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WFLDP Toolbox

 

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Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program header

Leaders constantly assess the elements of the leadership environment and adapt accordingly. Successful leaders understand the interplay of these variables and demonstrate flexibility in selecting appropriate leadership tools and techniques as a situation changes. The Leadership Toolbox provides an array of tools leaders can use to develop their art of leadership.

The following headings link to the corresponding toolbox page where you will find more information.

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An After Action Review (AAR) is a professional discussion of an event, focused on performance standards, that enables firefighters to discover for themselves what happened, why it happened, and how to sustain strengths and improve on weaknesses.

Fire leaders show respect by keeping people informed—describing leader’s intent for assignments, providing timely briefings and debriefing, identifying hazards, and answering questions at appropriate times.

This ever-growing collection of leadership publications provides something for everyone.

This feature provides support to facilitators in the planning, development, and execution of a Field Leadership Assessment Course (FLAC) portion of the L-280 course and for team building.

The Crew Cohesion Assessment is designed to provide a tool to measure crew or team behaviors as they relate to cohesion.

LEAD Time is a collection of leadership topics within the 6 Minutes for Safety library as a means to promote leadership discussions during tailgate sessions.

This publication expresses the fundamental leadership concepts of the wildland fire service, outlining the framework, values, and principles that guide wildland fire leaders in providing leadership across a broad range of missions.

This tool includes interviews with wildland fire leaders that have had an impact on the wildland fire organization.

This feature is intended to provide a selection of media (films, videos, podcasts, etc.) that support continuing education efforts within the wildland fire service.

Leaders are readers. The intent of the PRP is to engage leaders of all levels to support a continued growth in leadership through reading through yearly collection of publications.

Being a successful firefighter means being a student of fire. This tool helps leaders at all levels plan and track training, challenging field experiences, and their own self-directed learning efforts.

This tool provides a library of information on significant wildland fire events in order to assist individuals who want to conduct staff rides to those sites and to provide a reference source for individuals who want to develop new staff rides for incidents of local interest.

This tool serves as a planning guide and reference for fire management programs, including individual crews and overhead teams, for developing, implementing, and maintaining SOP to conduct business safely and set standards for basic crew operations.

The TDG tool hosts a library of games and references as a means for leaders to practice making decisions and communicating those decisions to others.

The campaign promotes leadership development across all wildland fire community disciplines by focusing on one theme nationally but is easily implemented locally. This tool includes references and challenges from previous years.

NWCG Latest Announcements

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee Releases Safety Warning: 25-001 Non-specification fire shelters

Date: January 15, 2025
Contact: Equipment Technology Committee

The Equipment Technology Committee (ETC) has released Safety Warning: 25-001 Non-specification fire shelters. Non-specification fire shelters claiming to meet Forest Service (FS) fire shelter specification 5100-606 were first found in February of 2023. As of September 2024, non-specification shelters are again being advertised and sold on the open market.

This Safety Warning outlines details and recommended procedures to purchase FS specification shelters made with materials and components that meet performance criteria and toxicity testing requirements outlined in FS Specification 5100-606. 

For additional information on identifying non-specification shelters, please view ETC Safety Warning 23-01.

References:

ETC Safety Warning 25-001: Non-specification fire shelters

NWCG Equipment Technology Committee

ETC Safety Warning 23-01

Paul Gleason Lead by Example Awards

Date: January 14, 2025
Contact: Leadership Committee

The NWCG Leadership Committee has awarded the 2023 Paul Gleason “Lead By Example” awards to individuals in the categories of Initiative and Innovation, Mentoring and Teamwork, and Motivation and Vision, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Congratulations to the awardees:

  • Sam Bowen, Superintendent of the Mark Twain Veteran Crew with the U.S. Forest Service.
  • Greg Titus, Zone Fire Management Officer for the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  • Renae Crippen, Manager of the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center with the U.S. Forest Service.
  • Eric Carlson, Instructor with OMNA International.

References:

Paul Gleason Lead by Example Award

Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program

Interview with Paul Gleason

Updated NWCG Standards for Water Scooping Operations, PMS 518

Date: December 19, 2024
Contact: Water Scooper Operations Unit

The NWCG Standards for Water Scooping Operations, PMS 518 establishes the standards for dispatching, utilizing, and coordinating water scooping aircraft on interagency wildland fires. These standards should be used in conjunction with the NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision (SAS), PMS 505, and any local, state, or geographic/regional water scooping plans.

References:

NWCG Standards for Water Scooping Operations, PMS 518

Updated NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision, PMS 505

Date: December 19, 2024
Contact: Interagency Aerial Supervision Subcommittee

The Interagency Aerial Supervision Subcommittee has updated the NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision, PMS 505. PMS 505 establishes standards for aerial supervision operations for national interagency wildland fire operations. 

References:

NWCG Standards for Aerial Supervision, PMS 505