Mary McCormack Women’s History Month is going to take us back a little farther in fi re service history than we have gone so far. I fi rst met Mary McCormack in 1978 at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Memphis, Tennessee. Mary and her husband (Ed) were quite active in the national fi re service and seemed like royalty at the FDIC. What struck me about Mary at the time was her kindness and welcoming personality, no matter who she was dealing with. But as I’ve said a thousand times (at least) over the years, “don’t ever mistake kindness for weakness” – and Mary was a good example of why. She was tough, a strong leader, smart, knew everybody, and was well the time was her kindness and welcoming personality, no matter who she was dealing with. But as I’ve said a thousand times (at least) over the years, “don’t ever mistake kindness for weakness” – and Mary was a good example of why. She was tough, a strong leader, smart, knew everybody, and was well aware of how important relationships were to her leadership success. We became great friends and seeing Mary at FDIC and other places was always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Mary played a critical role with FDIC and the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) for many years. She later went on to Chair the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) National Advisory Council (NAC) in Washington, DC, which placed her in the middle of the leadership circle addressing major national fi re service issues at the federal level. She understood politics, at the time was her kindness and welcoming personality, no matter who she was dealing with. But as I’ve said a thousand times (at least) over the years, “don’t ever mistake kindness for weakness,” and Mary was a good example of why. She was tough, a strong leader, smart, knew everybody, and was well aware of how important relationships were to her leadership success. We became great friends and seeing Mary at FDIC and other places was always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Mary played a critical role with FDIC and the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) for many years. She later went on to chair the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) National Advisory Council (NAC) in Washington, D.C., which placed her in the middle of the leadership circle addressing major national fire service issues at the federal level. She understood politics, was good at it, and knew how important effective interaction with elected officials and federal agencies were to the fire service. People had a great deal of respect for Mary, and she excelled at getting things done. Mary later went on to form the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA), 49 aware of how important relationships were to her leadership success. We became great friends and seeing Mary at FDIC and other places was always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Mary played a critical role with FDIC and the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) for many years. She later went on to Chair the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) National Women’s History Month is going to take us back a little farther in fire service history. I first met Mary McCormack in 1978 at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Memphis, Tennessee. Mary and her husband Ed were quite active in the national fire service and seemed like royalty at FDIC. What struck me about Mary Advisory Council (NAC) in Washington, DC, which placed her in the middle of the leadership circle addressing major national fi re service issues at the federal level. She understood politics,
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