During her training, Craig learned firefighting fundamentals and earned certifications in airport firefighting, hazardous materials awareness, emergency medical response and more.
The 68-day academy, located at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, is the only Department of Defense basic firefighting training academy in the country. It was tough, but I got here, and if I can, then other females can, too.” “I wasn’t aware that I was the unit’s first female qualified 12M firefighter until I got back from training,” said Craig. She now serves in the Idaho Army National Guard’s 937th Engineer Detachment and is the unit’s first female to earn the 12M firefighter military occupational specialty. She later became a class leader and graduated from the academy in December 2022. “Everyone I met up to that point said, ‘You’re not really big, the dummies are and that’s going to be tough for you.’ I went into it with the mindset that I’m going to do it because there really is no other option.”Ĭraig, who joined the Idaho Guard in October 2021, passed the evaluation on her first attempt. “I heard the academy had a high fail rate and that females don’t really make it,” said Craig. The evaluation is known by students and instructors as the most physically demanding part of the fire academy, especially for a small woman like Craig, who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 130 pounds. “I didn’t give myself any other choice than to get through the evaluation and, ultimately, the academy.”
“I just knew in my heart that firefighting was what I was meant to do,” said Idaho Army National Guard Pfc. It was her third and final drag of the fire victim removal evaluation with only minutes left to complete the task. She crawled forward and pulled the 175-pound “dummy” another 20 feet. Her firefighting suit and breathing apparatus were heavy and weighed her down. BOISE, Idaho - Beads of sweat dripped down her face and collected at the bottom of her mask.
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