{"id":368582,"date":"2025-02-03T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=368582"},"modified":"2025-02-06T10:06:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T10:06:48","slug":"soldier-serves-his-country-twice-as-firefighter-and-army-reserve-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=368582","title":{"rendered":"Soldier serves his country twice as firefighter and Army Reserve officer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Lt. Col. Brandon Singleton stands next to Chicago Fire Department Truck 48. Singleton works full time for the Chicago Fire Department as coordinator of community services. The Chicago Fire Department Public Education office started in 1988. One of its primary missions is working to reduce fire deaths each year through public education about fire safety and providing instruction in basic emergency measures which include training citizens in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and bleeding control measures. Singleton has served on two stateside mobilizations and two overseas deployments across his 23 years of Army Reserve service.<\/p>\n

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\n Francisco Velez, left, Deputy District Chief, Chicago Fire Department, discusses an upcoming project with Lt. Col. Brandon Singleton who serves as Commander and Coordinator of Community Service in the Public Education Office for the Chicago Fire Department. Singleton has served with the department for 16 years and currently. He grew up in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago\u2019s south side and a graduate of Hampton University. Singleton has served on two stateside mobilizations and two overseas deployments across his 23 years of Army Reserve service.<\/p>\n

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\n Lt. Col. Brandon Singleton, Finance Officer, G8, 85th U.S Army Reserve Support Command, performs a hand release push up during the Army Combat Fitness test, October 2024. Soldiers are required to take the fitness test each year to maintain physical readiness.<\/p>\n

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CHICAGO – As a kid growing up in Chicago\u2019s Chatham neighborhood on the south side, Lt. Col. Brandon Singleton, Finance Officer, 85th U.S. Army Reserve Support Command, would hear fire engines racing through the city going to a fire, but he did not have the typical childhood dream of wanting to become a firefighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first service job I did was as a Chicago park district lifeguard at Fuller Park located at 44th and Princeton,\u201d said Singleton. \u201cThat gave me a little insight. The lifeguard training was no joke. It was tough. I wasn\u2019t a strong swimmer, but the instructors kept telling us don\u2019t quit. Eventually, I became very good at swimming. It was the start of the warrior ethos. Don\u2019t quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singleton credits his mom and dad with instilling the idea of serving others within him. Both of his parents were blue collar workers and stressed the importance of excelling in education and working hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was a Chicago Transit Authority conductor for 26 years. After he retired, he earned his associate degree in nursing from Olive-Harvey College and began working as a registered nurse for Cook County. My mom was a factory worker until the factory closed. After my mom was laid off, she decided to become a licensed practical nurse. Then she earned her registered nurse license and a master\u2019s degree in nursing. She eventually taught nursing at Daley College.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came time for Singleton to attend college, he went to Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and completed Reserve Officer Training Corps graduating as a second Lieutenant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always wanted to be a Soldier. Both of my grandfathers served in World War II. One was a Soldier, and the other was a Marine. I was in college at Hampton University when I joined the simultaneous membership program and then I joined ROTC. I always wanted to know how people became a general. I did my basic camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky and advanced camp at Fort Lewis, Washington,\u201d said Singleton.<\/p>\n

After his graduation, in 2005, he was working at a rental car company when a man walked in one day to rent a car.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe asked me what I wanted to do with my life. He told me to take the test for the Chicago Fire Department,\u201d said Singleton. \u201cEvery time I would ask a question, he would repeatedly say take the test.\u201d<\/p>\n

He followed the man\u2019s advice, signed up for the test and took it, along with other aspiring firefighters, at McCormick Place in Chicago in May 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were thousands of people there. It was the most amount of people I had seen in one place at one time,\u201d said Singleton. \u201cThen I went on a stateside mobilization to Fort Benning, Georgia in February 2008 and returned home in 2009.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his time at Fort Benning, Singleton\u2019s mom received a letter from the Chicago Fire Department. It was not a job offer, just a request for Singleton to come in and complete various administrative tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to complete several portions of the in processing for the Chicago Fire Department. I completed my mobilization on February 28, 2009, and started at the Chicago Fire Department academy on March 3, 2009,\u201d said Singleton.<\/p>\n

He earned his emergency medical technician license and completed firefighter training at the Chicago Fire Department Academy. Singleton is currently a commander and coordinator of community services for the Chicago Fire Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the public interaction. It\u2019s very rewarding. I get to spread the message about fire safety and how great it is to be a Chicago firefighter.\u201d said Singleton.<\/p>\n

Deputy District Chief Francisco Velez works with Singleton in the Public Education office. Their goal is to teach fire safety to young and old alike, install car safety seats upon request, teach cardiopulmonary resuscitation, how to stop bleeding and providing training for fire safety directors located in high rise buildings throughout Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrandon is one of my leads for the fire safety director program. We show the steps that need to be taken if a fire breaks out. Every single Chicago high rise has a fire safety director,\u201d said Velez, who has served as a paramedic since 1988 and worked with the Chicago Fire Department since 1995. \u201cHe brings those qualities from the U.S. military to us here at the fire department. Within public education, he\u2019s able to determine what fits best to support the operation. Right now, we have a 69 percent reduction in fire deaths due to the fire awareness programs that we run.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he was assigned to a truck at a firehouse, Singleton had his share of memorable calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a man who had jumped into the Chicago River. We get that from time to time. The man had no pulse and no respiration. We applied CPR and brought him back to life. When you resuscitate somebody it\u2019s amazing. It\u2019s a miracle. These skills that we learn here really work,\u201d said Singleton. \u201cThe Chicago Fire Department stresses education and improving your skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n

The life of a firefighter is not easy, in fact, it is more dangerous than most realize.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a fire in Englewood. It was hot. I will never forget that heat. We were upstairs in the attic, and I heard a loud scream,\u201d said Singleton. \u201cIt was another firefighter who had been burned after water deflected off a wall and got inside his bunker coat. He required skin grafts and then he came back on the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singleton said the public doesn\u2019t realize the danger involved in firefighting.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can be prepared, and something can still go wrong. This isn\u2019t a routine job. It\u2019s a very unpredictable job. You cannot get complacent wearing this uniform. That\u2019s when people get hurt,\u201d said Singleton. \u201cThe most difficult part of being a firefighter is seeing a lot of tragic events. The hardest part is trying to go about your day as normal following a tragic event.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make a shift go smoothly, firefighters often engage in good natured joking. Sometimes they play practical jokes on each other. And the kitchen is a big part of firefighting culture where the close bonds are forged between firefighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything starts in the kitchen at a fire house. When you are a probationary firefighter, you do all the cleaning and the meal preparation like chopping the vegetables. Then we all sit down together. We all eat together, and we appreciate our time together. We\u2019re going to be here for 24 hours, so we make the most of it,\u201d said Singleton.<\/p>\n

For his Army Reserve job, he serves as a finance officer. And he has completed tours stateside and overseas within his 23 years of Army Reserve service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completed two CONUS mobilizations and two overseas deployments. I was in Afghanistan from 2015 to 2016 where I was a battle captain at the Base Defense Operations Center and then moved up to force protection as an operations officer. I was at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait from 2019 to 2020 where I served as a battalion executive officer,\u201d said Singleton.<\/p>\n

Singleton briefly shared what makes him want to continue to serve as a Chicago firefighter and Army Reserve officer.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody paved the way for me to succeed. All the people that prayed for me and guided me and providing mentoring. I serve because I want to contribute to society. I want to give as I received,\u201d he said. \u201cI have received many blessings, so I have an obligation to pass it on to other folks. I would like to thank everyone that has helped me along the way and all the help I\u2019ve been given.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Lt. Col. Brandon Singleton stands next to Chicago Fire Department Truck 48. Singleton works full time for the Chicago Fire Department as coordinator of community services. The Chicago Fire Department Public Education office started in 1988. One of its primary missions is working to reduce fire […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-368582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=368582"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368583,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368582\/revisions\/368583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=368582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=368582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=368582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}