Tom Miller is a FDNY firefighter assigned to Ladder Co. 26 in Harlem. He is a former US Marine and served as a forward observer in combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Tom attended Columbia University on the GI Bill and obtained a bachelor's degree in Astrophysics. He serves as a human performance analytics program designer and analyst for Leadership Under Fire.
Since our formal inception more than a decade ago, the Leadership Under Fire Team has championed professional reading. We have fervently advocated for increased professional reading in the American Fire Service and similar high risk industries that do not enjoy the robust professional development curricula that the US military provides. The LUF team believes that a careful examination of history's most accomplished mission oriented leaders reveals that their success was strongly correlated to a ...
Our guest in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast is Lieutenant Thomas Daly. Lt Daly joined the ranks of the FDNY in 1997. As a firefighter, Tommy served in Ladder Co. 176 and Rescue Co. 2. As a Lieutenant, he was assigned to Ladder Co. 111 and Rescue Co. 2. Tom retired from the Department in 2023 with 27 years of service. LUF Founder Jason Brezler hosts.
This episode features two women who currently serve in the Milwaukee Fire Department—Lieutenants Kendria Donaldson and Jessica Ziems. Both started their firefighting journeys as Fire Cadets in 2013. The two-year program hires individuals between the ages of 17-19 and starts them on their firefighting career. They completed recruit class in 2015 and have been honing their firefighting and leadership skills in the Milwaukee FD since that time. Both attended the Leadership Under Fire Leadership Dev...
The original broadcast date of this episode was March 25, 2021. On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burned, tragically killing 146 workers. It is remembered as one of the most infamous incidents in American industrial history. The tragedy brought widespread attention to the dangerous sweatshop conditions of factories, spurred the creation of the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention, and led to the development of a series of laws and regulations that better pro...
In this episode, LUF Founder Jason Brezler is joined by LtCol Pete “Salvo” Benning, USMC. Benning was born and raised in New Guinea where his parents were missionaries. After graduating from high school, he moved back to the US where he spent a couple of years as a ski instructor and doing odd jobs. He applied to the US Naval Academy and was initially rejected but was afforded the opportunity to attend the Naval Academy Prep School in Newport, RI. Benning would eventually make his way to Annapol...
This episode featured FDNY Battalion Chief Jeff Facinelli who is currently assigned to Battalion 18 in the Bronx. Jeff joined the ranks of the FDNY in 2001 and previously served in Ladder Co. 40 in Harlem as a firefighter, Engine Co. 67 in Washington Heights as a lieutenant and Engine Co. 23 in midtown Manhattan as a Captain. Jeff is a program manager for the FDNY’s Mental Performance Initiative as well as the FDNY Command Course for battalion chiefs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in fire science...
The recording you will hear in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast features LUF tactical performance advisor Captain Mike Guli. It was delivered as an online presentation to leaders enrolled in an online LUF Coaching Firefighters and Fire Officers to Perform Optimally at Fires and Emergencies course. The course equips leaders and tactical trainers with tools, concepts, and coaching strategies that optimize individual and until level performance under pressu...
This episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast features Captain Tristan Tricarico. Captain Tricarico has been a member of the Baltimore City Fire Department since 2011 and currently serves as the Captain of Truck Company #8. Previous assignments include the Fire Academy, Truck #23, Engine #8, and Truck #6. Tristan is a member of the Special Operations team, and is an adjunct instructor at the fire academy, as well as an instructor for the State of Maryland. He holds a...
In this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast, host Patti Murphy is joined by LUF Founder Jason Brezler and LUF’s Senior Man and Human Performance Advisor Jim McNamara. In this conversation, we reflect on the range, depth, and reach of Leadership Under Fire’s team efforts in 2023. As has been the trend in recent years, technological and societal changes have deeply impacted all of us, individually and collectively. To that end, the LUF team has reaffirmed its comm...
This episode features John Beebe as our guest. He currently serves as the Assistant Chief of Training and Operations for the Central Mat-Su Fire Department in Alaska. He began his fire service career in 1999 as a paid-on-call responder with the neighboring Palmer Fire Department while at the same time, building navigation and communication towers and performing electrical work on remote Alaskan runways for the FAA. He obtained his paramedic license in 2002 and was hired as a career EMS Battalion...
Shane McKeon is a FDNY Lieutenant and seasoned endurance athlete. Shane joined the ranks of the FDNY immediately after 9/11 and spent many years as a firefighter in Engine Co. 84 and Ladder Co. 34 in Washington Heights before becoming a company officer. Shane has served as a lead fitness instructor at the FDNY's Probationary Firefighter School, a program manager for the FDNY's "A Day in the Life of a Firefighter" program in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business Schoo...
Our guest in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast is John Rabin. Mr. Rabin currently serves as the FEMA Assistant Administrator for Response, where he is responsible for the delivery of a coordinated Federal emergency management response to state, local, tribal and territorial communities that have been impacted by natural disasters, acts of terrorism or other emergencies. This includes the leadership and management of the National Urban Search and Rescue Sy...
The recording you will hear in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast features LUF tactical leadership advisor Gabe Angemi. Gabe is a second-generation member of the Camden NJ Fire Department. He presently serves as a Captain and is assigned to Squad Company 7. Gabe has spent many years serving in Camden’s Special Operations companies and is a member of NJ-TF1 FEMA USAR since 2008. He completed undergraduate study in Public Safety Administration from Neumann U...
Our guest in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast is Lieutenant David Pawling. Lieutenant Pawling started with the Barrington New Jersey Police Department in 2011. He previously served as a Patrol Officer, Patrol Sergeant, and Detective Sergeant before being promoted to Lieutenant in 2022. Lt Pawling serves as the Emergency Management Coordinator in Barrington and has been a member of the Zone 5 SWAT team since 2015. He is a lifelong resident of the town whe...
Our guest in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast is Jacob Dutton. Jake is an FDNY firefighter currently assigned to Rescue Co. 1 in Manhattan. He also serves as a Human Performance Analyst and Course Director for Leadership Under Fire. Listeners can hear more about his background and professional experience in episode no. 29 of this podcast titled “Managing Risk and Morality as a Paramedic with Jacob Dutton.” In this conversation, Jake and host Patti Murphy...
In episode number 10 of this podcast, we featured FDNY Firefighter and LUF Human Performance Advisor James Lopez. During the episode we discussed many timeless topics related to physical and tactical fitness as well as enjoyment and quality of life. It’s hard to comprehend how much has transpired since our previous conversation in 2019, to include a global pandemic, civil unrest, and war on the European continent, but Lopez is back in this episode to share how some of his practices and philosoph...
In this Podcast episode, we’re honored to share the story of FDNY Chief William M. Feehan’s leadership, service, and devotion to his family and the FDNY, compliments of insight from his son, FDNY Battalion Chief John Feehan, his grandson Firefighter Connor Davan, and former FDNY Fire Commissioner and friend, Daniel Nigro. FDNY Chief William Feehan—better known as Bill—was a knowledge center of the New York City Fire Department. Chief Bill Feehan was well-versed on a wide range of subjects and po...
July 2023 marked the 5th anniversary of FDNY Captain John T. Vigiano's passing, and several members of the Leadership Under Fire team thought it appropriate to reflect on the many lessons and words of wisdom that "the Vig" provided us, and share the ways in which they have continued to encourage and guide us even in his physical absence. In this episode, we're revisiting the second and final installment in our series dedicated to "Remembering FDNY Captain John T. Vigiano," which originally aired...
The original broadcast date for this episode was October 24, 2019. It features Hannah Huesman who was a Mental Performance Coach with the Philadelphia Phillies at the time of this recording. Huesman has since accepted the role of Mental Performance Coordinator for the Texas Rangers Organization. She also travels for speaking engagements on how training your mental skills can help ANY performer. She has worked with the FDNY, MLB, business executives, actors, and athletes of all ages. She is also ...
The recording you will hear in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast features longtime LUF contributor Brian McNulty and was recently delivered as an online presentation to leaders enrolled in the online LUF Optimizing Tactical Performance Under Pressure course. Brian joined the ranks of the Milwaukee Fire Department in 1999 and was one of the department’s first rescue company commanders and a plank owner of Rescue Company 2. Brian is a very seasoned and no-n...
The original broadcast date for this episode was July 30, 2020, and features host Patti Murphy and American baseball executive Sandy Alderson, general manager of the NY Mets at the time. Sandy currently serves as the President of the NY Mets and has been a front office executive in Major League Baseball for 40 years. Under his leadership, Major League Baseball teams have won six division titles, three American League pennants, one National League pennant and a World Series Championship. Sandy ha...
Our guest in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast is Aaron Miller. Miller is a Captain with the Fairfax County (VA) Fire and Rescue Department. During this episode, listeners will learn about how Miller's high-level baseball experience and competitive spirit influenced his leadership philosophy and perspective on fireground performance. LUF Founder Jason Brezler hosts.
The following interview was hosted by LUF's Human Performance Advisor and Senior Man's Performance Journal author, Jim McNamara. The conversation was recorded at our 2023 National Leadership and Performance Summit, which was held in Annapolis, Maryland. The interview features Jim Roussell who has served as one of the Leadership Under Fire team’s chief mentors and advisors since LUF's formal inception in 2012. We hope you enjoy this episode, and Roussell's insightful contributions to the Summit. ...
The recording you'll hear in this episode took place at our National Leadership and Performance Summit in Annapolis, Maryland, in April 2023. It features FDNY Captain of Rescue Co. 2, Liam Flaherty. We hope you enjoy this conversation and its many takeaways, and encourage listeners to tune in to our previous episode--number 112--as it features the first talk of the Summit which we refer to during the episode. Captain Flaherty joined the FDNY in 1990. He currently serves as the company commander ...
The conversation you will hear in this episode was recorded in April 2023 at our National Leadership and Performance Summit, which took place in Annapolis, Maryland. It features LUF Founder Jason Brezler interviewing Ty Daniels, a seasoned US Submarine Officer with extensive insight into leadership and ethical behavior. We hope you enjoy this conversation and others from the Summit, which we plan to share on this podcast. Lieutenant Commander Ty Daniels, USNR, graduated from the United States Na...
In this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast, host Patti Murphy is joined by Philadelphia Firefighter Seankelly McCauley. Sean comes from a family of FDNY firefighters, and it was always assumed that he'd follow in his father and great grandfather’s footsteps by achieving his lifelong dream of joining the FDNY. In 2007, Sean proudly took the Department's entrance exam and began preparing for his FDNY career. Despite his enthusiasm to learn the job, physical abili...
The original broadcast date for this episode was June 4, 2020, but the interview you will hear with our guest in this episode was recorded in early 2019 at a Leadership Under Fire Optimizing Human Performance Summit, which took place in Annapolis, Maryland. Jim Roussell, a retired US Marine and Chicago police officer, was one of several summit guests who shared their perspective on navigating adversity and loss in lethal settings. The episode begins with LUF founder Jason Brezler and host Patti ...
During the summer of 2022, members of the Leadership Under Fire team formed a working group that endeavored to examine NIOSH reports which detail structural firefighting operations that resulted in the line of duty deaths (LODDs) of firefighters and fire officers. The LUF team submitted its findings to NIOSH via the CDC that summer in the form of a paper which succinctly highlights human factors deficiencies in LODD analysis and reporting. In this episode, host Jim McNamara is joined by two memb...
Our guest in this episode of the Leadership Under Fire Humanizing the Narrative Podcast is Jeremy Starr. Jeremy enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 2004. Private First Class Starr received orders to 2nd BN 7th MARINES after graduating from recruit training and completing School of Infantry West. He served as gun team leader for 2/7’s Weapons Company 81's platoon for a combat deployment to Fallujah, Iraq in 2005 and 2006. During his tour in Fallujah, Jeremy was Combat Meritoriously promoted to...
