Firefighters, school friends reunite after more than a decade Published Jan. 17, 2014 By Jenny Gordon Robins Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Two firefighters. Two open job positions at Robins. High school athletes, friends who had lost touch with one another over the years. What are the odds each would apply for a job with Fire Emergency Services, get hired and then report for duty in Middle Georgia on the same October day? Although Tait Iverson and Anthony "Tony" Torres played football and other sports together in the early 1990s while in high school in New Mexico, each would take a different path after graduation. Some 13 years would pass before they would see each other again. Social media existed to a degree in the '90s, but it wasn't until Torres looked back at an email that things took an interesting turn. Both men applied for two positions here last fall. It wasn't until about two weeks before their start date that Chief Forest Johnson - unaware the men knew each other - emailed the new hires to get some preliminary information. "I went back and looked at one of the chief's emails to make sure I had everything lined up," recalled Torres. "When I saw two email addresses at the top, I saw Mr. Iverson's name right beside mine. I thought ... surely not?" Prior to Robins, Torres was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, beginning his career as a volunteer at Pensacola Beach's Fire Department in Florida. He was guided in the direction of working for the Air Force's fire protection program during that time, changing his mind about studying in another field while in college. "I decided then that I wasn't going to be a marine biologist," he said. "I actually liked firefighting enough to make it a career." He was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., worked in Las Vegas for a time, then back at Eglin before arriving in San Antonio. Meanwhile, after high school Iverson attended New Mexico State and worked in forestry as a firefighter. He too heard about opportunities available from the Air Force offering a stepping stone into a career in the Department of Defense's fire service. "It was a life-altering decision to stop what I was doing, head in a different direction and go active duty," said Iverson, a firefighter since 1997. He joined the Air Force, having been stationed in Mississippi, England, Washington State, Alabama and at Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma before arriving at Robins. Once hired here, it wasn't until he received a phone call from Torres, courtesy of Facebook, that he realized the high school pals would soon work together. Iverson hadn't yet connected the dots. The guys chatted for a bit, Torres asking him where he was headed to next. "I let him go through the whole speech," said Torres, both men laughing. Both men thought it quite unique that two positions open to the entire DoD workforce would result in two old friends interested in the same jobs. "If you roll the dice - two positions, one location. We both just happened to apply," said Iverson. It wasn't until recently that both men were finally able to work side by side at Fire Station No. 2. Chief Johnson had called a few colleagues into his office earlier as the two men looked on wondering what all the fuss about. Out of nowhere, he turns up the volume on his computer. Out blares Peaches and Herb's memorable "Reunited" as the guys all chuckled in unison. "It's a small world. What are the odds?" said Torres.