Georgia Smoke Diver Program

In 1978 Cortez Lawrence led a small group of dedicated Georgia   firefighters to create an instructor base for the launch of the Georgia Smoke Diver Program.  The original course was based on training methodology originating in the European fire service.  Cortez (Smoke Diver #1) researched these techniques and combined them with training he received from the Florida Smoke Diver Course in 1977.  This first Smoke Diver class, held in December 1978 at the Southern Tech/Georgia Fire Academy Campus, graduated thirteen members who were deemed “the elite few, strong in mind and body”.  To mark the accomplishment a black t-shirt was designed along with a rocker patch.  The concept and vision of the Georgia Smoke Diver program would not have been possible without these visionaries and the partnership and commitment of Harold Thompson, Director of the Georgia Fire Academy.

On April 14, 2005, in a hotel room in downtown Indianapolis, Brothers Brent Hullender, David Rhodes, Merv McDonald, and Doug Stephenson met with David Wall and GFA program specialist Donny Roberts (Smoke Diver #185), who were all attending or working at the Fire Department Instructors Conference.  The proposal was unveiled for the new Georgia Smoke Diver Program and the partnership that it would take to deliver the course.  The meeting was very positive and ended with a gentleman’s handshake that we would move forward.  The following day, Director Wall set the date for the return of the Georgia Smoke Diver Program to the Georgia Fire Academy.  Class #33 was scheduled with a start date of October 30, 2005.

A change in leadership at the Georgia Fire Academy created some very tumultuous times between the Smoke Diver instructors and the academy.  The dispute stemmed from a policy change that required every applicant to be admitted to any State class and that every attendee would receive a certificate of attendance.  The Smoke Diver instructors could not support what they deemed as training with no performance standards, and ultimately the Georgia Fire Academy dropped the program after the fall class of 1995.  Class #32 brought an end to the nearly 20 years of training.  The last Georgia Smoke Diver number issued in that class was #635 to Richard Bushman.

The return of the Georgia Smoke Diver course after a 10 year absence was met with extreme enthusiasm.  In true Smoke Diver fashion the old instructors came back and put everything they had into ensuring the success of Class #33.  The Board of Elders was concerned about the number of instructors that were going to be able to commit the time needed to keep the course going.  The decision was made to hand pick the first class from those fire service members that were already instructors or already on their way.
In other words, we realized we were all getting old and somebody had to be able to keep this thing going!  Each Elder was given 5 picks and a list of alternates was established.  At the end of the week, 15 were left.  During this class the practice of assigning Smoke Diver numbers alphabetically was abandoned and the numbers were issued based on the order of completion.  Screven County Fire Chief Harvey Cryder was the first to complete the final nuts and bolts evolution and 10 years were quickly erased with Smoke Diver #636.