LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas—Tech. Sgt. Eduardo Castro, 47th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department, B-shift station captain, a native of Abilene, Texas, is subjected to stress every single day as an Airman, NCO and firefghter.
“A stressor I face as a firefighter is the sheer amount of knowledge and disciplines we are trained for,” Castro said. “We are never done with our training, and it keeps us busy, giving us constant ways to grow professionally.”
Even though being station captain can be stressful for Castro he also finds it rewarding. The key, he discovered, is to remain flexible.
Like flexibility, balance is an essential skill for coping with a stressful job. Castro believes everyone needs balance in life, and that Comprehensive Airman Wellness is a useful guideline to help find balance.
“As a firefighter, it is not enough to be just physically strong or just mentally strong,” Castro said. “If you cannot lift the equipment or the people we potentially need to save, we fail. If you can do that but are not disciplined enough to learn and become competent with all the various types of knowledge that encompasses our career, we will fail.”
He says each component is significant and collectively they make a person stronger than any component on its own.