Recruiting, retention, readiness. Mentorship, succession, promotion, mental health, and mutual-aide relationships. These all seem like separate issues but they can all be addressed, in part, through a zero-cost set of initiatives summed up by the Future Ready Fire program.

This program, and its individual tenants, are not proprietary or business-oriented. This initiative does not involve money changing hands. It's only a cohesive set of ideas that can be implemented at any level and can be tailored to meet the needs of the individuals and agencies involved. No rank is required. This is all voluntary. The only thing required is a set of gear and the empowerment of the passionate, servant-leaders already among us. Our mission is to normalize training in gear and build brotherhood. We aim to encourage department members to hold regular, open-invitation gearwork events to improve fireground performance, provide organic mentorship and organic skills training, and help in recruiting efforts while improving mental health and morale.