United States Army Basic Training - Overview - Fire Guard and Charge of Quarters

Fire Guard and Charge of Quarters

Every night, at least two recruits from the platoon must be awake at any given time, patrolling their barracks area, watching for fires, cleaning the barracks, and watching for recruits attempting to leave the barracks area. They wake the next pair of recruits at the end of their two-hour shift. This duty is called fire guard.

Fire guard stems back to the days of wooden barracks and wood-burning stoves. The fire guard would watch the stoves to make sure that the barracks would not catch fire. Since open flames are not generally used to heat sleeping areas anymore present-day fire guard during Basic Training is more an exercise in discipline than a practical necessity, although if the weather gets cold enough some groups conducting overnight outdoor training will still use a kerosene "pot bellied" stove which must be watched to prevent accidental fires.

Charge of Quarters, commonly called CQ, functions in a somewhat similar manner. CQ shifts rotate throughout the entire company, with just two recruits from the company staying awake per shift. The actual Charge of Quarters is the drill sergeant, and the pair of recruits staying awake are the "runners", meaning that they perform tasks for the CQ. They perform some of the same duties as the fire guard shift. Only the CQ on duty is permitted to open the barracks doors, and the runners must alert the CQ if someone else attempts to enter or leave the barracks.