By FireRescue1 Staff
INDIANAPOLIS — Captain Bill Gustin of the Miami-Dade (Florida) Fire Rescue Department was named the 2024 recipient of the Fire Engineering/ISFSI George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award during Thursday’s FDIC 2024 Opening Ceremony.
In his acceptance speech, Gustin shared his philosophy that, “You can be a boss and a dear friend,” encouraging strong connections among crewmembers.
Gustin also spoke to the future award recipients in the audience, noting they are on the right track, as they are attending conferences like FDIC to learn and grow their skills. He urged them to start by training at their own departments, as this is where you really have to be yourself. “You can’t pretend to be someone else or say you’ve done something you haven’t done because you’ll get called out,” he said.
In nominating Gustin, Assistant Chief Brian Zaitz of the Kirkwood (Missouri) Fire Department, said Gustin has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to training and fireground safety, noting his 49 years in the fire service. “Since coming into the fire service, Gustin has always been involved in training. Whether it be from his company-level training on high-rise operations and hoseline deployment or his work on forcible entry, Captain Gustin has always been a driver of training.”
Gustin serves as a lead instructor for the Miami-Dade Officer Development School and has taught numerous classes at Miami-Dade College. Additionally, Gustin is a technical editor of Fire Engineering and an Educational Advisory Board member for FDIC.
The Instructor of the Year Award, which incorporates the Training Achievement Award previously given by Fire Engineering at FDIC, is named for George D. Post, who was a long-time member of the ISFSI. Post was a member of the FDNY, an illustrator of fire service publications, a developer of instructional materials, and is considered by many to be the father of visual training material used to train fire service personnel around the world.
