Did they ask anyone if they wanted to be “firemen”?
Some volunteered only to discover a fireman is the guy that shoveled coal in the furnace. We also had “firewatch”. Because the buildings were so old there was a risk of fire so someone had to be awake during the night. Two hours on four off.
When ever I smell coal burning I immediately think of Fort Knox.
Yes, we had “Fire Watch” every night in those old WWII barracks. It was summer when I went through basic, so there was no need for ‘firemen’ for the furnaces. My first memory of a call for ‘firemen’ was my first trip to Hohenfels as the FO for B/1/32 AR. It was the summer of 1976 and the ‘firemen’ stoked the furnace to heat the water for the mess hall and showers. We lived in GP mediums on concrete tent pads.
For any other artillerymen. I was with C/2/27 FA at Friedberg, Germany, but attached to B/1/32 as its FO.