Leadership Under Fire

In this episode, we present part two of a two-part conversation between Jason Brezler and Captain Gabe Angemi of the Camden Fire Department, which originally aired on October 31st. In part one, Gabe shared his experiences during the recovery efforts in Asheville, NC, following Hurricane Helene. Part two shifts focus to the critical role of academia and higher education in shaping and informing leadership within the fire service. Sociocultural Human Performance: Education and Learning for Promotion in the American Fire Service by Gabriel Angemi

Today’s guest is Trevor Renadette.  Trevor is a native of Plattsburgh, NY where he was born and raised before going to college at Plattsburgh State in 1998.  After one year at university Trevor decided to take a break from school in order to join the NY Army Nation Guard.  In 1999 he attended Infantry basic training in Fort Benning, GA. before advanced infantry training where he achieved a dual MOS as an 11 Bravo Infantrymen and an 11 Charlie Mortarman.  After graduating AIT, Trevor returned to college where he received a degree in Communications.  In 2004 Trevor was called into active duty service and was attached to the 1st Infantry Division with whom he deployed to Iraq.  Upon returning home he was honorably Discharged and entered the NYC Fire Academy.  Trevor was Assigned to Engine 38 and Tower Ladder 51 in the Williamsbrige section of The Bronx before being promoted to Lieutenant in 2016.  As a Lieutenant Trevor was assigned to Engine 3 Ladder 12 in Manhattan and just a few weeks ago he was promoted to the rank of Captain and is currently assigned to Division 14 in Queens.    

Our guest for this episode is 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 has been a member of NJ-TF1 FEMA USAR since 2008.  Gabe serves as a tactical leadership advisor for Leadership Under Fire. Gabe last appeared on the LUF podcast in March of 2021. 

Joanne Mariano is a firefighter with the FDNY assigned to L136 in Elmhurst, Queens, and formerly assigned to E225 in East New York, Brooklyn. Prior to joining the fire department, she was a lighting technician with IATSE Local 52 Motion Picture Studio Mechanics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Film Production from Hunter College and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Sport and Performance Psychology with a concentration in applied practice at the University of Western States. Joanne is working towards becoming a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).

This conversation was originally recorded in May of 2024 when Jim Roussell spoke to leaders in the Baltimore City Fire Department during the BCFD’s first weeklong LUF Optimizing Human Performance (MPI) Course. Jim Roussell served with the Chicago Police Department for more than 36 years and spent most of his career in gang-tactical units. He commanded the 24th District and the department’s mobile strike force which targeted gang violence citywide. Jim also served with the US Marines for 39 years where he held numerous billets in infantry and intelligence assignments in both active duty and reserve capacities. He deployed to Iraq on three separate occasions with Marine infantry battalions.  Jim has a Doctor of Education from Olivet Nazarene University and serves as a chief mentor for the LUF team.

Battalion Chief Pat Connolly is a twenty-three year member of the FDNY. Chief Connolly began his career at Engine 39/Ladder 16 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, then promoted to Lieutenant and was assigned to E231/TL120 in Brownsville Brooklyn. Chief Connolly promoted again to the rank of Captain and was assigned to L-133 in South Jamaica, Queens. Recently, Chief Connolly was promoted to the rank of Battalion Chief and is assigned to Battalion 35 in Brooklyn. Chief Connolly is a graduate of Fordham University and has attended the FDNY’s MPI weeklong program.

This conversation is a continuation of an episode about Building the LUF Team which was published on May 16, 2024.  LUF Senior Man Jim McNamara and Founder Jason Brezler revisit Leadership Under Fire’s origins and the genesis of LUF’s Making Yourself Hard to Kill construct, and more broadly the team’s endeavor to challenge and encourage leaders to think critically.  Jim and Jason discuss the inherent limitations of operational safety in real-world operational environments and conversely its suitability in largely controlled training settings.  The conversation was recorded in mid-May and mid-August of 2024 and coincides with a season in which influential organizations that shape doctrine and narratives in the American fire service are evaluating the merits and shortcomings of their methodologies which have been primarily anchored in the operational safety concept.    Image: Sgt Tylor Belshe, USMC and Cpl Bill Cahir, USMC (later KIA) at FOB Black in Fallujah, Iraq 

Since our formal inception more than a decade ago, the LUF Team has championed professional reading.  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 scholarly appreciation of literature and professional reading.  In 2022, LUF launched our inaugural book club.   LUF online book clubs have been a conduit to meaningful discourse, reflection, and critical thought.    In this podcast episode, LUF’s Senior Mentor Jim Roussell unpacks Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Black Swan" with a LUF Book Club.  Jim provides valuable insight into the leadership traits and organizational practices that will equip mission-oriented leaders and units to respond to unpredictable and improbable events.

Lieutenant Ben Baus joined the ranks of the Milwaukee Fire Department in 2012.  As a firefighter, Ben served in Rescue Co. 1 and on the department’s Heavy Urban Rescue Team which provides technical rescue throughout the city and surrounding areas.  He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2020 and is currently assigned to Rescue Co. 1.  Ben has been a contributor to the LUF Emerging Leadership Development course. 

Today we are joined by LT Evan Bergman with the United States Air Force. Evan is a Tactical Air Control Party Specialist, or TACP, at the 15th Air Support Operations Squadron in Savannah Georgia.  He spent most of his youth in Annapolis Maryland before attending the Virginia Military Institute where he majored in Psychology.  After graduating in 2021 Evan attended TOPT, the AF Special Warfare Officer selection course for the TACP career field.   In 2022 Evan began the arduous TACP pipeline where he helped lead his teams through nearly two years of intense physical and mental training.