Chaplain Larry Briggs is a family man who describes himself as a “Christian by faith and a Chaplain by trade.”  He was born and raised in San Diego, CA, attending Morse High School and Mesa Junior College.  During a five-year stint in the Midwest he earned a Bachelor’s degree and a job as a federal agent.  Prior to him heading East, he was a Volunteer Fire Fighter in Descanso, CA.   Larry returned to San Diego and completed thirty years as a federal agent, the last twenty years as a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  Among other assignments, he was a Certified Explosives Specialist, working with the San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team (MAST) and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Arson/Explosives Unit, as an Arson Investigator.  Larry was also a member of ATF’s National Response Team, traveling to other U.S. localities providing large scale fire/explosion investigative assistance.  After retiring in 2010, Larry drove a 3,800 gallon water tender, as a hired vendor, in support of numerous large wild-land fires throughout CA.

After five years of trauma intervention classes and hands-on experience, Chaplain Briggs sensed God’s calling to give back to his first responder roots.  In late 2015, he became an emergency services chaplain (law enforcement and more recently fire department) and is an ordained minister through the Branch Church, San Diego.   Larry is married to Lori, since 1990, and they have two grown sons.  Larry is completing a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling-Crisis Response and Trauma and is looking forward to serving the men and women of the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department as a Chaplain.