Battalion Chief Richard Ray is a 27-year veteran of the Durham Fire Department in North Carolina. He has presented at multiple fire conferences including FDIC and SAFRE. He is a member of the UL FSRI technical panel and a contributor for Fire Engineering. His passion and commitment for the fire service is palpable as we talk to him live at the 2022 SC Fire Rescue Conference. 

Violence of Action is a doctrine of military units, especially in special warfare. We define this term and discuss how to establish this mindset for our mission. 

The roles and responsibilities for mid-level bosses in the fire service frequently change and are challenging. They can fluctuate between administrative and technical. Uncle Mike discusses this as he compares the look of the officer's uniform as either stained or starched. 

Uncle Mike is keeping it 💯 as he explains while some of us can’t handle our liquor in the fire service. 

We all find confetti in our personal and professional lives. Cousin Vinnie uses this analogy to describe how long cultural and professional growth takes to occur, and that sometimes the reminders of the "old way" that still linger can be a positive reminder of your journey. 

Uncle Mike and Cousin Vinnie try to answer a listener's email question about incident scene size-ups. They will discuss every aspect of evaluating the incident scene and the implementation of tactics that are associated to what the first arriving incident commander encounters. 

Cousin Vinnie gets some microphone time explaining why the engine should be considered a specialty company in the fire service. Does heavy rescue and truck loving Uncle Mike agree?

Uncle Mike ties our first four BTS episodes together with a story of the Sentinels who guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. We reveal what our motivation was to start a podcast, and talk about the vulnerability and risk associated with leadership. 

Jocko's 4 principles of combat leadership is the focal point of this episode's conversation. We will discuss the leadership principles in detail, and share stories relating these four principles to the fire service. 

Uncle Mike picks things back up with his explanation of the episode's title.