Leadership

“Team Rubicon attracts the best of the military. I'm passionate about being with others, helping people and getting shit done.”

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Team Rubicon sent volunteers to assess damage and hospitals, deliver medical services and work on high-impact infrastructure projects, like clearing aqueducts and downed trees around power lines, after Category 4 Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico last fall. TR operations in Puerto Rico, called Coqui’s Calling and Coqui’s Comeback, have been frequent and on-going, since September 24, … Read More

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The next online Battalion Chief Development class will start September 17, 2018.  This class runs about 4 times per year and fills every class.  There are 30 seats available and first come, first serve rules.

This is primarily the administrative side of the job and dealing with the new roles and responsibilities that can easily be overlooked and forgotten about when promoting from company officer to Battalion chief.

 

Here is some more information:

Upcoming Battalion Chief Development course online.  Many could not get in the last class or registered after it was full.

Starting September 17, 2018

For more details email: thenewfireofficer@gmail.com

Below is the Registration link and the link for the syllabus. We will be using Google Classroom for this course.  

You will receive a class code to log in, no extra costs involved.  When you register you will receive an invoice. If you are not interested, just open it and cancel the invoice.

This class is primarily to address the administrative roles and the personnel aspects and not fire scene management. Please read the syllabus in full.

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3i9WRAaL7XkEZYdc3uhrYtvjWVOiEIBYxhnRJyoRYM_xR2g/viewform

Syllabus:  https://app.box.com/s/dz9sxh4lzx1cfkcn5bf58giqhjkw8q0p

When crisis strikes our communities, we come together to help others on their worst day. Serving others is what we do. It is in our DNA.

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Ever wonder what to do when you are working with a survivor of a disaster? For example, a homeowner whose house TR is mucking out or someone receiving care from a TR medical team. First, just be you. We often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to say exactly the right thing when someone … Read More

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Take a moment to read about how volunteers helped a homeowner celebrate his birthday amid a tough time recovering from a disaster.

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For the past two years, Team Rubicon Region Two teamed up with the nonprofit Forest Fire Lookout Association and the New York State Park Service to complete significant maintenance on fire towers and related structures. Team Rubicon Membership Manager for the Northeast Territory Todd Adrian said, “Although fire towers in New York State are no … Read More

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From June 20 to June 26, 19 Team Rubicon members conducted a recovery operation in East Cleveland, Ohio, to remove overgrowth and clear debris in an area plagued by urban blight. Incident Commander of Kaziemeras “Kazy” Urbonvicius said the team was assisted in their efforts by “20 spontaneous volunteers” (or neighbors who lived in the … Read More

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It’s been a while since I posted on here just for the sake of having an opinion, but there has been something bothering me.  I read other blog posts, articles, watch live Facebook videos and hear about how there is no Brotherhood.  I listen to the rants of how this ‘new’ generation just doesn’t get it.  Others posting about how the fire service will never be the same…….and on and on and on.

Bullshit!  

I don’t see it that way and certainly don’t believe the downfall of the fire service that we know and love is imminent.  I do believe we have the same problems that every generation of firefighter has had with new members–they’re different and do things different than we might have.  That doesn’t necessarily make them wrong.

Additionally, these new members were raised to believe certain things, to hold certain values and to respond accordingly by somebody….. would you like to know who raised this generation?    Take a look in the mirror!

We, those that have 20 or more years in the service are responsible for the culture that we complain so much about.  We are the ones who have created the atmosphere that we like to blame on the new member walking through the door with.  Seriously, how fast can they change the culture in our departments?  We know culture does not change over night and certainly isn’t created in a day, a week, a month or maybe a year.

I see the issues with entitlement, lack of engagement, seemingly disinterest in the craft and treating this profession as just job from all demographics of the fire service.  I see some of the most senior members stomp their feet and complain because they have to train and drill on the same tactics they’ve been doing for 30 plus years…….guess who picks up on that? Yep, the new members.

I see 15-20 year members quit and become a cancer because they have not been promoted or achieved what they expected or felt they deserved.  Guess who picks up on that………the new members.

I have witnessed many veteran members undercut officers and the organization in front the new members, hoping to get buy-in early from an impressionable new employee.  And………the new members want to fit in and you guessed, follows suit.

Our problems are far from exclusive to the new members.  It runs the entire seniority list of your organization….don’t be blinded by the easy target.  

Instead of casting blame and immediately dismissing the worth of the new members, work on what you can do to ensure they get it right.  What are you actively doing to lead them in the right direction?  No, it’s not always easy and it will require you to handle them differently, the same way your first officer or senior member had to handle you differently.  This is nothing new, just different.

Blaming and the doom and gloom will be the downfall of our craft and profession, not new members.  We will always have new members with differences, it’s up to us to teach, mentor and lead them to do the same when we’re gone. 

Now, get to work.

Team Rubicon volunteers respond to the Tinder Fire in Happy Jack, AZ for a second time in 2018.

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Our partnership with Team Rubicon started in early 2017 with a conversation about a vision. From the very first meeting the team’s vision was to gather the organization’s data generated from multiple disparate systems and make it available to the public to be able to review the entire operation of the organization.  This accountability and transparency is built into … Read More

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"The only thing that matters is we have chosen to help and serve others. It does not matter one iota what your gender, age, sexuality, religious beliefs, political stance or physical capabilities are."

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Team Rubicon volunteer Kim Gwara shares how people who are experiencing some of their worst moments in life show compassion and care for the volunteers helping them recover.

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Team Rubicon volunteers are providing disaster relief to Marshalltown, IA following the impact of an EF3 tornado on July 19, 2018.

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Team Rubicon volunteers are conducting a recovery response in the wake of a wildfire for impacted residents in Alpine, CA

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Team Rubicon volunteers provided core operation resources to the affected community of Hartford, CT.

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Team Rubicon volunteers provided muck outs to affected homes after flooding in San Antonio, NM.

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Team Rubicon volunteers provide debris removal and recovery services in the wake of the West Fire in Alpine, CA.

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