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Women's History Month: Reserve’s first female firefighter

  • Published
  • By Eric M. White
  • 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio --  In 1975, 23-year-old Fran Taylor decided she wanted to serve her country and continue a family legacy of military service, having a father and uncle who served during World War II. Taylor visited an Air Force Reserve recruiter here to discuss her options.

After scoring well on her Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery tests, there we few limitations on what career she could pursue. Working in radiology at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and studying mathematics at Youngstown State University might have compelled Taylor to enlist in a medical or financial field, but she told her recruiter she wanted to do something different.

As Taylor and her recruiter flipped through the book of Air Force jobs, her recruiter said, “Do you want to be a firefighter? We don’t have any female firefighters.”

“Oh, that sounds good,” Fran said.

“Really?” the recruiter replied, laughing.

Taylor’s recruiter took her down to the base fire station. They pulled out some fire hose, attached it to a fire hydrant and let Fran get a first-hand feel for what she’d be doing. The fire chief insisted that firefighting wasn’t a career she wanted to pursue.

Fran didn’t listen.

Taylor began her career at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, for Basic Military Training before heading to Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, which housed the Air Force firefighting technical school.

Once there, she learned that not only were there no female firefighters in the AFR, but there never were, making her the first. She heard that the first active duty Air Force female firefighter had gone through the technical school only two months earlier.

Because women were so new to the military firefighting field, neither the infrastructure nor the culture of the school had caught up.

“There was a thousand-man dorm for the guys,” said Taylor, “but they kept me with a welder’s squadron where they had one flight of women.”

Her instructors and many of her fellow students told her she couldn’t make it, though some were supportive. She recalls going into several fires per day as some of her instructors tried to overwhelm and discourage her, whereas most of the men complained they didn’t get enough live fire training opportunities. The extra pressure motivated her, as she wanted to prove that she was just as capable as her peers and could make it through the course.

“The more (my instructor) told me I couldn’t do it, the more determined I was to do it,” said Taylor.

There were other complications. Her clothing and uniforms were designed for her male counterparts. They never fit right and needed altered. Taylor wore size five shoes but was issued size ten boots.

“I’d go up to get on the truck and the boot would stay there on the ground,” said Taylor, laughing, “But you just suck it up and move on.”

Taylor said she was in good shape going into the school, having practiced Tae Kwan Do and being an avid cycler. The physical side wasn’t too bad, but the emotional side was challenging, and she often had to bite her tongue, said Taylor.

While at Chanute, Fran met her future husband, John, who was in training to be an active duty Air Force firefighter. In his trademark career humor, John tells everyone that Fran swept him off his feet, alluding to the firefighter’s carry for rescuing victims. John recalls that by the time Fran graduated, about 90 percent of her male peers had become supportive, but there were still those who opposed her.

"They were out to put her out," John said. "Our instructors even told us that. She was very slight of build, very feminine, but she fooled all of us, had a tenacity you wouldn't believe.”

After technical school, Fran came to Youngstown Air Reserve Station for duty with the 910th Tactical Fighter Group, now the 910th Airlift Wing, while John went to Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.

A year later, they were married, and Fran transferred to the 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell as a Reservist. Early in their relationship, Fran and John often heard the saying, “tech school romances don’t last.” They’ll celebrate their 40th anniversary in August this year.

Fran Taylor wasn’t just a trendsetter for the Air Force. While serving with the 908th as a Reservist, Fran applied for a job with the Fire Department in Montgomery, Alabama. Her test scores were high enough that she became the first paid full-time female firefighter in the state, garnering widespread media attention.

Fran didn’t work with or encounter another female firefighter for her first four years as a Reservist. She eventually went active duty to follow her husband to an assignment at Zweibrucken Air Base, Germany. She spent 14 years on active duty before switching back to the Reserve once her husband retired from the Air Force in 1994. The couple settled in the Youngstown area with their two children, and Fran continued service as a Reserve firefighter until her retirement as a master sergeant. in 2007.

Today, John and Fran work for the 910th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department, sharing an office with desks about 10 feet apart. Fran is the assistant chief of fire prevention and John is the fire inspector. Having witnessed the devastation fire can cause, Fran relishes the opportunity to help Youngtown ARS personnel stay safe by regularly inspecting fire extinguishers, checking work areas for possible hazards and training personnel on fire safety and prevention. Since returning to YARS, she’s had several opportunities to work with other female firefighters as the industry normalizes what was once unheard of.

“I think it’s a great decision to go into the military,” said Fran. “It gives you so much self-confidence and self-discipline. There’s just so much opportunity out there, and really I think it would be a great career for anyone, even if you just stay in for a four year assignment.”

Although her search for something different led her to a military career that began with adversity and challenged her to overcome several obstacles, Fran says there’s nothing she’d change about her experiences.

“It’s a great thing going into any branch of the military and getting that experience,” said Fran. “It prepares you for life, because life can be tough out there. I think you’ll see that with a lot of female veterans you encounter.”

By all accounts that something different worked out pretty well.