Founder

French Camp McKinley Fire Distrct

29 years in the fire service

As a Husband, father of 3 kids, I coach baseball and enjoy spending time with my family. I have been in the fire service for 28 years, started as a volunteer fireman. My dad was a fireman and a fire chief, he spent 25 years in the service, he passed from lung cancer in February 2023. He was my best friend, mentor and role model. When Gino started the Chief Ed Fullmer Memorial Scholarship Fund is was a huge honor. My grandfather was a fireman along with numerous other family members. I have a passion for the job and remain a student of the craft to this day. I founded AOTC in 2016 as a way to give back to the job that I love so much and to keep passing on the craft.

Favorite subject: Engine Work

Caldwell Fire Department

17 years in the Fire Service

Gino is currently the President of the Treasure Valley F.O.O.L.S (Fraternal Order of Leatherheads Society) chapter in Boise, Idaho. He is also the creator of the annual March Mayhem Fire Conference. Gino has vast experience in EMS, Wildland and Structural Firefighting (worked in different size departments from 1 station up to 21 station departments). He is also an Idaho state Fire and EMS Instructor, department instructor and instructor at the local college fire academy. Gino is also a 1403 instructor and a train the trainer instructor for flashover training. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Fire Science from Columbia Southern University.

Favorite Subject: Vertical Vent

Weber Fire District

18 Years in the Fire service

Colin is a 2nd generation Fireman, who is currently the Captain of Training with the Weber Fire District. Colin previously worked with the City of Pleasant Grove Fire Department, and the City of South Salt Lake Fire Department. During his time with the Weber Fire District, Colin spent 3 and a half years on the Ogden Metro SWAT team as a tactical medic.

Since 2012, Colin has been an instructor for the Utah Fire & Rescue Academy and Davis Technical College. Ward teaches a vast majority of different fire classes ranging from Firefighter I/II, Forcible Entry, Vehicle Extrication, Ventilation Tactics and the Emergency Apparatus Driving Simulator all throughout the state of Utah. 

Favorite Subject: Forcing doors and searching floors.

Lone Peak Fire District

10 Years in the Fire Service

Grayson has been in the fire service for 9 years. He is Assigned as an Engine Captain and is currently the Department Training Captain for Fire. He has served as an instructor in ALLPS for the recruit academy and multi agency trainings for the past 3 years. In addition to serving full-time with Lone Peak Fire, Grayson has also spent the last 7 years working part-time as a Firefighter-Paramedic for Pleasant Grove Fire Department. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Emergency Services Administration from Utah Valley University.

Favorite Subject: Engine Company Operations & Search

Caldwell Fire Department

18 years in the fire service

I love being able to pass on the knowledge that was given to me and to bee able to go to work and make a difference in people’s lives when they are having a good or a bad day we have the greatest job in the world!

Teaching with AOTC is kinda surreal you often see groups that travel around and teach and wonder how that happens. Who chooses those people? Well I fortunately am one of those people who fell into an awesome group of people that see something in me and said, come teach cool fireman stuff. It’s an honer and a privilege to travel and pass nuggets to fired up people who want to do better. We want to do better this is a great group of guys bettering themselves and others!!

CALDWELL FIRE DEPARTMENT

21 Years in the fire service

Cody is a 7 th Generation fireman, who is currently a Captain with the Caldwell Fire Department in Caldwell Idaho. Cody Previously worked in Columbus, Ohio and in the United States Air Force both as a Firefighter Paramedic before coming back home to Caldwell where it all started as a volunteer with both the Middleton and Caldwell Fire Departments. Cody is also a Hazmat Team Leader as well as the departments EMS coordinator.

Cody is a current instructor and teaches a vast majority of different classes from basic firefighter all the way up to Paramedic level classes but he specializes in operations under Live Fire and Hazmat. Cody was patched in the spring of 2024 into AOTC.

OREM FIRE DEPARTMENT

Griffin Coiner is a Lieutenant with the Pleasant Grove Fire Department in Utah. He started his fire service career in 2010 in TX until he and his family relocated to Utah in 2023.    He is the Owner/Operator of ‘Stache Salt and has a passion to give back to first responders and their families. He also teaches for his local county academy. “I just wanna do fireman stuff with my friends!”

Favorite subject: SEARCH. And anything that involves the stretch, force, and throw!

ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER FIRE DEPARTMENT

2 Years in the Fire Service

Brian is the new guy on our cadre, with minimal time in the fire service, he brings a passion to learn from the other members of the AOTC cadre. With extensive media experience, Brian uses his skills to produce high quality content for the Cadre and our students. Brian has wanted to be a firefighter since he was a child and in his words “I could not have picked a better group of guys to learn from and to call my brothers.” Brian has recently earned his Associates Degree of Applied Sciences in Fire Science from Colorado Mesa University. Along with teaching on our cadre Brian has taught for the last 2 years at the Colorado Mesa University Fire Academy. He is also a dedicated back seat fireman that has a true passion for the job.

Favorite Subject: Forcible entry/Extrication

POCATELLO FIRE DEPARTMENT

FRENCH CAMP MCKINLEY/MOUNTAIN HOUSE FIRE DISTRICTS

FRENCH CAMP MCKINLEY FIRE DISTRICT

CALDWELL FIRE DEPARTMENT

Sun Valley Fire Department

18 yrs of Service

I have been in the fire service for 18yrs both on the engine and the truck. 14+ yrs as an instructor and currently the department Training Chief. I’ve spent most of my career working in the Phoenix Metro area and now enjoying new challenges in a rural mountain town in Idaho. My specialties include forcible entry and engine company operations.

GUADALUPE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE

Kevin Pfluger is a 18 year veteran of the fire service and is the owner of Pfluger Fire Training and Consulting. Kevin is the lead organizer of the Dagum Texas Fire Conference, He teaches as the lead instructor for THE DAGUM PUSH engine ops cadre, helps teach firefighter rescue and survival skills on the “No Quit RIT” Cadre, teaches with the Bearers of the Oath Cadre out of Georgia and teaches with the Ambassadors of The Craft Cadre on the West Coast.  He also organizes trainings all over the United States and in Mexico. Kevin works for Mercedes Textiles Hose as a Consultant and is on the UL 19 Technical Committee for 0219-Fire Hose.

Southaven Fire Dept

10 years in the fire service

Travis is a Husband, father and firefighter for the City of Southaven MS.  He is also the secretary chair and instructor for Old South FOOLS. He has spent the last 10 years being a student of the craft as a backstep fireman and lover of the “senior firefighter position”

“My love for instructing came about organically through a love for being a backstep firemen and taking pride in mastering that position. I’ve always enjoyed passing on to other firefighters a love for mastering the so called “basics.” I’ve spent most of my career at departments with low staffing and poor resources where firemen are expected to be able to do a lot more with less. Where knowing the job is a necessity and make or break”

Favorite subject- Anything truck work

Forcible entry, VES, search and victim removal

Lafayette County Fire Rescue

8 yrs in the fire service

“For me, the fire service isn’t just a career, it’s alignment. Spiritually, physically, mentally. It put me exactly where I was meant to be, and I don’t take that lightly. I’m a father to two daughters, and the charter president of Old South F.O.O.L.S., built on brotherhood, tradition, and doing the work the right way.

Personally I  thrive in the hands-on side of the job. moving fast, forcing doors, throwing ladders, searching smoked out floors, and training hard on truck work and fire attack. Most of my experience comes from rural and suburban departments where staffing is lean and the work load doesn’t wait. Engine work, truck work, whatever the scene needs.”

Proverbs 17:17