"FOR THE MEN... PROTECT THE BROTHERS" A "Mutt" is someone or thing that will abuse and mistreat a Firefighter. This can be the City, the Mayor, the Chief in Charge, the habitual caller, or the homeless Person who starts a fire and leaves. These are people that have never crawled down a hall or made the last room in an effort to do their job. If they can't get the job done today well maybe next week will do. If we don't get the job done people might die and our brother and sister might also die. So we always lay it on the line and leave a little behind at every fire. I say that in a dark smoky hallway I can't tell the race, creed or sex of my fellow firefighter, I just know that they are with me. I don't care who or what you are as long as you are a firefighter and want to protect your brothers and sisters. Leather forever. Stay low and let it blow! FTM-PTB Captain Mike Dugan, Ladder Co. 123, FDNY DTRT - "Do The Right Thing" Lieutenant Bob Pressler, FDNY, Retired "With everything going on in our lives, both personnel and professional, this may be sometimes hard to do. We are always pulled in several directions when there are tough decisions to be made. Even after weighting all the possibilities or options, decisions are sometimes still very hard to make. But, under closer examination, there usually is a “right thing”. It may take personnel sacrifice, it may not be what you really would want to do, but it is the correct thing to do." "THE 4 UPS" The first is, Listen up: When you are first starting in the Fire Service, there is a lot going on. You are entering a culture that is unlike any other one on this planet. You will hear stories, tales and just plain BS. But listen carefully. That is our past talking. All of the information has value; it is up to you to determine how much value it has to you. Listen to the older, over-the-hill, past-their-prime, malcontents, for the little “pearls of wisdom” that aren’t in any textbooks. A lot of important information that will help keep you safe and alive on the fire ground is not written down. The fire service is very young. We are loosing our experience. The F/F’s that went to fires during the war years are slowly retiring. Talk to them before they leave. We are loosing our history, we are loosing our past. Don’t let this happen. The second up is, Clean up: The firehouse is your second home. Treat it as such. And if you are the junior F/F working, you are the lowest on the totem pole. You get the dirty work, you get to do the dishes, and you get to mop the floors, and you get to clean the toilets. This is not based on any prejudices of race, sex, or religion. It is based on the fact that all the junior people before you did it, or should have done it. You do it until the next probie is assigned to that company. It is part of belonging, it is doing what you should be doing. And it is always pretty funny, because in my experience, the ones that piss and moan about doing the chores usually end up doing them by themselves for a long time. But the ones that just do it, the ones that are the first to get up to head for the sink after a meal, usually find that they have help. They become excepted into the “family” a little quicker. The third up is, Step up: this goes hand in hand with the previous “up” but there is more. Be involved in your company and in your department. Attend company functions, help run them if possible. In NYC every company I ever worked in would have a company picnic in the summer, a Christmas party in the fire house in December, and a dinner-dance sometime during the year. Become a productive member of your Company. Above all, go to funerals and services, especially the line of duty ones. Pay your respects. Become a part of the fire service by deed and not by mouth. The last up is my favorite; Shut up. This one goes well with listen up, but actually goes a little further. Spend more time listening and doing than talking about it. Show by your actions and your deeds what type of F/F and member of this great Brotherhood you are.   Added by fellow FOOLS:   EGH - "EVERYBODY GOES HOME" Author unknown, possibly Old Gallagher "Although 'EGH, Everybody Goes Home' is not always possible, it is part of what we strive for. It is why we train, it is why we read, it is why we interact with each other. We need to share the knowledge. The more we share, the more we pass on what we have learned, the safer we will be. The fewer funerals we will have to go to, the more of our Brothers and Sisters that will go home. Because it is all about protecting each other". (Pressler, 2002)   RFB - "REMEMBER FALLEN BROTHERS" Lieutenant Michael Ciampo, FDNY "The Fire service, as a whole, is collectively still trying to recover from the effects of Sept. 11. The 343 members of the FDNY who made the supreme sacrifice that day will always be in our hearts and forever on our minds. As part of our FOOL’s “signature”, R-F- B, “Remember Fallen Brothers”, these heroes should never and will never be forgotten. This should also include ALL of our fallen Brothers, no matter where they were from, or the matter in which they died. Their names have been added to long list of those that have laid down their lives so that others may live." (Pressler, 2002)   KTF - "KEEP THE FAITH" Captain James L. Jester, Ocean City, NJ "Keep the Faith. With all that has happened we must believe. We must have faith in ourselves and in the others that think like us. They can transfer us, they can make you cut your mustache, the can tell you what you can’t wear on your helmet, but never let them break your spirit!" (Pressler, 2002)