Spotlight on the State Ceremonial Unit

For John Sullivan, volunteering and joining the NSW RFS had always been a lifelong dream. However the nature of his day job was not compatible with this ambition.

John was regularly posted to Southeast Asia, the United States and Europe in a senior management role, and couldn’t properly commit to a brigade. That all changed when he took on a new role based in Australia, and signed up with the Taralga Brigade in 2009.

“The reason I joined, and the reason I was wanting to join for so long, was because I like doing things for the community,” says John.

Once he became a volunteer firefighter, he knew he wanted to do more for the Service outside of fighting fires.

John saw the duties and responsibilities of the State Ceremonial Unit as a way to further serve the community and inquired about joining.

“When I joined the NSW RFS, I felt that I was doing something really good for the community in the fire season but then there’s the other half of the year where I could also help,” says John.

“I started to look for something else I could do to contribute when I saw an advertisement in the Bush Fire Bulletin for what was then called the State Protocol Squad.”

The State Ceremonial Unit is awarded the Commissioner's Citation for Service (Unit) on St Florian's Day 2022.

Now, nine years later and while balancing duties as the Captain of the Taralga Brigade, John heads up

the 20 member-strong State Ceremonial Unit. This includes four NSW RFS volunteers who have been with the Unit since its inception in 1994.

“I love what I do – I feel that a lot of the Service doesn’t know that we exist and are available to assist with all manner of events,” says John.

“We can assist brigades with events and ceremonies, such as medal presentations, station openings, tanker handovers and funerals. Anything ceremonial that the brigades would like us to assist with, we can help them.”

John estimates that over the years, he has been involved in at least 500 ceremonies for brigades across the state.

John’s contributions were recognised in the 2022 St Florian’s Day awards, where he received the Commissioner’s Commendation for Service (Individual).

The State Ceremonial Unit was also honoured on the day, receiving the Commissioner’s Unit Citation for Service.

“I was really very humbled to receive one personally, and for the Unit to also be recognised was a very pleasant surprise – I’m really honoured,” says John.

State Ceremonial Unit members at the State Championships in Pambula 2014.

Photo by Sharon Quandt.

In particular, the State Ceremonial Unit and John were recognised for their service in assisting with and attending an increase of medal ceremonies and, tragically, funerals following the devastating 2019/20 fire season and widespread flooding across the state.

John recalled fighting the Green Wattle Creek fire with his Brigade during the season after the blaze had claimed the lives of NSW RFS firefighters Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O’Dwyer. He recounted how the Brigade kept the deaths at the forefront of their minds but focused on their efforts to contain the blaze.

“Everyone was aware of what had happened and you’ve got to be very respectful of the fact that it has happened,” says John.

“There is a grieving process that takes place with firefighters but you still have a job to do and we had to take care of the people we could.

“That fire season was definitely the worst one I’ve ever seen – I’ve got members in my Brigade who have been there for 50 years and have said they’ve never seen anything like it.”

As well as organising and travelling to events, the Unit’s members also perform duties of a Catafalque party, flag attendants, ushers and other roles as requested.

John encourages NSW RFS members who are interested in finding out more about the State Ceremonial Unit or who are interested in joining, to email State.Ceremonial.Unit@rfs.nsw.gov.au.