From Junior Firefighter to Fire Chief - Preparing for the known and unknown

From Junior Firefighter to Fire Preparing for the Known and Unknown is a leadership and development roadmap built around my personal journey through the Viroqua Fire Department, CrossFit, coaching, and business ownership. Its central message is do not wait until an opportunity for leadership appears to start preparing for it. The book follows the progression from Junior Firefighter to Probationary Firefighter, Firefighter, Lieutenant, Captain, Assistant Chief, and Fire Chief , showing how responsibilities and leadership expectations grow at each level. Junior members learn, listen, work, and build good habits. Probationary Firefighters earn trust through competence and dependability. Firefighters master the craft while beginning to mentor others. As members move into officer roles, leadership shifts from completing individual tasks to developing people, managing crews, making decisions, and eventually leading the organization. My own experience is woven throughout the book. I took Fire Officer I before becoming a Lieutenant and Fire Officer II before becoming a Captain . Those classes helped me understand the next level of responsibility before I received the title. That experience shaped one of the book’s core learn your current job, become excellent at it, and then begin learning the job above you. The book also connects my leadership development in the fire service with my experience as the owner and coach of CrossFit Viroqua. The fire department has made me a better coach and business owner by teaching me accountability, teamwork, communication, calm decision-making, and service. CrossFit and business ownership have made me a better firefighter and officer by teaching me how to coach different personalities, build culture, develop people, and handle difficult conversations. Although Viroqua is a volunteer fire department, volunteer should never mean unprofessional . The leadership skills developed through the department can make members better employees, supervisors, business owners, coaches, parents, and community leaders. Courses such as Emergency Services Instructor, Fire Officer I, and Fire Officer II are valuable even if promotion is years away. The book also emphasizes that leadership is not about protecting your position. Strong leaders surround themselves with people who know more than they do and help others rise. If someone you mentor someday becomes a better firefighter, officer, or Chief than you were, that is not a threat—it is a success. It also addresses what happens when promotion does not come right away. You may get passed over once or twice. Instead of becoming bitter or discouraged, ask questions, seek honest feedback, take another course, improve your weaknesses, and keep preparing. Sometimes you are not being rejected—you are still being sharpened and forged for greater responsibility. Running throughout the book is a principle from CrossFit that fits the fire service train for the known and unknown . We know fires, medical calls, accidents, retirements, leadership vacancies, and difficult decisions will come. We do not know exactly when or how. So we keep training. We keep learning. We develop ourselves, surround ourselves with capable people, and develop the person behind us. Do not chase the title. Prepare for the responsibility. Train for the known—and be ready for the unknown.