Team Dover firefighter serves country, community

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zachary Cacicia
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Whether you are a member of the military or work as a first responder, you are often told “thank you for your service,” by family, friends and strangers.

Serving both his country and his community, Tech. Sgt. Scott Morisette, a firefighter with the Dover AFB Fire Department, also volunteers his off time as a volunteer firefighter in his local community. This gives him two reasons to be thanked for his service.

A native of Osakis, Minnesota, Morisette joined the Air Force straight out of high school to be a military firefighter.

“I joined the Air Force and went straight into being a firefighter,” Morisette said. “I really wanted to do it, it’s one of those jobs that every kid grows up wanting to do. It really fulfilled one of my dreams.”

Upon completing his basic military training and fire school training, Morisette was sent to his first duty station, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.

“I spent five years there,” he said in a thick Minnesota accent, “and I loved it.”

But all good things must eventually come to an end. He was selected to become an Air Force recruiter and was sent to Wichita Falls, Texas.

Being away from his firefighting career field, Morisette began to miss it, and looked for ways to fill that void in his life.

“While I was a recruiter, I missed the whole fire department aspect of everything,” he said. “So that’s when I joined a volunteer department for the first time.”

He started volunteering for a rural volunteer fire company on the outskirts of Wichita Falls.

“We had a lot of calls out there,” he said. “There were a lot of wildland fires and car accidents.”

More importantly though, his volunteer work kept him to retain his firefighting skills.

“It kept me current and on top of everything,” said Morisette. “I kept the love of the job.”

Staying current allowed Morisette to easily transition back into his career field when his four years as a recruiter were up. This is when he arrived at Dover AFB and has been here ever since.

He realized that he loved volunteering in the community, so once he settled into things here on base, he visited his local volunteer fire station in Magnolia, Delaware, located just a few miles south of the base.

Morisette has volunteered with the Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company for the past three years, raising to the rank of captain, a position he was elected to.

According to Magnolia Fire Chief Charles Dougherty, other than him talking too fast, Morisette is a great firefighter and he always does what he has to do to get the job done.

“I feel that me doing this helps build a bridge between the departments on base and in the community,” Morisette said.

With Magnolia, Morisette has responded to more than 90 calls this year alone, or about two or three a week.

“Structure fires and vehicle accidents are our biggest calls,” he said. “There isn’t as much as that on base.”

But when asked what the highlights have been while volunteering, Morisette did not give examples of huge house fires or devastating car crashes.

“Getting to know the community is the real highlight,” he said. “Also, making friends in the department and the experiences that I’ve had.”

With the Dover AFB Fire Department, Morisette works as the noncommissioned officer in charge of logistics.

“I’m in charge of resources, buying equipment and running the budget,” he said. “I’ve been in this position for about a year.”

Morisette plans to continue volunteering his skills and time as a volunteer firefighter into the foreseeable future, no matter where the Air Force may take him.

He also encourages others, regardless of their career fields in the Air Force to come out and volunteer with all the required training provided free of cost.

“Looking at the Air Force aspect of it, volunteering is always encouraged,” he said. “Whatever gets you out there in the community is great.”