For the first time in 22 years, a volunteer fire chief will hold the title of IAFC president when Chief John M. Buckman III is sworn in at Fire-Rescue International 2001. Chief Buckman, who has served as fire chief of the German Township (IN) Volunteer Fire Department since 1978 and has been an Indiana Deputy State Fire Marshal since 1985, has been an active contributor and educator to the fire service.
In addition to his duties as fire chief, he has served on the National Fire Academy (NFA) Alumni Association Board of Directors as NFA resident program adjunct instructor and as an NFA course developer of the Leadership and Administration VIP course. He also has served as president of both the Suburban Fire Chiefs Association and the Southwestern Indiana Survive Alive, Inc., and is a certified Fire Protection Specialist and Uniform Fire Code Inspector.
In 1999, he served on the U.S. Fire Administration’s (USFA) America Burning Recommissioned panel. Chief Buckman is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering magazine. He is also on the Educational Advisory Committee of the FDIC and co-authored Recruiting, Training & Maintaining Volunteer Firefighters (3rd edition).
Within the IAFC, Chief Buckman has served as the VCOS representative to the IAFC Board of Directors. He has been active on several IAFC task forces: NFPA 1200, NFPA 1851, Technology Transfer, and Professional Designation Certification.
