Mayday, Mayday, Mayday

Chief Kenneth W. Richards, Jr started in the Volunteer Fire Service in 1976 at the age of 14 as
a junior firefighter in the Old Mystic Fire Department. In the past 46 years he has remained
active and has served in a career capacity for the past 42 years and has been the Fire Chief/
Fire Marshal in the Old Mystic Fire Department for past 29 years. Chief Richards holds a
master's degree in Fire Service Leadership, Executive Fire Officer and Certified Fire Officer.
President Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association (2011 ), President New England Division of the
International Association of Fire Chiefs (2019), National Fire Protection Standards Council
(2019 - 2021) Chairperson of the NFPA Technical Committee on Fire Service Training. Chief
Richards has presented at many conferences and training events throughout the country on
leadership and training topics. Chief Richards has been married to his wife Gerrie for 40 years
and has three adult children and 5 grandchildren.

John M. Buckman III served as a German Township Fire Chief managing volunteers for 35 years. He is most proud of the title “pawpaw.” Leslie his wife has spent 29 years together. He currently serves as Education Coordinator for the International Association of Fire Chief Volunteer and Combination Officers Section. He is the Director of Government and Regional Outreach for IamResponding. He served as the Indiana Fire Academy Director for 15 years. He served as President of the International Association of Fire Chief in 2001-2002.

He has authored over 150 articles in various publications. In 1996 he was selected by Fire Chief Magazine as Fire Chief of the Year in 1996. He has published 4 books and 7 photography books. He received the Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels Meritorious Service Award. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2022 he received the Jimmy Seavey Health and Wellness award presented by the NVFC. and the Presidents Award from the International Society of Fire Service Instructors.

He was one of the founders of the Volunteer and Combination Officer Section (VCOS) and the National Fire Academy Alumni Association. He has contributed to several “ribbon reports” published by the VCOS. He was asked to be one of the editors for the original Lavender Ribbon Report published by the VCOS and NVFC in 2019. In 2021 he along with Brian McQueen spearheaded the update for the Lavender Ribbon Report. He is a principal author of the Yellow Ribbon Report and the updated updated Training Volunteers white paper published by the National Volunteer Fire Council and the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section.