WHOA!? Sometimes life gives you moments where you have to stop, look around, and really take in what is happening. Hearing that Jason Harmsen has been promoted to Battalion Chief with Clayton County Fire & Emergency Services is one of those moments for me. It honestly feels like something out of a movie. When I think about where I started, the role he has played in my life, and where both of us are today, the only way I can really describe it is …full circle.
I met Jason when I was just a kid. I joined the Clayton County Fire Explorer Program when I was around 13 or 14 years old. Today, that program has grown into what is now the Pathway Program, but back then, I was just a teenager trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Every Saturday different crews would come up to the training grounds, what we called “the top of the hill” and teach us different parts of the fire service. Some Saturdays were more enjoyable than others, if you know what I mean lol. But whenever Jason Harmsen came around, there was something different about it….
Jason has always known how to teach people without making them feel bad for not already knowing the answer. I’ve always been a visual learner, and I’m not always the fastest person to pick something up the first time. For me, I have to understand the why behind something. Jason has always been good at that. He breaks things down explains why we do something, shows you how it works and somehow makes learning enjoyable at the same time. More importantly, he makes people feel like he actually wants to help them.
As I got older the Explorer Program gave us the opportunity to start doing ride alongs at the stations. That was exciting, but it was also nerve racking. Imagine being a teenager walking into a firehouse full of grown firefighters, not knowing exactly what to say, where to sit, what you should touch, or honestly what you were supposed to do at all. I kept hearing the same thing… “You need to ride. You need to ride. You need to ride.” Eventually…………… I did….. and Jason and his crew made that experience welcoming. We’ll use the word welcoming so nobody gets in trouble LOOL
Those ride alongs became one of the biggest reasons I realized I could actually see myself doing this for a living. Firefighting went from something I was interested in to something I could picture as my future. Being around a good crew mattered. Having somebody who believed in you mattered even more, and Jason was one of those people.
One thing I have always respected about Jason is that he makes time for conversations. He can have ten different things going on, but if somebody needs to talk, he finds a way to make time. There have been plenty of moments where we sat at the kitchen table on shift and talked about life, the job, things I was doing right, and probably plenty of things I was doing wrong. He doesn’t have to yell at you or embarrass you to make his point. If you’re wrong, he’ll tell you that you’re wrong, but he has a way of ..talking to you instead of talking at you..(Read that again). The older I get and the more I experience leadership myself, the more I realize how important that really is.
And trust me, Jason and I have had some experiences over the years. There was my first Combat Challenge practice at 16 years oldand ended up basically falling out. I’m pretty sure Jason thought for a moment that he was going to get demoted for almost killing an Explorer hahaha
Then there was the famous CVS incident. Another Explorer and good friend of mine, who we called Jr Jr and I went across the street from the station to get some coffee and somehow ended up getting robbed at gunpoint. I was standing there in my Explorer uniform, scared out of my mind as the guy was robbing the store and I handed the guy my wallet even though, thinking back on it, I’m not completely sure he even asked me for it. So yes, from almost passing out during the Combat Challenge to getting robbed trying to buy coffee Jason and I have definitely been through some interesting moments.
But this is where the story becomes almost unbelievable to me. I started this journey around 14 years old. I’m 32 now. The man who was teaching me as a teenager, the man whose truck I sat on the back of while asking questions, is now BattalionChief Harmsen. And today, there are times when I serve as his back up while he was Captain.
That is the part where I sometimes have to sit back and say, “Wow.”
A kid who didn’t even know if he belonged in the fire service eventually grew up, got hired, became an Lieutenant and now can find himself helping fill in behind one of the same people who helped him find his way into this career in the first place. You can call it coincidence. You can call it life coming full circle. For me, I also believe it is God. I believe God has a way of placing people in our lives and putting us in situations that we might not fully understand at the time.
Looking back now, I can see that those Saturday mornings, ride alongs, conversations, challenges, mistakes, and lessons were all part of something bigger. God was making a way even when I didn’t know where that way was leading.
Now Jason has the opportunity to continue doing what he already does, just on a larger scale. As Battalion Chief, there will be more people looking to him for guidance, more difficult decisions, and more responsibility. But the qualities that got him here are the same qualities that I believe will continue helping him moving forwar…. communication, patience, mentorship, honesty, and the ability to simply sit down and talk to people.
So Chief Harmsen, thank you.
Thank you for those Saturdays at the training grounds. Thank you for the ride alongs. Thank you for sitting on the back of the truck and talking when you probably had a hundred other things you could have been doing. Thank you for believing in a young Explorer who was still trying to figure out who he was. Thank you for correcting me when I needed correcting, encouraging me when I needed encouragement, and continuing to show me what leadership can look like.
Most importantly, thank you for being one of the people who helped me believe that I could actually do this.
May God watch over you, Chief Harmsen, as you begin this new chapter. May He continue to give you strength, wisdom, patience, and the ability to reach people the same way you have reached so many of us throughout your career. May you continue making an impact…not only through the rank you now wear, but through the conversations, lessons, and moments that people may not fully appreciate until many years later.
Because sometimes that 14 year old kid grows up.
Sometimes he becomes a Firefighter.
Sometimes he becomes a Lieutenant
And sometimes, almost 20 years later, he finds himself looking across the fire service at one of the men who helped him get there and realizing just how far they have both come.
Congratulations, Battalion Chief Jason Harmsen!!
