Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

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Music 0:35
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Dave Washington 0:49
day. Las Vegas, good day. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host. I have two wonderful guests who are EDI graduates the Carl Holmes executive development institute they graduated just a few weeks ago, and I'm going to have them to talk about their experience there. So hold on, ladies, and I'll be with you shortly. All right, look next month, if not next month, in future months, I plan to get Senator Dean O'Neill on just to give us an update on some of the legislative activities that occurred during this past session. And also, I've been working to get Mayor Shelley Berkley on the line as well. And with each of them, I want to see if there are some things that they've done during their their periods to deal with the needs of veterans. So we'll get that going. And also, I certainly want to express Happy birthday to my grandson. KJ, I mentioned some of the other June birthdays, and I probably missed some. But I also wanted to again, just to thank him. And for sure, ladies and gentlemen, we want to pray for peace in the Middle East, because we know there's a lot of madness going on over there, so praying for everyone there. And as I mentioned, and I always do that, I speak for Veterans Affairs and myself. Dave Washington individual, and Jason has always done those disclaimers. I just want to say that it's important for us to think about others beyond ourselves. And I want to express condolences. I think I forgot to do this last last week, and that is Sly Stone passed away at 82 Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. These were great musicians that brought a lot, and they won't be sorely missed. I mean, they brought songs that are still relevant today, so we appreciate them and hope that God was pleased with what they did while they were here on Earth, with respect to Nevada, and I always bring up politics from time to time, I just want to say that Latino men in Nevada voted 59% for 47 now they're paying a price for that. In my opinion, this is just again. My opinion, blacks voted 80% for Harris. And I also want to say that as far as affirmative action programs, which were suggested to be an assistance to blacks in general, that didn't happen. White women were the biggest recipients of affirmative action, and this includes de and I, that all the huffing and puffing is going on about folks need to be getting various positions by merit. Well, if there's anyone who's done things by merit, it is us. So with that, I want to encourage folks, if you can find it, I should, you should be able to find it online. But a remarkable speech by John F Kennedy on June 11, 1963 because he talks about the humanity. And I just believe this is lost, and we've got to get it back. Then the final thing I want to say on the political side is project 2025. Is 40% complete, and that's from some sources. So there's more to be done. There's going to be more pain. So just keep our eyes and ears open, and we need to start getting prepared for the midterms. And I'm neither Democrat nor Republican, but I know that there's some activity and some planning that needs to be done to ensure that we can uproot some of the foolishness that is going on at our federal level. So with that, I got Miss Christoph fails and also miss Willie McKnight, two recent graduates of the Carl Holmes executive development institute. How y'all doing? Ladies, okay, good chief. How are you? I'm well. I'm well, Krista, why don't we start with you, and I know you've been on my program a couple different times. Once again, this is Veterans Affairs plus on 91.5 jazz and more on the plus side is where we're operating today. So with that, Miss Krista, would you give us a little bit of background on who you are, even though our many of our listening audience members have heard you on this show before?

Krista Fells 4:47
Well, I was my Las Vegas native, born and raised here, primarily in North town and on the east side. We moved a lot growing up, so I'm very familiar with pretty much. Every part of Vegas. I'm very proud to be a North Las Vegas resident. Back to my roots. I initially growing up here. I went to Rancho High School. My freshman year, graduated from vo Tech with the computer graphics department, and then I went to CSN for a bit, transferred my credit to UNLV, and was an elementary school teacher for approximately eight years with the Clark County School District. I then began pursuing a career in Oh 607, into the fire service. I went into the oh nine Academy with the Clark County Fire Department, with the help of many individuals, through Sam Smith classes, people, men and women from all the major fire departments in the valley, North Las Vegas, City of Las Vegas, Fire Rescue, Clark County Fire Department. And I don't know if we at the time, we had anybody working on Henderson at the time, but anyway, everyone that that Sam helped, he in turn, they helped, they helped support me, and they are still mentors of mine to this day. And then I didn't make it about oh nine Academy. I ended up going back to teach at the 100 Academy for two years, which is the charter school here in Las Vegas, and then I retested, was that whole process again, and got on in 2013 with the Clark County Fire Department. So I've been with that department for just over 12 years, and currently I hold an engineer position. I started. I was also able to I was also a training instructor for almost two years, and so I did that. And so now I'm just waiting to be promoted on the captain's list if that happens. I also decided to go back to school to UNLV and pursuing a degree in the EMBA program. So I'll be graduating in December with that, and we just graduated like chief mentioned from EDI in June. So really cool thing

Dave Washington 7:07
happening. We'll be back to you shortly. Okay, Miss McKnight. Hello

Willie McKnight 7:10
everyone. My name is Willie Annie. Last Name McKnight. I reside, born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. I'm a mother of a 19 year old young daughter just finished her freshman year LSU. And also, yes, I'm proud about that she did very well this semester. I am currently a member of the New Orleans Fire Department, and I'm a fire apparatus operator. We graduated EDI this year. EDI is a five year long program that happens the first week of June every year, held here in New Orleans at Dillard University. However, it was extended for my class extra two years due to EDI being off because of COVID. Just a short, but very vital backstory on my introduction to EDI. I finished our fire academy in December of 2017 and fast forward to June and following June of 2018 one of the captains who is also our recruiting director, Captain Brown. Quentin brown introduced us to EDI. He brought us there to visit campus, and I was elated, just to be amongst so many people that look like me in the fire service industry. I was flabbergasted. And then I had the opportunity to sit in one of the classes, and we opened up the door to classroom, and all but chief Tiffany Wesley was teaching the class. So again, I was completely wild to see somebody that looked like me, you know, and just teaching this class and that she was, you know, a chief officer, I just was super excited. So from that point on, I was kind of sold on EDI. We went for that first year, the following year for us, which was 2019 and then 2020 and 2021 it was all COVID. So we graduated again this year, and it was bittersweet. The burns forged at EDI are everlasting, the information that we were given, the tools to put in our toolbox, just unmatched, you know, the network. And I'm super proud of myself and all of my peers, everyone who was in my class, even those that started with me and couldn't continually come throughout the years, but eventually found their way back. Right? I was glad to see that happening as well. And I would like to pass on to others that are coming in the fire service or that are currently in the fire service. You know, don't wait to begin getting invested in your career, in yourself. I came on in 2017 and I immediately began the investment in myself. EDI, at the lead of all the investment I did and just educating myself and just trying to promote through the ranks, we already, we walked in the door already having two things. Engineer working against us, and that would be and that we were black women, you know. So just come in, invest in yourself. You know, you can do it. We can do it. You know, I love EDI. It's bittersweet.

Dave Washington 10:12
But Willie, who was, who, who was the superintendent when you came, when you first

Willie McKnight 10:18
registered for and initially it was at the time we had chief Timothy McConnell, when Captain Brown mentioned to him about EDI, you know, he was 100% on board, and then we were all concerned about funding. How are we going to get it funded? You know? And he said, Don't worry about it. And I believe he wasn't able to get the funds through the city. But he went out and he pitched to business owners what see if they would give us scholarships. And that year, I think it was about 12 of us, where he went out, and

Willie McKnight 10:54
he got 12.

Dave Washington 10:59
I had no idea, you know, I saw him. He came up to me after graduation. Yeah, I didn't, you know he had his big old mustache and stuff. Superintendent. He said, Yeah, this is me. I said, Thank you. Thank you so much, because he really put forth. Now, you telling me and you see how I'm studying. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I didn't know that. I've got it. I gotta get, I gotta get a hold of him, because I'm thinking it was funded through your general fund, and you're saying that he went out and got private business people. That is, that is absolutely unheard of, yes, unheard of. That's

Willie McKnight 11:32
why comment was so important for me, at least, to make sure that he was present at, you know, our graduation, and I reached out to him and the day before, and he actually called me the day of graduation, during lunch, and he was like, I'm so sorry. I'm just not getting a message. He said, Did I miss the graduation? I said, you right now, the graduation is this evening. He said, Send me all the details. I'll be there. You know, he was really appreciative and and thankful. He said, You know, sometimes you go on, you know, with life and you don't really realize the impact that you've made, you know, on people. He was like, I certainly appreciate you all reaching out to me, you know, for me to be here. He was like, I love

Dave Washington 12:12
this. Yeah, yeah. He did tell me. He said that couple students reached out to him and asked that he would be there. But I had absolutely no idea that he went out and seek funding from from business folks to pay the tuition for 1012 of you guys who initially started now other of those 1012 how many has completed the program? Are you aware of that the number by chance,

Willie McKnight 12:36
we had we had six graduated this year, and we had one that started with us. He returned this year, okay? And then we've also so that was just of the the initial original ones that started in 2019 but one of my goals was to have somebody from the wellness Fire Department in every mod right of EDI. So we've got it. It's going to be off for about two years because we didn't have anybody in my four or my three, but we did have people in my two and my one, and then next year, we'll have some more in my one two. So it's coming. I'm working Excellent. I'm working Excellent.

Dave Washington 13:12
So Krista, please come back and tell us a little bit about your experience over the period of time in attending the various classes at EDI. Give us, I just want people to know the impact that it, that is has has had on individuals who do come through the program. Well, personally,

Krista Fells 13:29
a lot of the mentors that I had have graduated from EDI, and so I was, you know, kind of encouraged to go. Unfortunately, not very many people have from what, from Las Vegas, have been able to attend. Maybe it took me, it took them seven. It took me, like 910, years to get through EDI. But we finished, and I'm thankful, you know, to God for you know, providing, you know, the resources, the support and things like that for you know, us to get through. That's a beautiful story, really, that you have from your chief, that that he was, you know, he believed in you guys. He's a pretty and he put his he put his effort and his money and his resources were his knowledge was, even though it didn't, it wasn't, you know, something that you know, he was able to do within the department that shows like a tremendous amount of manhood, you know? But, yeah, so, so it took me that long, but EDI has been one of it actually kept me in the fire service. I'm going to tell you that because every, every, every year that I've been able to come it's given me, it's like it's filled my cup. And that's, that's an experience that a lot of people have. A lot of people have said that exact same thing. You come back to EI, you know, your, it feels like home, your, your, your, it's like what it's I mean, I'm just going to be 100% honest, like, it's like what I feel the fire service should be for us. Sure. You know. It's not like that in my department, you know, I don't have people 100% invested. I shouldn't say don't have people. I don't have a majority of the people in my department invested in a positive, you know, upliftment and, you know, like providing opportunities for me to grow, identifying what my skill sets are identifying where my strengths and weaknesses are, and speaking to those things and giving me like the tools that I need to be successful in those places, or putting me in positions to be successful. It doesn't very doesn't happen very often, but it has happened, so I can say that. But going there, it's like everybody. We're all there together. We all have a shared experience, many shared experiences. We're able to talk to each other. We're able to be transparent with each other about things that are either going on challenges that we have and we're also have the resources there to to lean on, to to navigate the challenges that we have at home and the things that we're dealing with, not just within the fire service, but even quite personally. You know what I mean? So

Dave Washington 16:06
well, let me say, let me say this. As you know, I did 3333 years with Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, and part of my career I was a training officer as well as a training chief. And one thing I can tell people when they talk that talk about women shouldn't be in this profession. I train and work with women that would run circles around, some of them, guys, they were pitiful when it came to lifting. All they had to do is lift, dead lift, 125 pounds. I watch women snatch, and guys were struggling, I said, so please don't tell me. And I also find women who listen to find a balance point on a 24 foot ladder where men didn't find a balance point, and you think they're struggling because they didn't listen. And I know that women generally speaking to me, and it's from my own personal experience, they will calm situations more readily than a guy, because a guy, they just think that they're tough and they can just run through the walls and stuff. And it my stature. There was, you know, when the truck guys got there and somebody need to go in an attic. Guess who? Guess who had to go a small person like me, 581, 6170, pounds. Them big guys couldn't get up in no attic. You know, they probably come falling down through this. So there's a place for everyone. And the other part, I just wish that. And again, people will hear me talk about all the time on this show, we have lost our humanity. What is wrong with us? Because, see when, when I was running a program that I had gotten the guidelines from Seattle Fire Department, they had a program where they prepared women to go through Well, prepared them to be more successful in the exam process. I had black guys and white guys, all they were all over me. Oh, you just, you helping these women, and they gonna take out. Well, they need to take your job if you just gonna sit on the couch. And one thing you said, Say it Willie, is that you've taken time to invest in yourself. See, I invested quite a few dollars in myself, because all the time that you want to do something, the department may not have those funds. So if you're really serious about who you are and how you want to grow as a professional, you're not afraid to put up a few dollars. And I got to get, get a hold of the former superintendent and thank him, because I had absolutely no idea that, yes, he got the funding from private industry. That is unheard of, unheard of, yep. So

Willie McKnight 18:22
then he made me,

Willie McKnight 18:23
he made me feel like I need to continue to once you start. EDI, at least for me, it was like I have to continue this. It was too many jewels being dropped, you know, too many, too much knowledge, you know, being put out there for me to just kind of sit aside and know it's being given and I'm just not partaking and receiving that information, you know. So I made the investment in myself. That's just what I chose to do, and it's benefiting me, you know,

Dave Washington 18:51
absolutely. So you guys both kind of spoke about that, that needed interaction with others who are feeling and being treated in a different way back at home. Talk a little bit more about that, if you would.

Willie McKnight 19:04
Oh, yeah, most definitely. I mean, it's just, you know, coming into the fire service industry is male dominated, you know, and it wasn't such a warm welcome initially, at this point, people have realized who we are on a job and that we came, you know, to work. You know, we carry our own load. We're not coming to sit, you know, on nobody's shoulders. I'll be on nobody's hands. We come to do our job, and then we come to learn. And one of our chiefs, at the time, he was a captain, but he's now just promoted to Chief. He's also a graduate 2025, graduate of EDI and I class. He told me, when we first came on a job. He was like, Oh, they going to talk about you. He said, They going to talk about you. He said, learn your job. That's right. He said, Let them say whatever it is that they want to say. He said, but do not allow them to say that you can't do your job. And I mean, that stuck with me. I was in a rules and rags, you know, every day I was in SOPs and SOGs. You know, it was people, you know why? What you looking at, Dave, what you looking at, what you looking around the computer for? Now, you know, you taking more class, what you thinking those classes for? I mean, because I'm making an investment in myself, these classes are what I need in order to promote through the ranks. I mean, and let

Dave Washington 20:15
me say this, young, let me say this, those same guys who would talk that talking, I mean me and Gene and Bert in our career planning class, we always tell them the same person that's talking that trash and telling you don't pursue next thing you look around five years later, they're gonna be your boss because they they're doing the same thing, but they're doing it very, very quietly. So you have to step up to the plate. And let me tell you another thing that I recognize as a training officer, you know some guys, and it's just, I think it's a human condition they would want to take and do some of the rough, tough work for women. I say, Oh no, no, no. They want to be here, right? Let her roll at home. Just roll that holes. And that's where you're not being in a position where, oh, well, she really couldn't do you know, you saw how we roll up the hose, and we, we loaded the hose, bid, etc. No, they're gonna do the job. Is the same way you do. And they're gonna get the same they get the same dollars paid every two weeks as you do. So they got to do the job. And I was very hard knows about that. And again, some guys, they weren't trying to put women down. They were just, they were being gentlemen. But this ain't, this ain't about being a gentleman. It's about everybody towing, you know, towing the line. Do your job. Do his sister. Yes, do your job. Crystal. You got something you want to add to that?

Krista Fells 21:32
Darling? Yeah, well, I think that, and it's interesting to like, I don't know if you share this to Louis, but like every station, every platoon is like a different department sometimes, and so I can and sometimes it just takes one, maybe two people to shift the whole dynamics of the environment on either a shift or at a station or on a on our crew. And so that's been a very challenging thing for me in the fire service. Like, sometimes you have good days, or sometimes you don't, and even if I have my same crew, it's whatever's going on. And so a lot of the things that like a lot of some of the classes, even some of like the little the nuggets that are, like draw as, you know, even if it wasn't specific to the subject matter that we were having as instruction for that day in our classes, I was able to pick up and glean, like, you know, just little things like that shifted my perspective on just how to deal with the day to day. And, you know, one thing that I would say for me, and I'm just going to be real honest to like and I think it's because I was as a teacher like I have to, I had to learn how to learn, and I had to learn how to teach. So I recognize strengths and weaknesses people and I and I understand that we need space to make mistakes and space to learn, right, right, and that we're not going to get everything all the time and and as and being like, like, I guess I we are Type A personalities. I guess I have to admit to that too, that I don't want making mistakes. I don't like being wrong, although I am going to be wrong and I am going to make mistakes. As an educator, I know that I have to give if I have to give other people room to mistake, make mistakes. I have to give myself room to make mistakes. And so one of the challenges is in the fire service, is you talk about making sure you know your job. Our job isn't that hard, okay? So to know our job is one thing, and especially if you've been doing this, doing it, you know, over years and stuff like that, it's the complacency, I think that'd be good. That gets most firefighters right. But even that being said, it's like, we can't make the same mistakes as other people make. That's right, and that really it gets to me, because I'm a human and I can make mistakes, and so I kind of get a little like, you like to say pee, when people are in my face about a mistake that I make, and then someone else makes the same exact mistake. But they have, they have 50 million people willing to show them how to do it. Or, you know, cover their mistakes. They don't look like like a fool. Or, do you know what I mean? It's part of the quote, camaraderie, though, brother slash sisterhood. And so I, I call, I'm calling it what it is, right? It is what it is. So I I kind of like, sometimes I don't even care if I make a mistake, you know what I mean? Because I know it doesn't matter how good I am, sometimes doesn't matter how well I know my job doesn't matter how much education I have, doesn't matter those things don't matter because people are going to perceive you and they're going to treat you the way that they perceive you, regardless of what you do most times, once again, logically, yeah, shouldn't be an issue with a woman firefighter, a black female firefighter, and she's made it through the rookie school by the same with the doing the same things everybody else had to do. So. So we've already proven we can do the job, already proven that we know what and how to do it. Absolutely it's a matter of learning over time. And if people don't invest in us in our stations, we are going to not be in the same place as everyone else, not because we can't do it, but because it's purposeful and intentional not sharing information. And that's why EDI it's so important.

Dave Washington 25:21
This is Veterans Affairs, plus so 91.5 jazz and more. We got crystal falls from fails from Clark County Fire and also we have Willie. Willie, my mind is going, please McKnight from the New Orleans Fire Department. Ladies, we got about two and a half minutes. Could you give us some closing remarks, and you were touching on it. Crystal, as far as what you got from the Carl Holmes executive development institute, please go, what else you got for us? Crystal, with regards

Krista Fells 25:50
to some, okay, well, basically, I was, I'm just so thankful for this opportunity. I'm thankful for the individuals that have held, held EDI together, you know, all the old heads, all the individuals that that love, that love us, because this is 100% labor of love. You can't, you can't be in a specific place every single, every single year, you're still working your whole job. You're still dealing with all of the stressors and all the pressure of being a high level producer in Fire Department, setting the pace, you know, you know, going above and beyond and excelling in excellence. You can't do that and then do this too, and not love the people and the vision that you're doing it for. So I just, I'm just, I'm blessed. I look forward to being in my six and, you know, and being an asset in any way that you know, anyone sees fit, like whatever you need, I'll pass out T shirts, whatever you want me to do. I'll, you know, whatever you need me to do. I'm there next

Dave Washington 26:51
year. I can tell you that's greatly appreciated, and I can tell you that, and I tell people all the time, none of us get paid. We're here out of labor of love because we want to see our folks rise up to include others who are now, who have, over the years, have come to EDI because Dr Holmes said there'll be no sign off from your local chapter, president of the ibpff, nor the regional director, nor the national president. If you want to come pay your tuition, male, female, black, white, you can come. So Miss McKnight Willie, give us some closing remarks from your

Willie McKnight 27:21
perspective, I'm going to say it again. I said it once before. I'll say it again. Invest in yourself. EDI is the perfect place to do that if you're looking to promote through the ranks in your department. The same people that sit on some of these assessment panels are some of the same instructors that we have here at EDI. It was a blessing, nothing but tools to place inside of my toolbox, there is another mod, mod six, which is only for EDI graduates. I do. I plan on attending on mod six, even if I don't do my six next year and decide to help out some other kind of way with EDI. I told everybody, I hope y'all don't think that y'all getting rid of me. Just

Willie McKnight 28:02
y'all stuck

Dave Washington 28:04
with me. Let me tell both of you. Let me tell both of you sisters, this. We appreciate your energy. And there's always possibility. In fact, we will be putting out something with respect to recruitment for we got seven, uh, initiatives, strategic initiatives, and we need chairpersons for some of these. So once you guys hear about it, be about it. You know, step up to the plate. So once again, this is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. We had crystal fails from Clark County Fire and Willie McKnight from the New Orleans Fire Department. Young ladies, we are proud to have you as graduates of the Karl Holmes executive development institute, and look forward to having you on the program again as we continue to grow this program at Dillard University. So thank you so very much.

Krista Fells 28:46
You're welcome. Thank you, Chief. All right. Talk to you later.

Willie McKnight 28:49
All righty. All righty. Bye. You

Music 29:24
none all the smoke in the air, till the hate when they stare, all the pain that we bear. Oh, you bet.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai