In January I started teaching my first Firefighter I/II course. Last week was the last official night of class and I have a couple review nights scheduled this week before they take the state exam. I hope that this has been a good experience for those in my class and that they have learned the essentials needed to do the job safely.

I learned alot during the past 4 months. First is that no matter how much experience we have we can always learn something. Going through the course I realized that I was learning as much as the students were. Yes I reveiwed the basics and refreshed my memory on them, but what I really learned was command and respect.

I've been on our department for 15 years and an instuctor and Captain for a year and a half. While I like to think that I have always been a leader, this class helped me solidify the concept and importance of leadership.

As the class progressed I realized that the students I was teaching were looking up to me. I was becoming their mentor, guide and inspiration. The resposibility this imposed is monumental. If you think about it, I was becoming the first exposure to the fire service to many of the guys. What I would teach them could mean the difference between life and death. This made me stay focused and concentrate on what I needed to do.

So what exactly does this mean?

It means that I MUST do the following:

1) Make sure I know the material
2) Present the information in the appropriate manner AND make sure that they understand it.
3) Maintain control of the classroom
4) Instill trust and confidence
5) Promote teamwork & unity
6) Recognize future leadership potential and develop it in they students
7) Motivate and inspire to continually strive for betterment of self
8) Above all stress safety!

The class has helped to give me the confidence to be more comfortable in a command position. Yes, command is due based upon position but it is also earned. Earned command and respect is far greater than that that is just positional based.

As I look back over what we have covered and how I covered it I see room for improvement and have made many notes over what to do for my next class. I believe that I will continually learn as much for each future class I teach and I look forward to helping the next batch of firefighters learn the basics and enter the brotherhood.