FDIC Education Director Chief David Rhodes kicked off the FDIC International 2023 Opening Ceremony Day 1 today, addressing the standing-room-only crowd of more than 3,500 fire and EMS members from around the world for the first time after succeeding Chief Bobby Halton, who passed away in December.
“Things have certainly changed in our lives since December 19. While I had worked with Bobby for the past 18 years, it wasn’t until last August, when he and Eric [Schlett, Clarion Executive Vice President] hired me full time, that I really got a grasp on the total commitment and work ethic that Bobby had. There was rarely a day that went by without a couple hour phone conversation followed up with dozens of text messages and emails a day–weekends included!
“I had asked Bobby why he wanted me to be the guy to take over when he decided to step back.
For the record, I never believed he was actually going to step back. I don’t think any of you thought that either. But what he told me was that he liked the fact that I had a history of loyal disobedience. Loyal to the fire service and disobedient to authority that didn’t have the fire service’s best interest at heart. So things didn’t go as planned and we didn’t get to do the 2-year transition. But here we are, and we continue on with the work. But somehow, strong leaders and mentors like Bobby know to challenge us and push us beyond our comfort zone.
Initially, I really didn’t want to go back to working for someone other than myself. But something inside me, the flame that guys at the Conyers Fire Department lit back in 1985, the flame that my mentor Scott Millsap stoked at Georgia Smoke Divers, the flame that Tom Brennan and Bill Manning added fuel to, and the flame Bobby Halton fed the oxygen to, created a flashover when Bobby looked at me and said, ‘It’s not a job, Rhodes, it’s another opportunity to serve.’
“Most of you come here to learn from some of the most knowledgeable and experienced instructors in our industry. Most of you are leaders either formally or informally. But there is another reason you come here. It’s because back home you suffer from caring so much and trying to do so much that you often become a target in your own organizations. YOU, TOO, are loyal disobedients!
“You come here just as I have over the years as a form of therapy, to recharge your batteries,
to be a part of something greater than yourselves, to hang out, network, and talk with others who face the same hardships, to be around people who have a mentality that gives you hope and inspiration to keep doing what you are doing and, in fact, maybe to even increase your efforts. At least this week every year, you find other people who actually care about our fire service.
“There has really been little focus on the mental health effects of poor leadership. We tend to talk about PTSD because we can blame that on an incident beyond our control. But we don’t want to talk about the root cause of the MAJORITY of the stress that causes us issues: organizational vindictiveness, discrimination, favoritism, exclusion.
“I know you, and I know that you aren’t looking for credit, you’re not trying to take someone’s job, you just want to do your job. You are committed to the service. You just want to contribute.
You just want to make a difference. Unfortunately for us, not everyone is like that and your enthusiasm, your professionalism, and your competence are a threat–a threat that unintentionally exposes complacency, laziness, selfishness, and incompetence. Because of that you come under attack! You become a target and the crabs reach up and try to pull you back down in the bucket.
When people are intentionally preventing you from contributing and having influence, it is a form of mental torture for people like us. You can easily become cynical, full of contempt, and overcome by the urge to retaliate and get even! Don’t give in or give up. The best form of retaliation is success!
“The point I want to make is, there is sacrifice and suffering in everything that is for good.
Nothing worth a damn comes easy, and there is no better feeling than the feeling of fatigue after suffering but closing with a victory. I want the fire service to understand we all suffer in one way or another. The sooner we understand, the sooner we realize that we are all suffering together, the sooner we can reunite in mission and unity of cause! Pain, hardship, and suffering are key ingredients to character. You can’t be an effective leader without competence and character.
“Character is who you are. It’s not enough to be competent. You have to have character in order to lead, to be trusted, and to effectively serve. It is called the FIRE SERVICE for a reason.
“As firefighters, we need to be strong and unified. We need the unity of purpose! Many people may participate, many cultures, many ancestries, many faiths, but their diversity is not the source of their strength. It never has been, nor will it ever be, the source of strength. Diversity helps build unity when differences are honored, when assumptions are suspended, and respect and authentic interaction are valued. These things produce unity of mission and unity of purpose!
“Our calling is high, and we are among a small group that knowingly volunteers to sacrifice, in hope that our preparation leads to skill and action, that allows us the privilege to execute so that we can buy someone’s grandfather the opportunity to celebrate another birthday. So that we can buy someone’s grandmother the chance to cook and host that Thanksgiving meal one more time.
So that we can buy a dad the opportunity to walk his daughter down the aisle. So that we can buy that woman the opportunity be a mom to her kids, to see them grow up. So that we can buy these kids the chance to wake up and innocently enjoy playing with their neighborhood friends.
“We go to fires not for the firefight but to protect and remove the people. We go to EMS calls
not just execute task but to save their lives. If we are in the people business and we are going to be given these opportunities, HOW DARE WE BE ANYTHING BUT THE BEST?
“How do you honor someone’s legacy? You want to honor Bobby Halton and those like him?
You sacrifice and suffer, you do good work, you build on success, you make it better, and you carry on the work. You don’t do it for them, you do it BECAUSE OF them, because of what they taught you. You know not to stay in a perpetual state of mourning but to remain in constant motion to define the future.
“I am not here to REPLACE Bobby Halton. I am here to work beside you and continue the work, the work of Tom Brennan, Bill Manning, and Bobby Halton, as they did for those who came before them. The work is being a voice for the fire service. The work is providing a platform
for others to be heard. The work is the constant goal of self-improvement. The work is to inspire a new generation to want to do this work! The work is what saves lives.
“We are all here to stand on the shoulders of a great American, a mentor, a firefighter, and a friend and take this amazing fire service to a whole new level for the next generation. Thank you Bobby, we miss you dearly, and we proudly officially open and dedicate the FDIC 2023 to you!”
