For whatever reason, this third year after the ten-year anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York seems for many of us to have felt different. Different as in, forgotten. This was the first topic of discussion this past Wednesday morning as a few of us gathered on Fire Engineering’s Humpday […]

“My fundamental duty is to serve humanity…” We all stood. “All rise and raise your right hand”..The clatter of the old wooden auditorium seats clapped and banged as the entire academy stood as one. “Repeat after me..”, said the Chief officer in attendance. The thunder of male voices rang through the auditorium. Our families sat […]

I’ll allow I’ve been busy lately. Going back to school. Self-improvement, or maybe self-destruction, not sure yet. But I’ve had this topic on my mind for months and wanted to get it out to you. Pour a cup and sit yourself down. Its been that time of year for us. Twice a year our department […]

“Leadership is intangible, hard to measure, and difficult to describe. It’s quality would seem to stem from many factors. But certainly they must include a measure of inherent ability to control and direct, self-confidence based on expert knowledge, initiative, loyalty, pride and sense of responsibility. Inherent ability cannot be instilled, but that which is latent […]

Move over a skosh,..got hot Joe comin’ through! Man,..its cold up here in the North today! Say, a fella’ I know was discussing fire service leadership, and you know me, I’ll allow that is right up my alley! So we sat and brewed up some thoughts together and this is what spilt out: Before we […]

Here we sit at the kitchen table. I enjoy the table in the back lot too, but there’s no C’gars allowed these days. Can’t say as I like it, but can’t argue much with it either. So its hot Joe, n’ we’ll make do. Had a heck of a time, this past several weeks. Been […]

“Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.”  — General Omar Bradley   This is the way I see it over the rim of my cup o’ Joe.  Today’s fire service is faced with countless difficulties including economics, extreme technical leaps, generational differences in values and ethics and now even post […]

We were on a roll… Remember when the new buzz going around the Internet was all about better ways to do the job?  Better tactics, little nuggets, the tips and tricks.  That wasn’t all that long ago.  I remember one of the websites that I really took a liking to was “Fire Nuggets” http://www.firenuggets.com  Whether […]

Hey Brother,….The Good Book says in Proverbs, that “iron sharpens iron..” meaning that iron in one form can be sharpened by iron in another form (like a file).  It goes on to say that in a similar way,  good friends build each other up. Sometimes by being brutally honest with each other.  A skilled, attentive […]

The following diatribe is written poorly at a late hour.  My sincere apologies.  But I would like to take the time to dedicate this declaration to the five highly dedicated firemen that have helped me this far acting out the foriegn roles of drill instructors.  They have followed my lead, endeavored to meet it and have […]