John T. O'Hagan joined FDNY on April 1, 1947, at the age of 22, and was assigned to Engine 318. As a firefighter he also worked at Ladder 110 and Rescue 2.

He scored at, or near the top, of every promotional exam he took.

0n April 1, 1953 he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to Ladder 168. In a very short period of time he was promoted to captain (assigned to Rescue 1), battalion chief (assigned to the 9th Battalion), then deputy chief (assigned to the 3rd Division).

As a Deputy Chief (along with the others holding the civil service rank of Deputy Chief - Deputy Assistant Chief and Assistant Chief) he took the civil service exam for Chief of Department and came in number one on the list.

On December 16, 1964, at the age of 39, he was appointed Chief of Department. He was the youngest Fire Chief in FDNY history.

How's that for motivation to "hit the books"?

For more about Chief O'Hagan see WNYF 1965 / 1st issue (see below for availability of WNYF 1940-2009 Compilation)

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Thanks, Ira Hoffman