What started out as a vision for connecting soldiers with the volunteer fire service for what I thought was simply just a good recruitment idea --- has evolved into a passion for fulfilling what I believe is an obligation and an opportunity to save lives by offering returning veterans a step-down and reintegration process they desparately need.

Learn more about my vision in this article published in the March-2012 edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine and let me know your…

I stumbled across a new resource recently that caught my attention: FDLiveIn.com.

The concept of fire station live-ins or bunk-ins, depending on what you call them, has been around for quite some time and with quite a bit of success. Different departments run their programs in different ways but the common theme is that the firefighter lives in the fire station “rent-free” in return for volunteer…

The Recruitment and Retention Committee of FASNY is promoting the concept that every volunteer fire department in New York State open its doors to prospective members on April 9 and 10, 2011.

More than just a plea for common sense collaboration among departments, FASNY put their money where their mouth is by creating planning and marketing tools to help FDs leverage the impact of the statewide campaign and make their local efforts…

Glenn Usdin was a Run-to-the-Curb kid, growing up in the Long Island New York fire service and rising to the rank of fire chief in Lancaster PA. Like many in the fire service, his career path has taken him in several different directions including a tenure as associate publisher of Fire Engineering Magazine, president of American-LaFrance Used…

I've written about the event but I'm ashamed to say that I've never visited the memorial site before last night. Nonetheless, I'm glad I attended the brief, quiet remembrance for the five Buffalo firefighters who were killed in the line of duty on December 27, 1983.

Here's a story of my experience at the corner of Grosvenor and North Division Streets and what happened there almost 30 years ago.

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Today marks the 235th birthday of the United States Marine Corps and tomorrow is Veterans Day. What a great time to celebrate the contributions and sacrifices made by our military service men and women who protect our lives and our…

Dan grew up to be both a soldier and a firefighter. Tune in to…

A regular feature on the FirefighterNetcast Radio Network, Tiger Schmittendorf’s “Firefighter Storytellers” radio show returns Wednesday-September 8, 2010 at 9pm EDT…

Despite the fact that I wrote this piece for Fire-Rescue Magazine last year, I'm pretty sure its content is still relevant as we ponder recent and not so recent events on the eve of Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/usfa-reminds-you-that-safety.

As I stated in comments to another blog by John Mitchell (…

It's been more than a month since my presentation at FDIC and my live Internet radio talk show on FirefighterNetcast from the show floor, but a lot of exciting things have…

FROM FireRECRUITER.com:

I typically reserve my commentary type articles for my flagship site but I think it's appropriate to divest from that practice for the purpose of this post.

The following article tells of a small city that is threatening to stop collecting a voluntary public donation that has brought thousands and thousands of dollars in…

In honor of EMS Week 2010 - I present to you: Roll With It!

Read on, watch the video at www.firerecruiter.com

From: www.TigerSchmittendorf.com

THIS IS A DRILL! This is not an actual event. Participants are student actors and real first responders. These photos were taken at the…

My goal is to chronicle, as best I can, some of the many great experiences I had last week at FDIC-2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. There's so many of them flowing through my brain, some of them are short snippets while others I remember as full-length features, and I plan to present them accordingly.

My FDIC-2010 experience ranks up there with some of the greatest memories of my career and life. Full of laughs (my stomach still…

FROM THE FFN PIO GROUP:

At first I was a little confused about the following message because I wasn't sure where it originated from and where it was intended to go.

As I read it a second time, I realized that it had come from the US Fire Administration and it was meant specifically for us - the PIO group on FFN. Now, that's pretty cool that DHS has recognized our group as a target audience and partner for…

If you had just 30 seconds to convince someone why they should join your volunteer fire department, what would you…

Blogger’s Note: The following is my submission to the Fire Critic’s First Due Fire Blog Carnival…

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m posting this blog literally minutes after completing my first NetCast on the topic of volunteer recruitment and retention, compliments of FireCritic and FireDaily at…

I just posted a new story about a Run-to-the-Curb type kid who rose to the rank of chief in his fire department.

Just as good as the story is are the great photos John has to go with it. I wish I had some photos of my younger years in the fire service, but thank God I have my Log Book to remind me of all the action and the good times we've…

UPDATE: 3/10/10 - Apparently we had some confusion on our end as to the start time of the Netcast. It will start at 9pm EST. Hope you can join us. Thanks.

I'm proud to have been asked by FireCritic and FireDaily to participate as a special guest on a live talk show via the web at…