By Michael S. Terwilliger
General George Patton was an enigma for the armed forces during and after WWII. He was exactly what the military needed during the war, but the country did not know what to do with him when the war ended. When times are tough, we want strong leaders, but when times are good, we put them on the shelf. Regardless, General Patton had some philosophies about leadership in bullet point format that can apply to the fire service today.
A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later.
Our society emphasizes gaining consensus on all decisions. We do not want to jump into a situation without all the pertinent facts, but as we sit around looking for the perfect plan, the fire gains ground. The trend when fighting wildfires in federal lands is to make sure all the boxes are checked specific to policy and process before the fire is attacked. Consequently, the fires grow while all the procedural matters are addressed-most of which are irrelevant to developing and implementing tactics. You won’t lose if you make the decision based on the information you have at hand. The only perfect answer will come with hindsight.
Anyone in any walk of life who is content with mediocrity is untrue to himself and the American way.
Colin Powell said, ” ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant, or the scared. It’s an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms. It is a mindset that assumes or hopes that today’s realities will continue tomorrow in a tidy, linear and predictable fashion.” Don’t become stagnant, be proactive, listen to new or different ideas, and always move ahead intending to do better for those we serve, not for ourselves.
Moral courage is the most valuable and certainly the most absent characteristic in men.
We must have the moral courage to speak up even if it goes against the mainstream values or behaviors of our engine company, fire station, or department. Tradition is killing firefighters under the guise of peer pressure. Stand up and speak out or we will only effect change through catastrophic occurrences.
It’s the unconquerable soul of man and not the weapon he uses that ensures victory.
I look at this quote in two ways. One, we spend an inordinate amount of time figuring out new technology to deal with an old foe. Two, we need to focus on the human element and constantly improve in that arena because we are what makes everything else work–not the new nozzle, better air tanker, or super breathing apparatus. The human element will always make or break the deal. There are many ways to skin a cat, and just because you do not have the NFPA suggested line up available to operate at a fire does not mean you will fail. If you don’t have enough weapons, change the strategy, or the fire will prevail.
Make your plans fit your circumstances.
If you do not have enough equipment to operate at a fire in the textbook fashion, don’t do it. A fire is safe until we mess with it. If the fire is screaming for an interior attack but you only have three firefighters at scene with 500 gallons of water, don’t do an interior attack. Do not develop a strategy and supporting tactics that will not fit the equipment you have or will receive. This sounds obvious but we do it all the time, and we die. It is not your fault the house is on fire and nothing says you are obligated to risk your life for a building already lost, or soon will be. When staffing arrives, formulate a new attack representative of the fire and the equipment you now have, not what was going on when you first arrived.
You are never beaten until you admit it.
In the fire service, we do not lose. It takes time to overcome obstacles, but we never lose. In the wildfire industry, I have been on fires that at one moment will take your breath away. There is no force on earth that will stop them and we are getting devastated by losses of homes and property. In 33 years I have never lost. Neither will you.
We need leaders in the fire service more than ever. We need to understand that you are not a leader because of the bugles on your collar. We need people who say what they mean and mean what they say. We need leaders who are willing to do everything they ask of those they command. We need firefighters who want to do what is right for the community before fighting for what they want for themselves. The firefighter is the fire department. Be safe.
Michael S. Terwilliger is chief of the Truckee (CA) Fire Protection District. He began his career in 1972 with the California Department of Forestry, where he served for 24 years in the following assignments: division chief of operations (South) in the Nevada-Yuba-Placer Ranger Unit and as operation section chief and planning section chief on a Type I team from 1988 to 1996. He is a certified fire behavior analyst. Terwilliger is incident commander for Sierra Front Wildfire Cooperators Team, which operates along the eastern California/Nevada border. He also instructs operations section chiefs, division group supervisors, and strike team leaders.
