About the Author

Battalion Chief Robert Avsec (Ret.)
Hello!  Thanks for checking out my blog.  I had the privilege of serving with the outstanding men and women of the Chesterfield (VA) Fire & EMS (CFEMS) Department for 26 years.  My career as a fire officer is somewhat unique in that I spent a cumulative total of 9+ years in staff officer positions as:  Director of EMS Division;  Co-Manager of Emergency Communications Center (911); and Director of Training & Safety Division.  I also served multiple tours of duty in the department’s Emergency Operations Division.

I’m proud to have earned a master’s degree in Executive Fire Service Leadership from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ.  It took me 17 years to do so–working full-time and such–but I finally completed my bachelor of science degree in Fire and Safety Engineering Technology from the University of Cincinnati (Go Bearcats!).  Lastly, I’m a 2001 graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program.

My post-retirement career has included: operational and planning consultant working with a private sector EMS agency; staff instructor and course developer with the Georgia Fire Academy; and private sector consulting with Department of Defense and federal agencies that included the U.S. Army’s Installation Management Command, Fire & Emergency Services Branch.

In the course of working on my PhD from the School of Hard Knocks, I’ve developed quite a sense for several areas in the “management sciences”:

• Strategic planning and organization development for emergency services agencies;
• Talent management and professional development for fire and emergency services leaders; and
• Leveraging the use of social media for organizational communications success.