Marines

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Capt. Brad Williams stands with his son, Firefighter Stephen Williams, and grandson Clint, 2, at Fire Station 533 on the west side of Marine Corps Base Quantico. Brad Williams will retire from Quantico Fire and Emergency Services Apr. 29 after 21 years and four months. Stephen Williams started work for the department in January. He hopes to retire from Quantico as well.

Photo by Adele Uphaus-Conner

Capt. Brad Williams’ son takes over at Fire Station 533

5 May 2016 | Adele Uphaus-Conner Marine Corps Base Quantico

At 2 p.m. on Thursday, Apr. 28, Capt. Brad Williams had about 20 hours left of his final 48-hour shift at Fire Station 533 on the West Side of Marine Corps Base Quantico. On Friday morning, his wife would pick him up for the last time from the job he’s held for 21 years and four months.

“I’m pretty sure the guys won’t let me sleep tonight,” he said.

Williams’ son, Stephen, was two months old when his father first got into firefighting, as a volunteer for Spotsylvania County Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management in 1984.

“He was crying too much,” Williams joked.

Now, Stephen Williams will take up where his father is leaving off, as a firefighter posted to Quantico Fire Station 533.

“This is what I grew up around,” Stephen Williams said. “It’s literally in my blood. Even when I was active duty in the Air Force, I still volunteered as a firefighter.”

He was a canine handler in the Air Force and for the MCBQ Provost Marshal Office after his retirement from service, but starting work as a career firefighter is like coming home for him.

“My plan is to retire from Quantico, too, just like my dad,” he said.

Brad Williams said that firefighting is always what he wanted to do with his life. After volunteering for many years, he got a job as a firefighter at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and then came to Quantico in 1997.

“At first, I loved the job for the excitement of being at the fires,” he said. He can’t even make a guess about how many fires he’s responded to.

“But I’ve come to love it for the good feeling I get from helping people,” he said. “That’s very gratifying.”

He decided the time is right for retirement because he has young grandchildren now and wants to be with them as much as possible.

“Plus, my wife is bored without me,” he joked.

He plans to keep busy with family and teaching HAZMAT safety training courses at local businesses. But he said he’ll miss the camaraderie that fire crews develop during their long shifts together.

“Just being with the guys—that’s what I’ll miss the most,” he said. “It’s a brotherhood.

He never tried to dissuade his son, Stephen, from entering the same line of work.

“I have no reason to,” he explained. “Yes, it’s dangerous, but it’s a great career path. You walk away with a feeling of accomplishment. I can’t think of one day that I’ve regretted doing this.”

“If he did try to dissuade me, he’d probably just have pushed me even further towards it,” Stephen Williams joked.

As father and son posed for pictures in front of brush truck 533 in the fire station, a small hand extended from the rolled down window of the cab above their heads. It belonged to Stephen’s 2-year-old son, Clint—who could be the third generation of Williams men to serve the Quantico community as a firefighter.

— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com
Marine Corps Base Quantico