Jumpline magazine Spring 2025 - Flipbook - Page 39
#1 Fan
David Gates
My 昀椀rst training collaboration with Captain
Gustin was during the 2016 Safety Stand
Down. Capt. G. was presenting an 8 course:
Intelligent Fire Ops: Balancing Aggression and
Safety. He had three near-miss videos of his
crew on vehicle 昀椀res and was looking for more
material to use in his presentation on the dangers of vehicle 昀椀res. The year prior I had created a vehicle 昀椀re PowerPoint that I presented
to the Lieutenant Of昀椀cer Development Class,
and he was referred to me. Capt. G. graciously asked to look over the PowerPoint and just
like the captain could, he said, “Gates if this is
any good, I’m going to plagiarize it and pass
it on as my own.” A few days later Capt. G.
asked what my plans were on the day he was
teaching. I told him that I planned on attending his class. His
response was good, “Not only that, but I’m giving you time in my
class and you’re going to present this PowerPoint. You spent
the time, you did the research, and you’re going to get the recognition.” He gave me his three videos to add to the presentation and told me not to hold back when presenting the mistakes
made by him in those videos.
Captain Gustin saw
in me more than I
saw in myself. He
wanted more for
me than I wanted
for myself.
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I received before. Prior to that I received an
Employee Excellence award as an instructor,
and we went to Tallahassee in 2019 to receive
the Florida Fire Service Instructor of the Year
Award. So to him, this didn’t seem like much
of a big deal. I told him it was different. It was
for Student of the Fire Service. His immediate
response was, “Student? I thought you were
an instructor.” After explaining the meaning
behind it I told him the award was named after Captain Bill Gustin. He’s a legend, an icon,
America’s Captain, the Michael Jordan of the
昀椀re service. My son’s response was, “Is he still
alive?” I told him yes, and he would be presenting me with the award.
That award didn’t have the same meaning as
the others. It meant more to me. It means more to me now than
before. Captain Gustin saw in me more than I saw in myself.
He wanted more for me than I wanted for myself. I will miss him
immensely. He was a leader, he was a mentor, he told me he
loved me like a son, and like a great father 昀椀gure, he was my
number one fan.
Not long after that Capt. G. started his assignment in the Training Division. For me it was a blessing. I used his endless
knowledge, and knew I could count on his feedback and guidance. I knew if I did something wrong, he would be there to
point me in the right direction. As the years went by and our relationship grew, I found the humble captain coming to me more
and relying on me as the subject matter driver expert.
As a technical editor for Fire Engineering, it was only 昀椀tting
that Capt. G. would review the Training Zones. I’ve written
approximately 20 Training Zones over the course of our time
together. Some he had published in the magazine, among numerous other videos that went on the FE website. He told me
that I had to create tests for the Training Zones to ensure that
they were being read. When they were assigned on Vector
Solutions the passing score would be 100% because the test
is open book. On the last Training Zone I wrote, I
told him the passing score should be 95%. His
response was no, but I told him it was an inside
joke, if you missed one question it would result
in a failed attempt (93%). He replied, “Gates, you
dirty dog!” I didn’t see that one coming. He smiled
with a sense of pride but said, “Leave the jokes to me.” After
all, Captain G. would sing high praises about me in the classes
he taught. and say, “Gates knows his stuff, but you’ll never see
him doing a stand-up comedy routine.” Or my favorite, “He was
born without a personality.”
I was the recipient of the 2024 Student of the Fire Service
Award presented at the Medal Day Ceremony in February
2025. That award is more commonly known as the “Gustin
Award.” That morning, I was dropping my 17 year-old son off at
the FIU campus. He had a study group for an important upcoming exam and wouldn’t be attending the ceremony. He asked
me if the award I was getting was the same as the other ones
Spring 2025 | JUMPLINE Magazine
