Need Help ASAP

[jbrown8988]

i need some serious help from people who have maybe dealt with this before..

In my dept we have cheif, 1st assit, 2nd assist, captain, 1st assist cap (me), LT, and 2nd LT. We have a great cheif who has brought a lot more than the old cheifs with his knowledge and most important dedication. however because people are jealous he only has 3 of us that back him... 2 other officers including 2nd assist cheif could care less about anything and the 1st assist cheif pulls up 5 to ten minutes after we are on scene so he doesnt have to do any decision making.

I need help on ideas to bring all of us together and run on the same page. I really need some help on teaching them communications on a scene.... its amazing to hear these people talk. I guess i am just looking for support and ideas of becoming a team like we should be and getting more organized together.

[jbrown8988]

oh and my officer meeting is tonight!

[Firetacoma1]

Volunteer department? Is anyone listed paid?

Easy enough, 2 rules:

1. What the chief says goes.
2. See rule #1.

There are other positions if you don't do what the chief says.

[jbrown8988]

yes volunteer...no paid... I totally agree with you trust me. I think part of the problem is he has dealt with no support for so long that he started to give up and then i came to the dept and it got his morale back up.... and now trying to recover is a bitch.

[Firetacoma1]

How are officers selected? Vote? Test? Chief appointment?

There has to be consequences for insubordination. Drop of rank is one option. I'm sure there are committed replacements available!

[jbrown8988]

voted on by the company. Then he will get accused of running people out of the dept by the commisioners. They are his governing body and can suspend him. he was already told that after he suspended a couple guys for insubordination... its a mess

[JayDudley]

As a Fire Commissioner.....I'd let the membership fix it. If it gets to me then there is a problem. We have paid and volunteer with the Chief running the show. I think that you need a strong Chief that the membership can work with.

[jbrown8988]

3 out of 5 of our commisioners are ex cheifs. They have made it very clear in there meetings that they are in charge of the department and it will be ran there way, period. I'm telling you i have never seen anything like this... the other two just go with what the most recent ex-cheif says... one guy is so old he ****ed him self and didnt even know one night! It insane...

[JayDudley]

Of the five Commissioners we have there are two of us who are ex-firefighters. Myself and one other who happens to be retired from the same department . There was a problem with the Commissioners about six years ago and they were asked to resign so the department could move on. They did and now we are finally in the black and doing great. I wish there was an easy answer for your predicament.....You need to get a group together and take over the reins of the department. I hope this helps as there needs to be cohesiveness between the Commissioners and the troops.