GX Magazine Catches on to the Soldier-Firefighter Connection

As they often do, the most recent edition of the National Guard’s GX Magazine featured my favorite kind of two-hatter: Those who wear both a soldier’s helmet and a fire helmet. The featured Guardsman is Specialist Rob Fox – a Soldier in the California Army National Guard’s 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and firefighter with the San Diego [...]

Bond of Brothers

I recently had the privilege of writing a feature article for Fire-Rescue Magazine outlining the importance of “Making the Citizen-Soldier-Firefighter Connection.” What started out as a vision for a successful joint recruitment project has morphed into a passion to connect firefighters and soldiers of all stripes. Based on the concept that we’re looking for the [...]

Video Killed the Recruitment Star

OK, maybe that’s not how the song goes, but I have to thank my good friend Bill Schumm over at FireGeezer.com for doing my FireRECRUITER work for me. In his February 17th Morning Lineup features (and updated on February 20th), he discusses and demonstrates the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of using video as a recruitment tool. While his perspective on [...]

“Day in the Life” Shows Service, Sacrifice

This great video from the Pontiac Michigan Fire Department depicts a day in the life of their firefighters, from leaving the house and their family in the morning to returning hours later to their loved ones. Tastefully done, I think it’s one of the best videos I’ve seen that demonstrates the service of America’s firefighters [...]

FEMA Provides Youth-Based Workshops

Leading educators and scholars in the field of preparedness education consider our nation’s youth to be the best envoy for taking preparedness messages home to their families. In order to better prepare our nation’s youth to bring preparedness home, FEMA is providing technical assistance workshops to state and local practitioners who support youth-based programs and [...]

Can you rise to the challenge?

An article posted to FirefighterNation.com today outlines the challenges faced by volunteer fire departments in Pennsylvania in recruiting and retaining their members. Although these types of articles are becoming all too frequent, this one in particular is better than most in that it focuses on the positives of being a volunteer firefighter — not all [...]

Digital Recruitment and Retention

The world is changing rapidly and the fire service is getting caught up in the tornado effect of technology on our society. More and more fire departments are smartly using web sites, e-mail and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to recruit new firefighters, share life safety information and to stay connected to their community. There isn’t [...]

Lots to Tweet About

There’s been plenty to tweet about lately regarding recruitment and retention in the fire service. Some of the info shared is good news and some is bad news, regardless, it all contains lessons we can learn from. Sometimes there’s so much activity and so much being shared, that it’s tough for even someone as “connected” [...]

We’ve been waiting for you!

“We have been waiting for you!” — That’s the theme of the recruitment campaign promoted by the Depew Fire Department here in Erie County NY. Their banner at one of the busiest intersections in Western New York caught my eye today while traveling to a meeting. The slogan invokes the idea that if you’re reading [...]

Sign Up Now and Share Your Secrets!

Young Blood: Newton Abbott Captain Josh Taylor at a recent fire in Orchard Park NY. ©2011 FireRECRUITER.com Subscribe to FireRECRUITER.com before August 15, 2011 and we will email you ”Tiger’s Top 10 Commandments for Recruitment and Retention” and the “Official Recruiter’s Cheat Sheet” just for signing up. Once you’ve read my secrets, share your recruitment secrets at VolunteerMatch.org’s [...]