FFC Officers

  John F. Long, Jr., President

John has served as a firefighter since 1975, beginning with United Fire Company of Montrose, Pennsylvania. After enlisting in the United States Coast Guard in 1978, he served until retirement in 1998. He is currently President of the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Company in Glen Burnie, MD.

John began his chaplaincy in 2002, serving the Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firefighters Association, and was appointed Chief Chaplain of the Maryland State Firemen's Association in 2005, a role he still holds. He is also Chaplain One with Anne Arundel County Fire Department.

Ordained in 2004, John has served as a Deacon with Lake Shore Baptist Church. He and his wife Kathy have two sons and two grandchildren.

    Mark Akers, Vice-President

Mark has 25 years of service with the Magnolia (Texas) Volunteer Fire Dept. and is currently a Senior Captain at Houston Fire Department, assigned to Ladder 4. He also serves as Battalion Chief and Chaplain for the Magnolia VFD and Chaplain for HFD’s Local 341.

He and his wife Sonia have two children, Caleb and Abigail. Mark has been a member of the FFC for 11 years and is a credentialed minister with the Assemblies of God.

  Roosevelt Johns, Treasurer

Roosevelt has served as a chaplain for 17 years and has been a member of the FFC since 2016. He is currently Chaplain for the Atlanta Fire Department and lives in Winder, Georgia with his wife Rachel. They are active in ministry and their local community.

  Ron Little, Secretary

  Gordon Kouwenberg

Gordon serves as Canadian Liaison to the Boar, Director of Regions for Canada, and International Regional Director.

  Milton Smith, Member-at-Large

Chaplain Milton Smith is married and has 2 adult daughters, a granddaughter and a grandson. His career in Emergency Services started at age 16 as a volunteer with the Tarpon Springs Memorial Volunteer Ambulance Service in 1975. After becoming an EMT he  join the City of Port Richey Fire Department as a volunteer. He also worked at the Port Richey Police Department in communications and as a police aide. In 1987 he was hired by Pasco County Fire Rescue where he worked on an Advance Life Support Paramedic Unit. In 1988 he joined Palm Harbor Fire Rescue as a career Firefighter/EMT. He was later promoted to the rank of Fire Lieutenant. He served in several areas including helping to oversee the department's Marine (water) Rescue Operations and Honor Guard. He has also served as Chaplain for over 25 years. He retired in 2016 from being an active firefighter after 30 years total career in the fire service and over 42 years in EMS.

He is currently the Fire Chaplain for Palm Harbor Fire Rescue, Tarpon Springs Fire Department, Oldsmar Fire Department and Clearwater Fire & Rescue.

Chaplain Smith has a A.S. Degree from St. Petersburg College in Fire Science Technology and holds several Florida State Fire Certifications including Fire Instructor, Inspector, Investigator II, Arson Investigator, Company Officer and has received the Florida Lifetime Firefighter Designation. He has been pointed the West Central Florida Chaplaincy Coordinator for the Florida Firefighter Safety and Health Collaborative.
He a is licensed and ordained minister. He served as associate minister for 12 years and has been the senior pastor of Mt. Hermon Missionary Baptist Church in Tarpon Springs, Fl. for 28 years. After of 40 years of devoted service will retire as pastor at the end of September 2017.
In 2018 he founded the non-profit All First Responders Matter Foundation Cooperation. This is a volunteer group of chaplains and peer supporters. He is the West Central Florida Chaplaincy Coordinator for the Florida Firefighter Safety & Health Collaborative.
He is planning to devote additional time to helping those who serve in emergency services as he will continue his calling in the Chaplaincy.

Fr. Robert Rien, Member-at-Large

Jim Cook, Past President

Chaplain Jim Cook retired from CDF/Cal Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department as a Battalion Chief after 36 years of service. He has been involved in the Volunteer Reserve Chaplain program in Riverside County since 1997 and has helped develop an effective chaplaincy for his department. Their chaplains have supported mutual aid needs for San Bernardino County, San Diego County, and statewide. Chaplain Cook has been a member of the Federation of Fire Chaplains since 2003 and is currently serving on the FFC Board as the President. He is a member of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and President of the California Fire Chaplain Association. He holds an A.A. degree in Biblical and Theological Studies and serves as a deacon at Fellowship Church in Beaumont, California.

Jim is married to Roxie, and they celebrated 47 years of marriage in 2020. Together, they have six children and six grandchildren. Roxie has been an integral supporter of Jim’s chaplain ministry and the FFC community.