McALESTER ARMY AMMUNITION PLANT, Okla. -- A civilian retiree who spent 19 of his 48 years of service, here, working as the installation's fire chief, was recently inducted into the Military Firefighter Heritage Foundation Hall of Fame.
Don Capps, who retired in August 2013, was inducted with three other military firefighters during the Annual MFHF Awards Dinner and Firefighter Muster at the Fort Concho Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in San Angelo, Texas, May 13, 2017.
"It was really an honor," said Capps. "I was really surprised. I had been retired for four years and it came out of the blue. I had a really great time down there [for the ceremony]."
Capps began his career at MCAAP as an ordnance worker on Nov. 15, 1965. He held a variety of positions across several directorates before being hired as the fire chief in December 1994.
He was nominated for the MFHF Hall of Fame by Marvin M. Gunderson, the fire chief at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
"Chief Don Capps is a proven fire protection manager and fire chief who lead McAlester Army Ammunition Plant to unprecedented successes for more than 19 years," said Gunderson in the nomination packet.
"His professionalism and leadership ensured safe working conditions for firefighters and plant employees at this potentially very hazardous site that is vital to our military. During high-capacity production for the Gulf War, fire safety was instilled throughout the installation, resulting in few incidents and no firefighter injuries or deaths," Gunderson added.
Gunderson also acknowledged Capps' contribution as the fire chief of the Savanna Volunteer Fire Department for the past 30 years and his lead role in the development of the U.S. Army Materiel Command Quality Work Environment as the fire subject matter expert.
To be eligible for the hall of fame, a nominee must have at least 10 years of military fire and emergency services work experience or have committed an act of extreme merit.
Others being inducted with Capps were Kevin King, retired director of Fire Protection and Emergency Services, Marine Corps Installations Command; Bill Moore, retired fire chief from U.S. Army Garrison Japan; and Heinz Mueller, who retired from Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in 1972. To date, 78 firefighters have been inducted into the MFHF Hall of Fame.
Each of the inductees received a certificate, MFHF coin of excellence and a personalized pen and pencil set.
The MFHF was incorporated in Texas in March 2001 to save historic military firefighting vehicles that followed the Fire Academy move from Chanute Air Force Base, Ill., to Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, in 1993. The MFHF works to preserve the heritage of the military firefighter, honor its fallen and support their families.
MCAAP is one of 14 installations of the Joint Munitions Command and one of 23 organic industrial base facilities under the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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