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Three members of the team at Oban Airport received long service medals from Depute Lord Lieutenant Andrew Campbell, at the airport, on 18 February.

Tom Eddleston, Senior Airport Fire Officer, and Murray MacGregor, Crew Commander have both served at Oban Airport for 13 years. John McDonald, Airport Firefighter, has reached 12 years with the airport.

The medals are awarded by the British Fire Services Association, an organisation which promotes the personal development of all fire fighters and control room staff. This includes those who are retained or volunteers within local authority, occupational, airport, military, private and volunteer fire services as well as those who are now retired from the service.

Serving within one of ����ֱ��’s airports provides excellent opportunities to develop skills and expertise that can benefit individual’s careers as well as support the wider community.

Tom Eddleston said: “Making sure that our staff are properly trained and ready to cope with all eventualities is vital at Oban Airport, and indeed all council-run airports. We’re pretty much self-sufficient so our small teams do everything from keeping the sites safe, to keeping runways clear of birds, making sure the planes land and take off safely, and looking after travellers. We have to rely on each other and I’m proud to serve alongside my colleagues.”

Murray MacGregor said: “The past 13 years have passed in a flash and I still enjoy going in every day. We have a great crew here who always go the extra mile. It’s a privilege to be able to serve the community this way and I can honestly say that my training has helped me in my day to day life as well.”

John MacDonald said: “I’m proud to receive my long-service medal for doing a job that I love. Being part of airport staff helps to keep rural and island air services open and that for me is a very important part of the job.”

The BFSA is unique in that its members are drawn from sections of the fire service. This means not only the public fire brigades established under the Fire Service Act 1947, but also the occupational and private fire brigades established to protect industry, commerce and private premises. These are also the fire brigades of Government Departments and the Ministry of Defence, hospitals and airports just to name a few.

Photo shows, from left: Murray MacGregor, Tom Eddleston, Depute Lord Lieutenant Andrew Campbell and John MacDonald. Photo by Kevin McGlynn.