The Firehouse Yak: Dan Byrne, TJ Cullison, AJ Kehl – Firefighters Reflect on Military Service, Veterans Day

Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood Landing, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department and currently is a photographer for the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department.        

SMSgt A.J. Kehl is the deputy fire chief at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He is a Department of Defense advocate and Center for Public Safety Excellence chief fire officer who has 17 years of experience in the fire service. He holds a Bachelor of Science in fire science and a master’s degree in organizational leadership.

DANIEL BYRNE is a community support officer for the Burton Fire District, Beaufort County, SC, and a retired assistant fire chief of training for the Georgia Air National Guard 165^th Fire Department. A third-generation firefighter, he holds an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree in fire science as well as a master’s degree in public administration and disaster management. Byrne is an alumnus of the National Fire Academy. He received state and local awards for public relations and educational programs as well as community partnerships and served as a conference presenter and keynote speaker.