"Mission Over Me"

“Mission over me.” – But what does that mean? A common issue in the fire service is change. Why do things need to change? I hate the way things are, but I don’t want things to change. They always say that the two things that firefighters hate the most are the way things are, and change. The phrase “Mission over me” is actually quite simple. It spells it out for you, word for word. It means that the mission is more important than you are. Or I am. It means that the mission comes first. We all may have slightly different missions based on what words we repeated upon obtaining our badge or what our departments mission statement is. Regardless, life safety comes first. If we need to change the way we operate to provide better efficiency for life safety, then we must do just that. We owe it not only to those we are sworn to protect, but ourselves as well. The public expects professionals. They expect us to show up, be ready and solve their problem. Sometimes change is needed for us to better fulfill those duties. Whether it be a new way of deploying your hose lays or an adjustment to an SOG or SOP to provide better clarification. We should always be striving to be better than we were yesterday. Change is hard but sometimes it is needed. The kiss of death phrase I have often heard too many times is “this is the way we have always done it.” Do you or your people understand why things are done the way they are? Or are they just following suit from years and years of past down verbal standards that are outdated? Strive to understand things – if they work, great! If they don’t, not so great. Focus on the mission. Fulfill your duty and stay safe.