David McGlynn

David McGlynn

Fire Chief
Passion in Leading, LLC
Carlisle, PA

Dave McGlynn has been in the fire and emergency services since 2001, with a career spanning municipal and federal roles. He currently serves as a professional Fire Chief within Federal Fire and Emergency Services. Throughout his career, he has held various positions, including Firefighter, Driver/Operator, Company Officer, Training Officer, and Operations Chief. Dave has shared his knowledge as a featured speaker at FDIC International and serves on the advisory boards for FDIC International and Fire Engineering. An accomplished fire instructor and public speaker, he has contributed articles to Fire Engineering magazine and FirefighterNation, and hosts The Training Officer podcast for Fire Engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Fire & Emergency Services Administration and a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership. Dave is also the author of The Training Officer: Do You Have What It Takes? and Setting the Standard: Forge Excellence – Train with Purpose, published by Fire Engineering Books in 2026.

The Training Officer: Do You Have What It Takes? (Thursday, October 22, 2026 - 8:00-11:00am)

This Training Officer Development course was created through lessons learned while working with a diverse group of training officers and leaders. It is designed for training officers, leaders, and aspiring training officers within emergency services. The main objective of this course is to motivate training officers to incorporate passion into their program development while inspiring their members to love the job as much as they do. There are departments with training officers who have never driven an engine, pulled a line, or ridden in the front seat as a company officer. The programs developed under their direction often fail or are questioned by members due to a lack of true substance and practical experience. Simply “faking it ’til you make it” will never work when designing and developing a successful training program. This course is designed to teach participants how to value organizational culture, gain respect through credibility, and instill passion into training.