Rutherford County – TN (09/18/2023) Rutherford County Fire and Rescue Firefighter(RCFR) Brian Cummings graduated from Recruit Training on September 18, 2023.

Cummings began with RCFR Recruit Class 23-01 in January 2023, where he sustained an injury during week five of training and was unable to graduate with the class on April 21, 2023.

 Captain Dustin Sinclair said, “After suffering an injury during training, Brian would unfortunately miss too many important skill sessions and would not be able to graduate with Class 23-01.  When our cadre met with Brian and informed him that he would not be graduating with his class, we gave him two options. First, he could discontinue his time in the academy, or he could stay and make up all classes missed while on shift, however, the understanding was he would have over 7 weeks of make-up work and skills to perform. Brian chose to stay after much consideration. Although he didn’t graduate, Brian demonstrated an effort during the final weeks of the academy that could be compared to a warrior fighting to stay alive. I knew this man had heart, and that’s something we cannot teach. That is an attribute we can only feed. Brian has been a part of A-Shift since the end of his fire academy, and in the last 4 months, he has gone through every skill multiple times and wears the mantra of “Don’t do it until you get it right, do it until you can’t get it wrong” proudly.  This department is extremely blessed to have him as part of our family. I’m honored to finally stand next to Brian and say: Congratulations and well done, brother!”

 Commander John Ingle, A-Shift said, “Since the completion of the 2023 Recruit Academy, FF Brian Cummings has been assigned to A-Shift. During this time, he has worked with every station and the constant feedback is the same, Brian is a go-getter, eager to learn, a hard worker, and many other positive comments. Brian has worked tirelessly to make sure he caught up on the skills he missed while he was injured. While on shift, Brian has worked hard to learn his job and be a key part of the team. Crews enjoy working with him and being assigned to a crew with him. Brian has a no-quit attitude and is always looking to improve. Brian will have a long and successful career in the fire service.”

 Chief Larry Farley said, “ We are happy to celebrate Cummings and are proud of his hard work and dedication as he overcame his injury to achieve his childhood dream.”

The RCFR Training program includes 627 hours of classroom instruction, field exercises, and units on physical training, forceful entry, hazmat extrication, and live burns.