Three members of Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Fire & Emergency Services team have obtained prestigious firefighting credentials through the Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Fire Chief Daryl Gebhardt has earned Chief Fire Officer designation and Firefighter Matthew Miller and Firefighter Stephen Motil have both earned Fire Officer designation.
Per the Center for Public Safety Excellence’s social media, as of February 2025, there were only 2,030 Chief Fire Officers and 848 Fire Officers worldwide.
The three esteemed members of Team Tobyhanna earned these designations after a rigorous process that took the trio about five years to complete. The application process includes conducting an internal review audit to build the submission, getting approval to submit the application, and oral and written reviews by neutral party peer assessors. Those applying for the designation must satisfy educational, years of service, and self-development criteria. Applicants must also prove their commitment to continuous improvement and community service in addition to proficiency in several technical competencies.
Gebhardt said achieving this credential helps to bring the department and the personnel who comprise closer to one of the core tenets of the organization.
“One of the main principles of obtaining a credential through the Center for Public Safety Excellence is continuous improvement. Just because you’re good today doesn’t mean you can’t be better tomorrow,” said Gebhardt. “It’s one thing to say I’m a firefighter, I’ve done all my training, and I meet all the normal training requirements. It’s another thing to say I continuously do more to improve myself not just on the job but outside of the job as well.”
Achieving and maintaining the credential is a continuous endeavor. The credential is good for three years and applicants must identify short-term and long-term goals as well as how they plan to go about accomplishing them. Maintaining the credential requires follow-through on the plan. The development and implementation of a peer fitness program is just one concrete example of continuous improvement spurred on by obtaining and maintaining the credential.
Per DoD Instruction 6055.06, “DoD F&ES individuals are encouraged to obtain and maintain professional credentials from nationally accredited or recognized organizations.” However, the obtaining of these credentials is voluntary and represents the employees’ commitment to going above and beyond to improve themselves, their department, and the entire organization.
Motil said working to achieve this credential has been rewarding and positively impacted several facets of the Fire & Emergency Services mission.
“Credentialing is about personal and professional growth through a commitment to the profession and your organization. It significantly benefits the department. Outside of meeting our job requirements, we’re demonstrating that we’re going above and beyond to fulfill our duties, be a mentor, and show a commitment to departmental improvement,” said Motil.
Miller, who has also earned a prestigious position on Federal Emergency Management Agency Pennsylvania Task Force 1, agreed with Motil’s assessment.
“Credentialing and accreditation show your commitment to emergency services, your installation, and the people we serve – the workforce, visitors, and the community. The reason we choose to undergo an audit like this is to show we’re exceeding the standards worldwide,” said Miller.
Through obtaining these credentials, each of these members of Team Tobyhanna send a strong message of commitment to those whom they protect on the installation and in the community through several mutual aid agreements. They have raised the bar for themselves personally but also helped to bolster an already strong culture of dedication to mission.
Miller lauded Gebhardt’s leadership by example and said it motivates everyone on the team to want to achieve more.
“When you have a department head that pursues designations like this it speaks volumes amongst the members of our fire stations and other fire stations. He’s holding himself accountable to show improvement when nothing makes him do that,” said Miller.
“Not only does it make us want to improve, but it shows the dedication to us as firefighters. Here’s our fire chief, the guy who is in charge of everybody, dedicating himself to constant improvement. Having him constantly raise the bar for himself gives us the motivation to keep going.”
Employees investing in personal and professional growth to positively impact themselves, the organization, and the community is directly aligned with Tobyhanna Army Depot’s long-range strategic plan, TOBY2035, and specifically the Invest in Our People line of effort. The plan, which has three additional focus areas, strives to position Tobyhanna for success in the coming years as the Department of Defense's premier worldwide C5ISR readiness provider.
TYAD is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, cyber support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.
About 3,100 personnel are employed by Tobyhanna. While the organization’s headquarters is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, Tobyhanna’s worldwide workforce includes employees in 43 fixed locations across the globe.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to deliver integrated C5ISR weapon systems, business systems, and medical sustainment to enable full spectrum combat operations at the point of need.
Social Sharing