Fire Chief

In 2000, my oldest son, Dale, now a commander in the U.S. Navy, and I wrote a two-part series for Fire Chief magazine entitled “Wave of the Future.” (Click here for parts one and two) We compared and contrasted certain historical developments and organizational characteristics that simultaneously developed within the U.S. military and the U.S. fire service. Then using the future direction of the military at that time, we tried to predict the future direction of the fire service. Of course, these predictions were made in pre-9/11 days, and subsequently the mission of both services has been greatly expanded.

Dale and I rarely have the opportunity for a leisurely conversation, but recently we started to talk about the future tract of officer development. It’s a given that the long-standing tradition for officer development in the military includes War College, Command and Staff College, and an advanced degree in a related field. These fairly well equate to our Chief Fire Officer Designation, Executive Fire Officer Program, the Harvard Fellowship, and the growing number of master’s degrees offered to fire officers in studies from public administration to executive leadership.

The war on terrorism, however, has produced an unprecedented number of younger military officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, who have been given greater latitude in problem-solving and local operational jurisdiction in combat. But how will these officers approach the more traditional development path versus the fast-paced decision-making process that they have been exposed to in these combat areas?

Now look at the fire service. While returning veterans from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and Operation Desert Storm have help shape the fire service as it is today, how will the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts shape the fire service of the future? All officers, military and fire service, make split-second decisions based on the best situational information available augmented by their level of experience. The military best describes this decision process as the OODA Loop, so named by USAF Colonel John Boyd on how fighter pilots observe, orient, decide and act in aerial combat. Those who can do it better and faster live to fly another day. The fire service incorporates a similar process into our Incident Command System.

As we welcome this generation of young veterans into the fire service, what will be their expectations and their goals for development into the fire officer ranks? They will expect more intense training under near-operational conditions leading to the experience they will need to be a part of the decision process. Their experiences overseas will help frame this decision-making process, just as my past experience as an Air Force officer in Vietnam has framed mine.

Should we be wary of these young men and women? No, by all means this is the same process by which we were assimilated into the organizational culture of the fire service. But understand that as our future leaders, they will shape the next generation of firefighter / medics that will serve our communities for decades. As chiefs, we need to embrace their experience, listen and learn how to channel their energy into innovative ways to manage our departments. This will be a very positive experience in the development of our future fire officers and chiefs.