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Comment by Paul Montpetit on February 17, 2009 at 7:58pm

I have an off shoot of this for you....is it the rank you respect or the man...? and whats more the "Chain of Command" works both ways....up and down....any officer worth his salt would tell the higher ups this...ie..."If my people screw up you tell me and I will deal with it"...Many years in the military taught me the chain of command and how to follow orders...."You don't have to like it....you just have to do it"...Paul

Comment by Steve Williams on February 17, 2009 at 4:58pm

One of the biggest things I see with our own folks is the lack of respect or knowledge of were we came from on a Departmental level. We were a small department with one engine house strugeling now we have three houses with very expensive apparatus and equipment, but the guys still want more and they constantly complain. The guys who have been around for a while dont complain as much. As for respect the fire ground is not an issue, however some of the younger guys don't care about the past only the future. This makes most of us made to the point they get blown off by most of the group. Things are different. When I came up throught the ranks we respected wether we like it or not we still respected descisions. Know we here so much lip you almost have to write someone up because they have to know why! Im not sure what the anwser is but it is not the same old days of the past.

Comment by FETC on February 17, 2009 at 11:08am

If the issue you are experiencing is not on the fireground and more in the firehouse, then I may be able to assist you with the root cause. I have lectured on giving / gaining respect from today's generation ME firefighter.... these are the self sufficient kids of today, from a less than structured home life, fend for themselves, don't tell me how to do anything, because for the most part, have had to solve their own problems, which can be interpreted as "I already know it all" type.

They have never had any significant structure let alone be expected to work in our paramilitary structure. This in my opinion, will be the next big thing to deal with over the next decade.

If your problem is during an emergency, then training and respect for the ranking official is your root cause. Some of which can be attributed to many people dropping the ball over time.

Matter of fact my next Leadership 101 Seminar is on this exact subject matter.

TCSS
FETC

Comment by Paul Kerp on February 17, 2009 at 3:12am

Its as strong as ever here, we like everyone else use the incedent command system so rank plays no part there... When we are not using IC there is no dought who is in charge and the chain of command is followed. mainly because we all respect each other and work well together, the only issue I know of is when a new officer's rank went to his head and he ticked off the majority of the satation. Basicly if you are a good person and do your job, people will respect you, But if you are stuck on a power trip then it becomes a moral problem and can cause the entire Fd to fail.

In my experiance people who have issues with the chain of command are people who are interested in glory or are fed up with the lack of leadership.

Be Safe!