Welcome

I am starting this blog to explore and expound upon the nexus of the fire service and homeland security. There are a lot of blogs addressing homeland security, homeland defense, public health, the fire service, security politics, and other related topics, but none of them satisfactorily explores the common ground between them. This is part of what I see as a larger failure on the part of the fire service to engage academically and professionally in areas affecting its key roles.

This blog will talk about what "homeland security" means to the fire service and what the fire service means to homeland security. We, as firefighters, are losing ground to the law enforcement community. We are losing ground to the emergency management community. We are losing ground to the politicians. Overall, we are losing our proportional slice even as the pie grows larger, not because the cops or politicians are evil, but because we have not provided a coherent and compelling argument of our own. To maintain our rightful place in the emergency response world we have to engage, academically and professionally; I sincerely hope this blog fulfills a small role in that fight.

I'll also explore some general interest stuff, the politics of homeland security, and probably get on and off a soapbox or two now and then. I hope to bring some of my associates on board to contribute some other perspectives once this gets rolling.

Finally, I wish to assure the reader that everything I write and do here is out of love and devotion to the fire service. Please talk back and let me know what you are thinking.