2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference Wrap-up

WOW! We had a great conference again this year. Excellent attendance, excellent instruction, and excellent fellowship.

We had a student from as far away as Santa Monica, CA attend this year. He told me that the dollar cost value was unbeatable. We provide high quality instruction from Nationally know instructors for an excellent price. It is exciting for me to see people attending from other states.

I hope you choose to attend next year. At least consider this conference when planning your training budget.

The dates have been set for next year. Mark your calender for February 7-9, 2014 and keep an eye on the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors website for information. Also, the NSFSI has an online bookstore to help raise funds for the Society and fund the Conference. That is one of the ways they are able to keep the price of the conference so reasonable.   http://www.nsfsi.com/default.asp

P.J. Norwood from East Haven, CT and I visiting at the end of the first day of the 2013 Les Lukert Conference. P.J. and Jim Duffy were working together to present and excellent 8 hour class and on Sundady delivered another 4 hour class.

Anthony Avillo from North Hudson, NJ was sharing a fun moment after being interviewed. A great quote from Anthony: "Taking care of business before it becomes business."



Brian Brush of West Metro Fire and I enjoying some good fun after day 1. Brian taught an excellent hands on ladder class.



Recharge time!

This afternoon I'm heading out to Kearney, Nebraska for the 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference, hosted by the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors (http://www.nsfsi.com/). You know, I always look forward to gaining new knowledge or maybe just a different perspective on the knowledge previously gained.

One of the biggest reasons I attend fire conferences is to recharge. Being around a group of like minded firefighters makes me feel good. I love seeing my old friends and making new ones. Especially ones that are motivated enough to take time to attend conferences.

I wish I could make the time, and afford the money to attend the International Society of Fire Service Instructors FDIC. It just isn't in the cards for this year. Hopefully soon. http://www.fdic.com/index.html

Follow-up

I’m writing a follow-up to my post, Time For Change

I am humbled by the response from the post from Facebook, email and face to face. I am actually quite surprised by the number of people that actually read the post.

Almost everyone has been very supportive. There are a few people that didn’t really understand why I would request to step back to a Captains position. I wasn’t exactly clear in the post, mostly because I didn’t want to air dirty laundry or sound like a whining cry baby.

The Fire Service is a MERITOCRACY! The truth is that I know merit is more important than fairness. I believe that those that are performing and putting out the most effort deserve the choice assignments, and the benefits that go with effort and performance. There is always someone making excuses why they don’t know something or can’t do something. Excuses are like a-------s  oh you get the point.

I think training and working on the craft of firefighting is the most important thing we can do during our shift. I believe that we should seek opportunities on and off duty to improve our knowledge, skills and abilities. In our area of Nebraska, there are ample opportunities for FREE and low cost high quality training.

I believe that the traditions of the fire service are important. I believe that people should have pride in the fact that they are lucky enough to be firefighters. I believe that we should be willing to maintain and clean our fire apparatus and our fire stations, so that the people we are protecting can see that we are proud of what we do for them.

So you wonder why I stepped aside. It had nothing to do with me wanting less responsibility. It had everything to do with me not agreeing with my Chief’s on what is important.

Now I’m back to being a Captain, and loving every minute of it. I am feeling recharged again. The crew and I are making plans for more company level training. Back to basics type stuff.  

For those that have asked me to call them, please be patient. I will get you all called in the next couple of weeks. For those of you going to the 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference, we can get together there.

http://www.nsfsi.com/

Speaking of the 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference, I am looking forward to attending this year as a student. Hopefully I will see a lot of you there. If you are attending, Friday night is the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors membership meeting. Please plan on attending this meeting, as this will be election of President and Vice President for a 2 year term.

Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors Winter Conference

February 8-10, 2012.
The 2013 Les Lukert Winter Conference will be presented by the Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors. It will be held again in Kearney, NE. This conference has grown to be an excellent training opportunity, and draws instructors and students from a very wide area. I personally cannot speak too highly of this great event.

Conference Brochure and registration

There are classroom and hands on training opportunities. Here are just some of the topics that will be presented.

Fireground Strategies: Preparing for the Hard Environment

Establishing Your Organizational Philosophy

Tactical and Strategic Perspectives of Residential Fires

Intervention or Prevention: Do your runs come with a round trip ticket

Tactical Perspectives of Ventilation

Floods and Moving Water, Awareness Level Training and Hazard Identification

 

Check out the brochure and see some of the top instructors that are presenting.

 

I look forward to seeing you there.

 

Nebraska Society of Fire Service Instructors