Colonel ROYAL P. MORTENSON will become director of the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) on the retirement of current Director Richard Jaehne at the end of August. Mortenson will retire from the U.S. Marine Corps after 29 years of service to lead IFSI. He currently is director of the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College—Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia, where he oversees a master’s degree granting program for U.S and international military officers. Prior to that position, Mortenson served as chief of staff for the Commanding General Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, which oversees all research, development, and education for the Marine Corps. www.fsi.illinois.edu.
Firefighter KATRINA HALL was appointed as the Newark (NJ) Fire Department’s (NFD’s) first female Arson Squad detective, and Captain JOSE P. OSORIO was named as the city’s first Latino Arson Squad commandant. After graduating from the Newark Fire Academy, Hall has served with Engine 26 in the West Ward, and was profiled in Time magazine in a 2008 article highlighting women who are successful in nontraditional professions. Osorio took charge of the Arson Squad in February 2012 on an acting basis, and became its first Latino commandant on May 28. Osorio joined the NFD in 1996. He served initially with Truck 7 in the North Ward before being promoted to captain in 2007, and was assigned to command Engine 18 in the South Ward. www.ci.newark.nj.us.
ALAN CALDWELL retired as senior advisor for government relations at the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) on May 10. Caldwell, who also served as director of the IAFC’s government relations team until 2005, was instrumental in many of the fire service’s major legislative victories over the past two decades. Caldwell helped the IAFC frame and address issues relating to the fire service’s response to terrorism; developing better hazmat management; addressing the volunteer two-hatter issue; improving EMS response capability; and passing the Fire Act, which created a new federal-funding mechanism to support local fire departments. www.iafc.org.
