Invictus Fire Solutions, Harrisville, NH (2026)

09/05/2026

The dump truck and the Ferrari.

The Ferrari is shiny, expensive, and impressive when everything is perfect. But one small mechanical issue, one righteous pothole, one missed service, and it becomes a very expensive lawn ornament; looking good sitting still, but it was never really built to endure.

The dump truck is utilitarian, rugged resilient. Blue collar strong. It is not built to impress. It is built to work. It traverses gnarly roads, shoulders heavy loads, thrives in rough weather, and subpar conditions, and it still shows up the next day.

The job doesn’t need Ferraris; fragile egos wrapped in shiny paint, people who only perform when the conditions are perfect, the audience is clapping, and the road is easy. We need dependable people who can carry weight, take a beating, solve problems, and still be useful when the job gets ugly.

Specialization has its place. Polished has its place. Pride in appearance has its place, but arrogance, fragility, and high-maintenance are a liability when the work requires grit. Align with the dump truck.

08/26/2026

3 Spots left...

The response to this class has been been staggering. The support of the enrollees and their departments has sent us all a message; Invictus, Jakes of all Trades Training & Consulting , The Drill Yard and all of the instructors are laser focused on bringing an experience that will produce thinking entry-level firefighters that will understand the true values of the fire service.

If your on the fence make your move, as registration closes 9/1/26 @ 17:00. Be part of this inaguaral class, that will set the foundation for firefighter certification in the Monadnock Region.

08/23/2026

A lot of mistakes made by firemen can be forgiven. Missed assignments, tactical errors, bad decisions made under stress, or failures that come from inexperience can be corrected. They require personal ownership, coaching, progressive discipline, and natural maturation. We are fallible beings doing a tough job in imperfect environments, and mistakes are part of learning the craft.

But lying, cheating, and stealing are different. Those are not simple mistakes, those are character failures. They show a willingness to place self-interest over trust, integrity, and the mission. That should raise significant concern of any organization that depends on credibility, teamwork, and public confidence to function.

The fire service operates on trust. The public lets us into their homes, around their families, near their possessions, and into the worst moments of their lives. Our members trust each other with their safety, their reputations, and at its purest their lives. Once that trust is intentionally violated, it is not a small thing. It is a warning sign of a much deeper flaw.

We can train skill. We can coach judgment. We can correct behavior. But when someone proves they are willing to lie, cheat, or steal, the question becomes whether they belong in public service at all.

Our greatest asset as an occupational institution is the public’s trust. If we lose that, that’s the ballgame.

08/19/2026

Firefighters, like all other civic officials hired, appointed, or elected; are servants to the public. Our sole obligation for professional existence is to provide service to the citizens.

Civil service employees should absolutely be entitled to competitive wages commensurate with their roles, responsibilities, education, and certifications. But we should never take the occupation or position for granted. We have a fiduciary duty to provide the very best service to the people who fund our paychecks.

That service mindset does not mean we become groveling kowtowers to every geek on the street. But we do need to avoid municipal arrogance: a dismissive demeanor toward the public, a sense of being above criticism, and generally acting like an as**at with a badge or title.

That means doing the tours, handling the service calls, and actually caring about what a member of the public says. Helping people isn’t always headline worthy, it may just be solving a small problem for someone who is overwhelmed.

07/24/2026

“Let them eat cake” is a quote attributed to Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France. This mythical phrase was allegedly uttered when she was advised that bread had become unaffordable for working families. Its attribution is synonymous with uncaring aristocracy and shows that perception can become as influential as reality when those who are titled become insulated from frontline truths.

As we ascend through our careers, it becomes important that we are aware of the drift into insular patterns: failing to recognize genuine hardship, offering solutions that are technically possible but practically impossible, mistaking our own perspective for everyone else’s reality, creating policy without understanding operational consequences, and assuming people need to just try harder instead of looking to remove barriers.

To combat these transgressions, we need to take our boots off and put our toes in the grass; hang out in the bay without agenda, eat with the members, ask questions and listen to understand, chase down dissenting opinions, and verify our assumptions with the backstep members. The greatest danger in leadership isn’t making difficult decisions, it is making them from so high up in the castle that you no longer understand the members who have to exist with them.

Long story short, our people are our greatest capability. Forgetting this may be a real pain in the neck, followed by losing your head.

07/08/2026

National Smoothbore Day

06/30/2026

With a large number of fire departments throughout the country relying on cross-staffing and an all-hazards approach to response, it is important that members are trained to a certain foundational level in all aspects of response. This becomes even more important in isolated departments, where help may be prolonged during special operations tasks.

What happens when short staffing, turnover, lack of available outside training, and the slow formation of internal training impact the command and control of these special operations calls? We may have to transition to Command and Coach.

This cannot be confused with micromanagement or becoming hyper-focused on tactics or tasks. Commanding and Coaching means being observant of the task or tactic being carried out, recognizing crew limitations, and using experience and training to briefly direct or redirect the effort. This must be accomplished without losing sight of your strategic responsibilities.

Command and Coaching requires discipline, as ICs must ensure they are not caught at the task level for extended periods. The chance of a successful operation is enhanced by taking inventory of the crew’s education and experience, communicating the overall strategic goal, and conveying the resources available to members at the start of the IAP briefing.

The members are a gift and capable of great things. Sometimes, little reminders are all they need.

06/15/2026

Graduation season is upon us, and our littles are not so little anymore. They are preparing to step into the world and make their own mark. This brings me to a question I often ponder: am I right for supporting my sons’ pursuit of “The Job”?

The intense focus on PFAS, occupational cancer, mental health, sleep deprivation, and everything else that comes with this profession makes me question, at times, if I am being negligent.

Then I remember how beautiful this job truly is.

The choreography of the stretch. The first breath after ROSC. The engine streaking down Main Street, tailed by the truck. A father cutting an umbilical cord on a kitchen floor. Kids waving indiscriminately, just because. These are the moments we sometimes lose sight of because of the constant push of doom and gloom.

The normalcy of taking precautions to ensure the bad things are less impactful is here. First responder health has never been more monitored, discussed, or protected. So I can still espouse the greatness of the work and honestly tell them this is the “Best Job I Ever Had.”

I will never deter kids from this life of service, because the job matters, it is impactful, despite everything that comes with it, it is still beautiful work.

06/09/2026

Looking at the world globally, we’re fully aware of the vitriol and nastiness that consumes the population due to differing cultures. These distinct moral, social, and symbolic frameworks allow people to interpret life, organize community, and express values. That spectrum inherently creates bias and prejudice, because some s**t is just really different.

The American fire service is no different when it comes to the cultural spectrum. You can order regional bends on your leather helmet. Rural, urban, and suburban departments have their differences. The Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Texas, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and Cali couldn’t be more different. The disdain for certain tactics and procedures is blatantly evident on social media—comments, baiting, passive-aggressive shots, and downright nasty behavior.

The thing a lot of us miss when we focus on what makes us different is the fact that we all have one singular mission… to save lives. Maybe we should think of that a little more often.

06/03/2026

A basic tenet of operational leadership is that leaders do not always get to choose the perfect team. We are often dealt a hand made up of different backgrounds, experiences, educations, personalities, and values. The job of the leader is to put that hand into play and move the group toward the mission.

That requires a little more than just legitimate power and public credibility. It requires mentoring, coaching, influence, and consistency based in character. Integrity, humility, courage, fairness, and responsibility must be visible in the leader’s actions, not just spoken from a platform.

When a boss steps outside the shift, station, or department to teach, lecture, or promote a method that has worked for them, they have a responsibility to examine the people and organizations they align themselves with. Outside affiliations matter. The people we stand beside publicly can either reinforce the values we claim to hold in-house, or they can create conflict with them.

That does not mean every collaborator must think exactly the same. Different perspectives promote discussion; but there must be alignment on values, conduct, and professional responsibility. If a leader preaches one standard to their crew and associates with a different standard in the spotlight, that contradiction will find its way back to the firehouse.

A primary obligation of every leader and teammate is to the members, the crew, and the mission. Public influence should never come at the expense of private credibility. When the message outside the firehouse conflicts with the example inside it erodes trust . The team begins to question whether the values are real or just hyperbole.

Invictus Fire Solutions

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