By FireRescue1 Staff
INDIANAPOLIS — During Thursday’s opening ceremony at FDIC 2025, winners of the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award and the George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award were announced.
Chief Robert R. Morris of the Stamford (Conn.) Fire Department was awarded the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award as a “tribute to a lifetime devoted to service, innovation and the brotherhood of the fire service,” FDIC Education Director David Rhodes said before presenting Morris with the award.
Previously a 40-year veteran of the FDNY, Morris began serving as the assistant chief of the SFD in October 2023, where he consolidated five of the city’s volunteer departments into the SFD, upgraded volunteer officer certifications, installed new fire hose and hose nozzles citywide for all engine companies, and more. He was later named chief of the department in February 2024.
“Tom Brennan — his style fit me to a T,” Morris said when accepting the award. “Be a good firefighter, be a good officer; if you can do that, you’ve hit a home run.”
Kearny (N.J.) Fire Department Deputy Chief Frank Viscuso was named the George D. Post Instructor of the Year.
“When you choose to be an instructor ... you know you’re going to be criticized, and that’s part of the process,” Viscuso said when accepting the award. “It’s not us against them; it’s us against complacency.”
Viscuso’s instructional career began in 1999 when he was assigned to his department’s training division. In the years since, Viscuso has written multiple books on fire service leadership and is the co-creator of FireOpsOnline.com, an advanced training guide for firefighters who want to excel in their career.
“You hear that you don’t want to meet your heroes because they will disappoint you,” Viscuso said. “Here [at FDIC] you do; they don’t disappoint you. Because of FDIC, many of my mentors have become my best friends.”
