In a joint statement, George Foresman, under secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Preparedness Directorate, and Charlie Dickinson, acting U.S. fire administrator, have announced that four fire service executives will be recipients of the National Fire Academy's 2005 Annual Outstanding Research Awards.

The awards will go to District Chief Marcus G. Lusk, Amarillo (Texas) Fire Department; Chief Ray A. Webber, The Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati; Div. Chief Kevin O. Milan, Golden (Colo.) Fire Department; and Superintendent Mark Brown, New South Wales Fire Brigades, Sydney, Australia.

The awards recognize excellent applied research projects completed by Executive Fire Officer Program students. The four research efforts judged to be outstanding by those students’ faculty and peers were selected from the more than 600 papers completed during 2005 and submitted for review. The award-winning papers will be presented at the 18th Executive Fire Officer Symposium, to be held April 21-23 at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Md.

“Daily emergencies coupled with events such as Hurricane Katrina and the Sept. 11 attacks underscore the varied role of the fire service in protecting our nation’s citizens,” Foresman said. “I join with Acting Administrator Dickinson in congratulating these awardees, and further recognize the contributions made by all of the students in the Department of Homeland Security’s Executive Fire Officer Program. I'm proud of the work and accomplishments of these fine men and women, especially of those leaders who have committed themselves to advancing the expanding and changing body of knowledge for the entire fire service so our nation can be safer and more secure.”

Lusk received the Executive Development Course Award for his “Evaluating the Amarillo Department Mayday Guidelines,” as did Brown for “The Effectiveness of Fire Safety Training for Employees in Commercial Premises.” Webber received the Leading Community Risk Reduction Course Award for his “Identifying Alternative Approaches To Fire and Hazard Protection at Procter & Gamble.” Milan received the Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in Emergency Management Course Award for his “Evaluation of Electronic Student Response Technology in an Introductory National Incident Management System Training Course.”

The Executive Fire Officer Program is designed to provide senior fire officers with a broad perspective on various and challenging facets of fire administration. Over a four-year period, the officers continue their professional development in four NFA courses, which are recommended for either graduate-level or upper division baccalaureate credit equivalency by the American Council on Education. Participants in the program are required to complete an applied research project in their organization six months after the completion of each of the four course areas.