Captain Bob Carpenter of Miami Dade (FL) Fire Rescue addressed a common problem facing new officers in his four-hour "Skills and Drills" workshop: training new companies in the "bread-and-butter" hands-on skills of firefighting operations.

Billy Goldfeder and Gordon Graham summoned both the professional and the personal at FDIC 2010.

Is the boss getting on your case? The problem may not be an inept and weak supervisor, but a captain who is not meeting the chief’s expectations. Mike Hennigan discusses how to deal with a micromanaging officer.

The question for this month’s Roundtable—“To what extent, if any, does your department use computers in your daily training?”—made me pause and think about what might have been different in my career if the Internet were available when I was a young firefighter. I can remember as a young lieutenant racking my brain trying to come up with in-service/in-station drills for my crew. Now I look at what is available online as it relates to fire service training. It is simply fascinating what you can pull up on FireEngineering.com. There are thousands of articles and photos and videos to view and then dissect with your crew. Please go to the site and let us know how your department uses the Web by answering the Roundtable question.

The transition to a fire service leadership position can be overwhelming. Saad Sharba tells how he approached the problem when he was suddenly promoted to chief and how a systematic examination of your personnel and customers can lead to management solutions.

Take time this holiday season to acknowledge the skill, expertise, and enthusiasm your firefighters bring to work every day.

Michael Hennigan discusses three questions he puts to every firefighter or fire officer who is considering seeking promotion.