Finish the Drill !

The Completed Project

     The last few weeks, My partner and I have been using our spare time at Engine 12 to work on a special project. It's nothing spectacular, but several months ago, we were looking at the pathway that leads to our training center. This area is the first thing visiting departments see when they arrive here, their first impression of our department. We thought it could use some "dressing up". My Partner was able to secure a flag pole for the station, plus some donated materials from his second job, and a close friend. With nothing but a vision of what this should become, we began working; sometimes long into the night.

Bobby and I "@ work" 

This is what we envisioned.
   Candidates crossing the apron ( The concrete pad in front of the station) would approach the pathway to the training center and see in front of them an entryway... two Small pillars, with low walls of fieldstone and masonry that vanish back into the hillside.The top of the Plaques are adorned, one with the Fire department/ training center logo; the other with a motivational quote. As they trudge up the hill, they'll first cross a tiled "landing area" of fieldstones cut and arranged into a Maltese cross pattern with Engine 12's number in the center. Beside this landing area, we created a pedestal... the American flag flies proudly above, a statue of a firefighter standing vigilant beneath. We hoped it would be inspirational. The simple truth is that during the hours of training in full turnout, or in the early hours of  morning, our work will probably go unnoticed. But we knew this when we began. So why do it ? Let's come back to this question a little later.

  "The Project" began to take on a life of it's own. Somehow, ( Hard to believe I know) we had grossly underestimated the amount of work involved. The weather turned cold. The mortar didn't want to set. We ran out of supplies, and we kicked in our own money and our off time. At times it was very frustrating. Some days one of us would not really be interested in working, sometimes both of us would be frustrated with the whole thing. But we pressed on, and now as the project nears completion, we have a sense of pride in the work it took, the thing we created with our hands; for our department and fellow firefighters.

   Now, let's revisit that question of "why do this?" On most days, yes it will probably go unnoticed. But I know ( because I've been there) there will be days when a firefighter ( maybe me) will be walking to the training center; cold or hot, wet, hungry, and exhausted. In his mind the question will arise, "I don't feel like being out here, we just did this, why are we doing this ... AGAIN ?"  He'll look up, and see the entry way, the vigilant firefighter on guard beneath our flag, the pride in that Maltese cross. His eyes will drift to the department logo emblazoned to his left, and then over to the pillar on his right. Engraved on a small plaque will be a phrase that reminds him- " Don't give up. Finish the drill. Do it again. Then when you've finished that, Do it again." He'll pause for a moment, maybe reflect... drawing from the reserve of determination that flows deep within all of us, he'll pat the statue on the helmet with his wet gloved hand, and trudge slowly up the hill to the training ground. Onward... TO DO IT AGAIN.

   And this is what it's about. That firefighter. Because all of us know that one day, someone may be counting on US to go just a little bit further, hold on a little bit longer. To finish the drill.Because Firefighters... REAL Firefighters... don't practice until they get it right. They practice until they can't get it wrong.


  "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not a trait but a habit.

Thanks for reading, and GOD bless.