Chief McCormick and Deputy Chief Mullins attended the 2021 Virginia Chief Officer Academy the week of October 17 – 22, 2021, at the W. E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center at Smith Mountain Lake. The week-long Academy was a residential leadership course for fire chief’s and chief officer’s for various aspects of leadership challenges they may face. The program included lectures from fire service leaders from across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Each morning began with physical training, followed by programs focused on personal leadership goals and reality, leadership self-assessment, personal physical development, 21st century leadership, effective communication, difficult conversations, human resource trends, diversity, equity and inclusion plans, data informed decisions, planning and process improvement, getting the most out of resources, emergency public information, how to manage managers, communicating vision, personal mental health, crises management, work life balance and structuring career development plans. The week concluded with a formal graduation. Both Chief McCormick and Deputy Chief Mullins are also graduates of the 2017 Virginia Fire Officer Academy.