Staff Sgt. Patrick Malone (right), a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System section chief with 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Regiment, 17th Fires Brigade, and a volunteer emergency medical technician for the Bald Hills Fire Department in Yelm, Wash., helps his comrades care for an injured occupant during a training exercise to pull role players from the station out of a wrecked vehicle. The training serves to keep the knowledge and skills refreshed for volunteers who work at the station, where Malone has dedicated at least 24 hours of his time each month since August 2007.
(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christopher M. Gaylord, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)

– “Sense of duty drives soldiers volunteer efforts with local fire department”
“Bouncing from duty station to duty station in the Air Force with his father, Staff Sgt. Patrick Malone grew up fairly certain what he would do with his life.

‘I always remember seeing him come home in uniform, and I just remember looking up to him, and that was always just stuck in my head,’ he said. ‘I knew I wanted to serve.’

The military was definitely in the cards for the 17th Fires Brigade soldiers future. Becoming a first responder for his community, however that never crossed his mind.

But nearly 20 years after committing to the profession he knew would fit him best, Malones volunteer time with the Bald Hills Fire Department is one of the things he enjoys most in life,” quoting Sgt. Christopher Gaylord in DVIDS [Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System].
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