**NWCG Issue Paper**

**Leadership Development Program Intent**

**June 2005**

**Background**

In 2001, NWCG accepted 14 recommendations contained in the *Leadership
Task Group Report to the Training Working Team*. One of these
recommendations was to "establish a standing group that will be
responsible for overseeing the implementation of the recommendations in
this report." To view the report in its entirety and review the content
of the original 14 recommendations, please visit
<http://www.fireleadership.gov/committee/reports/February_2001_Task_Group_Report.pdf>

On January 23, 2002, the NWCG Leadership Committee met for the first
time. In the roughly 3 ½ years since the first Leadership Committee
meeting, a great deal has been accomplished. Of the original 14
recommendations, 11 have been completed and two others are nearly
complete. Work will continue to occur on many of the items due to the
ongoing nature some of the items and the need for program sustainment.
Most NWCG groups or committees would be justifiably proud of such a
track record; the Leadership Committee certainly is. Unfortunately
however, there is one of the original 14 recommendations remaining with
a large question mark next to it, and it is an issue of long-term
strategic importance to all of the NWCG member agencies. Only with
clearly expressed intent from NWCG can this issue be resolved.

**Issue**

Original recommendation number 9 from the *Leadership Task Group Report*
reads as follows: "Revise the Wildland and Prescribed Fire Qualification
System Guide (PMS 310-1) to make specific leadership courses "required
training" for certain key positions and "additional training"
recommended for other positions. Incident Operations Standards Working
Team (IOSWT) to review, modify as needed, and approve changes to the
310-1 recommended in this document. Suggested completion date, Fall
2001." Obviously, IOSWT time frames for revision of the 310-1 did now
allow for the Fall 2001 completion date to be met. The 310-1 is
currently under revision with an anticipated completion date of February
2006.

The Leadership Committee has fulfilled its obligation to make leadership
training recommendations for specific positions in the 310-1. For the
purposes of this paper, the term "recommended training" is used and is
intended to mean the same thing as the 310-1 language "additional
training which supports development of knowledge and skills." It's just
shorter to say "recommended training." The following tables summarize
those recommendations.

**Proposals by ICS Function**

  ----------------- ------------------------ --------------------------- -----------------
  **Function**      **Number of positions    **Number of positions with  **Total Number of
                    with proposed            proposed                    positions in
                    [Required]{.underline}   [Recommended]{.underline}   310-1 (Jan. 2000
                    training**               training**                  version)**

  Command/Staff     6                        5                           20

  Operations        13                       1                           21

  Air Operations    1                        3                           14

  Planning          1                        4                           15

  Logistics         1                        13                          19

  Finance           1                        9                           11

  Expanded Dispatch 0                        4                           5

  TOTAL             23                       39                          105
  ----------------- ------------------------ --------------------------- -----------------

Breakdown of "Required" Training Courses proposed

  --------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
  Function        L-480          L-381          L-380          L-280

  Command/Staff   3              2              1              0

  Operations      1              1              5              6

  Air Operations  0              0              0              1

  Planning        1              0              0              0

  Logistics       1              0              0              0

  Finance         1              0              0              0

  Expanded        0              0              0              0
  Dispatch                                                     

  TOTAL           7              3              6              7
  --------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- --------------

Note: L-480, L-381 and L-380 are all 32-hour courses; L-280 is a 16-hour
course

In terms of percentages, the Leadership Committee's recommendations
would amount to adding a training [requirement]{.underline} to 22% of
the positions in the 310-1. Of these positions for which leadership
training would be required, 87% are in the Operations, Air Operations or
Command/Staff functional areas. The remaining 13% are Section Chief
positions in the other functional areas.

It should be clear from the above that the Leadership Committee
carefully weighed each position in the 310-1 and analyzed the position
duties and level of exposure to risk in deciding what type of leadership
training recommendation to make. Qualifications requirements for each
position were taken into account, and the pathway(s) to position
qualification analyzed. Training was not recommended for a position if
it was already recommended or required for a prerequisite position.

It should also be obvious from the data above that the Leadership
Committee did not make wholesale recommendations for additional required
training. The focus on adding requirements for Command/Staff and
Operations positions -- our most high risk/high consequence incident
jobs -- is intentional. If strong leadership is not crucial in these
functional areas, it is not important anywhere in our organizations.

The reaction to these proposals from the IOSWT has been clear and simple
to date: **no leadership training will be added as a requirement in the
310-1 for any position**. In other words, according to current drafts of
the 310-1 to be published in 2006, all leadership training will be
optional. This highlights a striking and fundamental paradox in our
organizations: leadership itself is not viewed as optional, but training
people to become leaders is.

The primary objection to making leadership training required appears to
be monetary: additional training requirements of any type are viewed as
too expensive, particularly by many of the State partner agencies. It is
undoubtedly true that additional training requirements translate
directly into additional funding requirements. Unfortunately, resources
for such programs often become available only in the immediate aftermath
of tragedies.

One characteristic of the 310-1 should be considered here: this document
only relates to position requirements for [national
mobilization]{.underline} purposes. Language in the current 310-1
states: "those personnel meeting the established standards are qualified
for mobilization beyond their geographic area." Nothing in the 310-1 can
be construed to set policy for individual agencies and how they qualify
or train their own resources for their own use. This puts a different
complexion on the "we won't be able to afford to train our people"
argument -- it becomes "we won't be able to afford to train our people
to go to Montana next summer".

A characteristic of the Leadership Development Program itself should
also be considered. This program consists of three distinct components:
leadership values and principles, self-development, and formal training.
Of these three components, formal training is the only one that costs
very much. Values and principles are basically free, and
self-development activities don't typically cost much more than buying
some books or renting a bus for a staff ride. The Leadership Committee
is as opposed to unnecessary required training as anyone else; we view
these recommendations as being necessary to the safety of firefighters,
efficiency of operations and long-term health of the agencies.

Initially, some resistance to leadership training was based on the
impression that the agencies would be locked into a sole-source vendor
situation. To overcome this, the Leadership Committee developed a new
model for the design and delivery of training in establishing "design
criteria" for two courses, L-380 Fireline Leadership and L-381 Incident
Leadership. Agencies, academic institutions or private vendors can
develop and deliver these courses provided they meet the design criteria
-- no one has to rely on any particular vendor and multiple approaches
to accomplishing this training are possible.

The risk to interagency fire operations is clear if the 2006 310-1
contains no leadership training requirements for any position. Almost
certainly a schism will begin to develop between agencies that value
leadership development enough to commit resources to it and those that
don't. Some agencies will field personnel who have been systematically
developed as leaders, and some won't. The differences between the two
approaches will become more and more obvious as time passes. This type
of dichotomy in the ranks of interagency fire management personnel
cannot possibly be viewed as a healthy development for the wildland fire
service. At its most basic level, this a quantity versus quality issue.
Certainly it would be cheaper to field lots of firefighters with no
leadership training (or fire behavior or any other type of training, for
that matter). But would it be the right thing to do?

Finally, some rather difficult questions of a strategic nature must be
asked of NWCG. Why did it create the Leadership Committee in 2001 and
task it with establishing a leadership curriculum? Was the intent to
create a menu of optional items that could be used by agencies to
develop their leaders if they were so inclined? Did a desire ever exist
for cultural change within the wildland fire service, and if so was
placing a high value on leadership thought to be a necessary part of
that cultural change? What is strong leadership worth to the NWCG member
agencies? Do they expect it to simply spring up within their ranks and
flourish unaided? What message does NWCG send to firefighters when it
funds a number of highly visible and expensive software development
efforts while not funding leadership development?

**Recommendations**

1)  NWCG formulate and publish a clear statement of intent regarding the
    Leadership Development Program and its formal training component.

2)  NWCG provide specific direction to the IOSWT regarding inclusion of
    leadership training requirements in the 310-1.

3)  NWCG identify ways in which funding can be made available to support
    leadership training for member agencies who cannot afford it and
    criteria to identify which agencies fall into this category.