of being a small part in the shaping of these young men.
