It is 0530 hours, and I find myself thinking that in a couple of months I will complete my tour as a training officer for my department. It’s been two years now, although some days it seems more like 20. Like most training officers, I am almost desperate to get back on the floor-back on the pointy end of the “big red stick.” As I prepare for my transition back to the real world, I wonder how I can prepare my successor for the job I’m leaving. Mostly, I’ve operated under a few hard-learned precepts that I absorbed in the way we get most of our good stuff in the fire service-from those who had the job before us and did it well. Others I stumbled onto randomly, usually by doing it wrong the first time. Here are a few of the many things I think are worthy of being passed on.
THE FIREFIGHTER IS ALWAYS RIGHT
No, this isn’t going to be some New Age, warm and fuzzy appeal to you to make every firefighter happy every time he hits your door at great cost to your dignity, self-respect, and (of course) your planned schedule for the day. Well, maybe a little. Remember that when one of your folks shows up with a problem, it is important to him. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a deputy chief, a company officer, or the newest probie on the floor. This individual came to you for an answer and should leave your desk with one.
After all, that’s the reason your job exists. Sometimes the solution given isn’t the one expected or desired, and it may not come as quickly as the firefighter had hoped (it usually doesn’t), but you should at the very least help these members to develop a path that will get them where they need or want to go. This may be as easy as checking out a book to study for promotion or as complex as developing a site plan for a multimillion-dollar training facility. Either way, if your personnel don’t feel as though you came through for them, they will remember it, and they won’t be back for a long, long time. That’s bad! Your success depends on them.
THE CHIEF IS THE CHIEF (YOU DON’T MAKE POLICY-YOU TEACH IT)
You aren’t there (yet). Just when you think no one is paying any attention at all to what you have to say, you’ll get a call to the chief’s office to “discuss” something you put out as policy during a presentation three months ago. Ad-libbing is great on Comedy Central, but it is no more appropriate in the classroom than freelancing is on the fireground-it is the same thing. Be careful of what you say. If you don’t agree with the way your department does something, get involved in changing it through appropriate channels. Use training to reinforce the policies that are on the street now and to address changes to policies as they develop. If your soapbox isn’t the same one the chief uses, get off of it.
You serve at the discretion of the chief. If you are lucky enough to do this for a living, that person pays your salary. No minor consideration there! Regardless of your feelings on a particular issue, your public position should be that of the department. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to disagree in part or in whole with an issue you feel needs to be addressed. It does mean that the discussion should take place with the concerned parties behind closed doors-not in front of the department. The chief will be more likely to respect your opinion whether or not he agrees with it if it is presented appropriately and in the proper venue. The chief will not respect nor long endure your publicly straying far from the stated path of the department. Remember, although it seems difficult sometimes to get something you want pushed through the chief, it will be impossible to get anything done without him. Your chief can be a good friend and a great supporter but will make a very bad enemy.
COMMUNICATE!
According to most texts, there are four steps in communication: transmission, reception, understanding, and feedback. You must become proficient in each of these to excel in your position. Many times you will be an “official” transmitter for your organization. You teach the regulations, policies, strategies, and tactics by which your department lives each day. Don’t let this blind you to the other aspects of communication, though. To be good at this job, you need to listen. Other people will come to you with thoughts and ideas on everything under the sun. You need to take advantage of this, even though many of the issues that come up are not under your control or are not directly pertinent to the task at hand. Listening builds credibility. It shows that you care about what your people are thinking. You will also learn more about weak areas in yourself and in your programs than you would have thought possible.
YOUR CALENDAR IS YOUR LIFE
One of the great things about working on the floor is that you don’t really have to think too much about what you are going to do on any given shift. Sure, you’ll train some, and there will always be public education and building inspections; but for the most part, your schedule is set up for you. As a training officer, your schedule is a precious commodity. Whether your position is a collateral duty or your primary assignment, your schedule and your ability to control it will make or break you. Not being where you told someone you would be is one of the fastest ways to lose hard-earned respect and credibility. This isn’t to say that schedules won’t change after you put them in place. It’s a fluid job. When changes do occur, though, fix the problem. Reschedule early and let everyone affected know what, when, and how. Why may be more discretionary.
Make sure to schedule personal time also. You work for the department, but you don’t live for it. Therein lies madness! You still have to deal with your own professional development. Make time to study and keep up with events happening in the fire service. It keeps you current, and many of your folks will want to bounce off you things they see or read about in the media or trade journals. It’s also a good way to build rapport.
Finally, remember family time. Spouses, kids, and even the dog need your time and attention, too. More than one good firefighter has traded family for career. It’s a poor trade. Ask me how I know! As they say, no one lies on his deathbed wishing he had worked just one more shift.
“NO” IS IN THE DICTIONARY-SO IS “YES”!
Sometimes you must be ready to just say no. It may be because someone has a great new tool, trick, procedure, idea, or whatever that just isn’t in line with department policy. Or it may be unsafe. It may be in someone else’s venue. It may just be untimely. Whatever the reason, learn to say no firmly, but civilly and respectfully. Provide your reasoning. The days of “because I said so” are pretty much behind us whether we like it or not. When possible, try to turn a no into a future maybe or even a future yes or direct the issue to the appropriate resource. That’s even better. The bottom line is that if it doesn’t support the mission of the department and the training division, you should give your answer serious consideration. It may not be in your interest or the department’s to give a green light.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM HAPPENS TO YOU
Your days of fame and glory are, for the time being anyway, over and done. That can be, and probably should be, very difficult to accept. We enjoy being firefighters. It’s probably the biggest requirement for becoming a good training officer. For now, though, you’ll have to shift your focus and learn to take enjoyment from the things your department accomplishes as a whole. Seeing your people doing something better or more safely should be its own reward, and you will have a lot to do with that. Watching productive training hours increase is always exciting. More training, if it is effective and pertinent, will always improve the department, and your department is now your job!
Enjoy the successes of your department. I know that reading an article in the paper about a great job our guys did at yesterday’s incident brings a great deal of satisfaction. Remember that pride, like liability, can be vicarious.
Enjoy your own successes as well. Work on improving your skills. Maybe teach a fire program class at the local community college or work in an adjunct position with the state. A training officer tour can be a great time to finish your own college degree. Whatever it is, have a goal and work toward it. Try to make it something outside the department so you can keep your perspective (and your sanity).
Most of what you can expect to accomplish as a training officer will be in cooperation with many other people. All of your programs will be approved and funded by the chief and his staff. Company officers will provide time, skills, and equipment every day. Perhaps most crucial, the time your people take out of an already busy life and shift cycle to attend the training that you prepare and present is important to them. It must be important to you as well. Make sure that each one of them knows that they are essential to the department’s training mission. When someone stands out by providing a resource you needed or by doing something “above and beyond,” a simple “thanks” goes a long way.
Make sure the bosses-yours and your supporters’-know who is helping out. Nothing will bring a firefighter back to help again faster than knowing that you and the department believe he and his efforts are important. Your firefighters are the reason you go to work in the morning. Make sure they never forget that.
NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK
No individual is an island. Get out there and talk to the other folks who are doing your job in other departments. What are they doing? How are they doing it? I learned a long time ago that someone out there is already doing what I want to do. Take what they have and run with it. Sure, you’ll have to tweak it to fit your needs, but a lot of the work has already been done. Trust me, they won’t mind. To pervert a phrase, replication is the sincerest form of flattery.
Talking to other instructors and training officers also has a therapeutic aspect. You are all facing the same challenges. Getting together to talk about them will improve everyone’s outlook.
Combine resources. That resource-intensive vehicle extrication class may well be beyond your capabilities. Combining your resources with those of the department next door may just make it possible. You get the added benefit of your people working together before the big mutual-aid call.
Remember that although you should certainly have strengths, you are not an expert on every subject. If you think you are, your folks will soon correct you. Bring in other people who can cover your weak areas. It will also delay the point at which the troops will get tired of seeing you standing in front of them. They’ll get enough of that as time goes on.
DON’T LET THE “UN”S GET YOU DOWN
Yes, you’ll be underfunded, underappreciated, undercompensated, and sometimes unloved, but you have the best job in the fire service off the fireground. You will have more impact on more people in less time than any other person in the department other than the chief. Your efforts will be validated by everything your department does for years-perhaps generations-to come. Think about it. Have you forgotten the training officers who pushed you through the confidence maze the first time? How they prepared you for your first fire or your first day in command? I sure haven’t. My goal during my tour has been to be the same light to my people as my training officers-and I had some great ones-were to me. I wish you the best during your own tours.
PAUL D. HOYLE is a lieutenant and assistant training officer with the Portsmouth (VA) Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services, where he has served on several suppression assignments and on the technical rescue and maritime incident response teams. Hoyle is an adjunct instructor for the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. He served 21 years with the U.S. Navy, retiring as a chief petty officer. Hoyle received a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Saint Leo College.
