Officer Training Requirements?

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Permalink Reply by Brandon on February 25, 2008 at 11:13pm

We don't have any training requirements but I sure wish we did. As long as you've been there long enough you can be an officer. All of our positions are voted on by the membership so if you are popular you can get in.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on February 25, 2008 at 11:21pm

I was just about to sign off but I'll run down our list for you.

For Lieutenant or Captain: All candidates must be a member for at least two years, and have completed Essentials of Firemanship or Basic Firefighter; Initial Fire Attack or Intermediate Firefighter; Pump Operator; and be fluent in the operation of all Department-owned equipment (i.e. drive and operate all pumps, tankers, etc.)

For Assistant Chief: Need all of the above qualifications PLUS: Preparing for Command, Introduction to Fire Officer or Fire Department Management courses; and 24 hours of certified OSHA training including Haz Mat First Responder Operations.

For Chief: The above qualifications, PLUS: a Department member for four years; two years as Assistant Chief; and completion of the Arson Awareness and Fire Behavior course.

We keep pretty detailed records on formal training so everyone pretty much knows who is qualified and who isn't. One of the duties of the Nominating committee is to verify a candidate's certifications if there is any question.

All line and corporate officers are elected by the membership at the December meeting, following Robert's Rules of Order. In November a slate is presented at the monthly meeting, and names can be added at te election meeting by nomination from the floor. In case of someone running unopposed, a motion is made for the secretary to cast one unanimous ballot etc. Assistant Chief positions are voted on in order: The first vote, the majority vote holder gets 1st; then the remaining candidates run for the 2nd position, and so on. Same for Caps. and Lts. All votes are by written, secret ballot.

Fire Police captain and lieutenant are appointed by the Chief, as are the EMS captain and lt. Only thing with the EMS side is that the EMTs get together and figure out who wants to be "it". Well, except the last couple of years; there are only two people interested in these officers positions, I was several years of being "it" and the word is out: That old dog won't hunt any more, some one else has to step up.

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Permalink Reply by Ted Bownas on February 26, 2008 at 8:26pm

I wonder how many departments out there are still in the same boat as Brandon's? When I joined, the sole criteria to hold any office in my company up to and including chief was that you had to have been active for 3 years. I can remember sitting in an annual meeting filling out written ballots for a lieutenant's position something like 14 times in a row, because there were 7 nominees and nobody could get a 50%+1 majority to win. Here's the kicker: the guy that finally won didn't even have his 3 years in, but he won anyway because nobody bothered to check first - they discovered it at the installation dinner, because his starting date was in the pamphlet, along with everyone else's! Trust me, there have been MAJOR changes in the election of officers since then...it was a real wakeup call.

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Permalink Reply by Dominic Santulli on February 26, 2008 at 8:42pm

Our officer's are required to be qualified to drive and pump all of our trucks. They must have Ladder company ops. Preparing for command, commanding the intial response and NIMS. They also must be over eighteen and have a minium od 2 years in our company. They are elected by the membership. If they run unopposed the recordeing seceratay casts one affirmative vote to elect them.

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Permalink Reply by Marc Hansen on March 17, 2008 at 2:33am

We have training requirements for everyone. 25 hours a year for firefighter, 30 for lt/capt and 40 for a chiefs spot. And all officers must be able to operate all our vehicles.
Our chief and deputy chief are elected with the asst chief being appointed on an as needed basis by the elected chiefs. All capts and lt are appointed by the chief.
To avoid the multiple people running and trying to get a majority of votes, we do runofff elections. If 7 people want to be chief at election time, the two with the most votes after first ballot run against each other with all others no longer eligible for the second ballot. If someone runs unopposed then the sec. cast the ballot and its over

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Permalink Reply by Greg Meredith on March 22, 2008 at 8:19pm

My dept firefighters have to get 24hrs of training a year, LT's, Capt's have 36 hours a year, asst. chief & deputy chief, and the chief have to have 46 hours a year. Must have a min of basic f/f, firefighter 1&2 , hazmat ops, first responder. And must be 21 but might be changing to 18 not sure though. Are chief officers are voted by the membership every 2 years and they pick LT's, Capt's, and etc.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on March 25, 2008 at 10:06pm

Interesting concept. Who makes up the test, who administers it and who grades/ranks the tests?

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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on March 25, 2008 at 10:23pm

(We'll tell your Chief THAT too LOL!)

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Permalink Reply by Tiger Schmittendorf on March 25, 2008 at 10:24pm

I've included a sample matrix of officer requirements. I don't think it's as thorough as it needs to be, but it's a good starting point.

The reality is that as officers move up the ladder and their responsibilities increase, the less time they have to devote to personal development. I feel this matrix balances the increased work load with achievable training benchmarks.

On that same note, the experienced officer does not need to be taking the same training as the first-time lieutenant. As the firefighter transitions from technician to officer, their duties differ and so should their area of training concentration. Their area of training should focus as much on officer development as it does on tactical performance.

Thus, the tougest position to achieve in the fire department is lieutenant with about 110 hours invested to get there. After lieutenant, there's about 30 hours of recommended officer development at each step in the chain of command.

Furthermore, this matrix attempts to balance training development with years of service. As the fireload goes down and our our rate of experience decreases, we must compensate by increasing the years of service required and our training goals.

The bottom line is that Officer Training Requirements need to be realistic, relevant and achievable.

Officer Qualification Matrix.pdf

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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on March 25, 2008 at 10:58pm

Tiger, you are amazing - always about five steps ahead of the rest of us. I'm going to have to download that matrix for further study.

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Permalink Reply by Ted Bownas on March 25, 2008 at 11:28pm

I feel better about ours...they don't differ too much from Tiger's recommendations, which means we did a good job on them.

Attachments:

• Officer Requirements.doc, 27 KB

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Permalink Reply by Al Mozingo on April 2, 2008 at 3:49pm

LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR THE FIRE OFFICER
By Al Mozingo
www.firemanager.com




Basic Leadership
What is Leadership?
The Functions of a Leader
Theories of Human Motivation
Leadership Styles
Advanced Leadership
The Ten Principles of Leadership
The Problems of Becoming a Leader
The One Minute Manager
The Ultimate Test of Leadership
A Passion for Excellence

The Officer’s Role
Team Building
Effective Communications

Above and Beyond
The Vision
Mission Statements
Principle Centered Leadership
Empathic Communications


Al Mozingo has presented more than 2,500 classes, seminars and workshops throughout the United States. In addition, he has authored “The Leadership Corner” in several publications, for a number of years and has published more that 350 articles. A career firefighter with more than 30 years of experience, a Bachelors Degree and numerous teaching credentials/certifications. He is also an Instructor for the National Fire Academy teaching several programs nationally.

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