With only 3,000 graduates and current students, the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program is the most elite fire leadership program in the United States. The program has evolved since its inception in 1985 to become the preeminent professional development program for senior fire executives.

The EFOP curriculum focuses on leadership development; risk reduction; integrated incident preparedness; response and mitigation; and applied research to facilitate change at the community level. Fire service organizations at the local level also must understand the threat of terrorism, natural disasters and multi-jurisdictional activities. Leadership development today demands broad-based training for all senior fire officers, as they're expected to be organizational and community experts in comprehensive emergency response.

Origins of EFOP

When the National Fire Academy opened its doors for residence programs in January 1980, the senior fire executive course offered a limited two-week experience titled “Executive Development III.” Demand for the course quickly exploded, but then-Superintendent Joe Donovan had a vision for even more. He and other faculty recognized the significant reputation of more protracted executive development offerings at the FBI campus in Quantico, Va., and the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., among others.

In 1983, Donovan proposed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency a sweeping plan of fundamental consolidation that reorganized the NFA's varied curricula into the EFOP. His timing could not have been better. A number of important legislative and review documents, including Public Law 093-498, America Burning and the Wingspread Reports, fortified the creation of EFOP. The plan received unprecedented bipartisan approval and nearly universal support from fire-related organizations across the country. Donavan's vision became reality with the first EFOP graduates in July 1987.

EFOP began in 1985 as a three-year curriculum. The middle year was an elective choice between operations and fire prevention — related courses. In 1988, NFA Superintendent William Neville mandated EFOP participation in the Strategic Analysis of Fire Prevention Programs course, extending the program to its present four-year format.

Further integration of change management courses known as Strategic Management of Change strengthened the executive orientation of the program in the early 1990s. A third-year elective menu also was instituted, providing EFOP participants a choice from five executive-level courses. These elective options provided self-management learning from 1996 to 2001.

In 2000, with the reorganization of USFA under way, Ken Burris, then the USFA chief operating officer, introduced the administration's role in promoting local fire services as the primary leader in community-wide risk reduction. With the support of many USFA stakeholders, a new course called Leading Community Risk Reduction was conceived and went online in 2002.

“The EFOP is at the forefront of educating fire service leaders in the art and science of community risk reduction,” says LCRR Course Director and Training Specialist Frank Richardson. “To be successful, fire departments of the future must be led by officers who have accepted the challenge of protecting their communities from multiple hazards. The proven prevention and protection skills, which have successfully reduced the risks due to fires, are being adapted to prepare both officers and their communities for other risks.”

Curriculum's evolution

Sept. 11, 2001, reinforced the need to emphasize the role of the fire service in a new world order. Division Director of USFA National Fire Programs and EFOP graduate Dr. Cortez Lawrence says that “developing critical strategic thinking on the part of the executive fire officer is necessary when confronted with complex incident operations that may involve a myriad of local, regional, state and even federal assets.”

Three months after Sept. 11, the USFA announced that the existing Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations course would become a core program requirement. This change prompted the end of SMOC, but selected elements were integrated into the revised Executive Development course.

The four-year program is anchored at front and back by an initial Executive Development class and an Executive Leadership capstone course. Both of these courses are continually revised to guarantee currency and value. The primary focus of Executive Development is the fire officer's role in organizational effectiveness, whereas in Executive Leadership personal effectiveness is the main focus. These courses include groupings of psychological assessment tools that provide self-based and observer-based feedback. Self-awareness of leader effectiveness is a critical attribute, and the USFA and NFA invest heavily in facilitating this feedback for participants.

The curriculum respects the organizational experience of all students, paid and volunteer alike. Many class discussions reflect the issues and challenges that participants bring to the classroom when applied to the theories and case studies presented. This is particularly true for EMS, which may represent more than 80% of an organization's call volume. The goal of the curriculum is to represent strategic perspectives and not operational ones. However, an extraordinary benefit of these courses is the amount of time spent in discussions between participants on operational issues.

Eligibility

The traditional target audience for EFOP is the senior fire executive, which includes the chief of department, those individuals who report directly to the chief and other senior officers who have sole responsibility for major function areas. Battalion-level chief officers in metropolitan fire service organizations, as defined by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, also are considered within this audience.

In 1991, the requirement for an associate degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning was added. This prerequisite was necessary because of increasing academic rigor and the applied research project assignments. In 2009, the academic requirement will increase to a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution of higher learning. This date is consistent with the academic requirements of the Chief Fire Officer Designation program run by the Commission on Chief Fire Officer Designation.

In 2000, the USFA and NFA integrated a new student classification. The Key Leaders Program focuses on people who are not yet senior officers but are serving in key leadership positions within their fire or emergency services organization. This audience category is quite limited and highly competitive.

“The Key Leaders classification attempts to recognize company-level [officers] and other officers who have already demonstrated superior leadership potential and would normally not qualify for EFOP,” says NFA Superintendent Dr. Denis Onieal. “It's an opportunity for us to further add diversity to our EFOP by adding unique perspectives.”

Key Leader slots represent between 12% and 20% of each incoming class. The USFA and NFA annually accept about 200 applicants to begin the program. Because the EFOP is four years, the total course population in rotation usually exceeds 800. Participants must maintain their eligibility throughout the four-year process and are required to notify the USFA and NFA if any changes in position or employment occur.

All NFA courses, including the EFOP, are free; instruction and course materials are provided at no cost. Students may be required to purchase some texts or copies of assigned readings. Transportation costs and student lodging also are covered for those who represent paid or volunteer fire departments, rescue squads, or state or local governments.

The program also accepts a small number of participants from other countries and allied professions to add diversity and expanded perspectives to courses. These individuals pay their own transportation and lodging fees. All students are responsible for the cost of meals on campus and for personal incidental expenses. Participants are limited to one course per fiscal year. Stipend reimbursement, limitations and exclusions, and eligibility requirements are available at the NFA Web site at www.usfa.fema.gov/fire-service/nfa/courses/oncampus/nfa-on2f.shtm.

Applied research

EFOP enjoys a clear distinction from other NFA training courses. In each sequential course, an applied research project is mandatory. For their projects, participants must identify a problem or issue that exists in the their community. While in Emmitsburg, a research evaluator is assigned to each participant; contracted professionals offer initial advice on the research proposal, then evaluate the written project when submitted six months later. The participants must create new information and data from a variety of research procedures. This data becomes the foundation and justification for making recommendations to solve the challenge or issue they've identified. A format of the applied research is commensurate with the higher education tradition as outlined in the American Psychological Association style and format.

“EFOP research is what gives the program credibility to other academic and professional disciplines,” says Dr. Burt Clark, the training specialist for management science. “EFOP applied research projects have increased the professional status of the fire service in every community they have been conducted in. Science and research will be the foundation to the fire service becoming a true profession in the 21st century.”

The applied research project has been an element of the program since 1990 and has resulted in more than 4,000 extraordinary research discussions covering a vast array of fire service leadership scenarios. The most prominent of these studies are archived in the National Emergency Training Center Learning Resource Center.

An academic scale of 4.0 is used in evaluating projects; 2.0 is the minimum score for passing and must be achieved for each section. Each year a review of projects in each of the four course areas is conducted. Projects that are deemed “outstanding” are recognized each spring at the EFOP Graduate Symposium in Emmitsburg. Authors present their projects during the symposium. Award winners also receive a cash award and a one-year membership in the National Society of Executive Fire Officers.

Relationships

Perhaps the most significant benefit to the nations' fire service discipline is the recognition that EFOP now sets the professional training standard for senior officers.

Further, EFOP, like other NFA courses, is articulated with the American Council on Education/College Credit Recommendation Service as potential transferable college credit. Although the academy is not a degree-granting institution, each of the four EFOP courses carries recommendations for three hours of transfer credit; two of the four courses carry graduate-level credit recommendations and the remaining two have “junior-senior” or upper-division baccalaureate credit recommendations. Additionally, ACE/CCRS has recommended one hour of credit transfer for each of the four applied research projects at either the graduate or upper-division baccalaureate levels. Many participants and graduates successfully apply their EFOP transfer to local degree-granting programs of their choice.

One institution, Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, invites EFOP credit into its accredited Master of Science in Executive Fire Service Leadership program. Grand Canyon accepts the full 16 hours of EFOP with an additional 21-hour requirement into its graduate study division.

Another graduate-level program sponsored by Oklahoma State University in Stillwater is a Master of Science in Fire & Emergency Management, into which six elective hours will be authorized toward the master's degree.

The Commission on Chief Fire Officer Designation recognizes EFOP to the extent that completion fully satisfies the professional development section, one of the seven requirement areas. More than 120 senior fire executives have received the CFOD, and many of them are EFOP graduates.

In August 2003, the IAFC Board of Directors approved the IAFC Officer Development Handbook, a guide for the “pursuit of planned, progressive lifelong process of education, training, self-development and experience.” The handbook recognizes the EFOP as an activity to support executive fire officer professional development.

The USFA and NFA continually work to enhance and improve the EFOP so that it keeps pace with an ever-changing fire and emergency services environment.

“The challenges facing the fire service of this nation are many,” says U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison. “There has never been a more critical time for leadership, team building and team work among firefighters, first responders and the entire emergency management community. At this time, the fire service needs leadership and individuals who are able to identify and provide new solutions for extremely complex homeland security challenges.

“The EFOP continues to assure that this nation and the American fire service will have the leadership, body of knowledge and team-building resources it needs for generations to come.”

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Chuck Burkell is the training specialist for executive development at the U.S. Fire Administration. His program responsibilities include the executive development and leadership courses, the Executive Fire Officer Program and the Harvard Fellowship Program.

EFOP: Year by Year

At the end of each year, students must complete an applied research project.

Year 1]Executive Development. This newly revised course features a required applied research pre-course. The three primary curriculum themes are leadership, research and change.

Executive development provides the foundation for the EFOP experience as it introduces a leadership framework and prepares participants to engage in the applied research process.

Year 2]Leading Community Risk Reduction. The philosophy of this course being second in the EFOP reflects USFA's belief in identifying risk and then mitigating the likelihood that these community risks would result in deaths, injuries and property loss, thus affecting the quality of life.

This course supports a major USFA objective in assisting EFOP participants and their communities to assess and reduce risk.

Year 3]Executive Analysis of Fire Service Operations in Emergency Management. This course is a very critical curriculum in today's incident response environment. The administration of incident response is examined in light of the Federal Response Plan, the Integrated Emergency Management System, emergency operations center functions, planning, documentation and other areas.

Year 4]Executive Leadership. This concluding course was designed specifically to provide a framework of executive level competencies related to personal effectiveness.

These areas include decision-making, role analysis, managing transitions, influencing/persuasion, storytelling, and use of feedback. It's extensively case-based with a battery of feedback instruments. A product of the course is a post-EFOP personal plan. After the completing both the fourth year and the final research project, students are awarded their EFOP certificates.

Graduate Testimonials

EFOP Application Process

To be considered for the Executive Fire Officer Program, candidates must submit their application materials no later than June 30. Application materials must include:

• General Admissions Application Form, FEMA 75-5.
• Letter of intent.
• Resume.
• Letter of recommendation.
• Photocopy of academic degree diploma.
• Organizational chart.

Applicants must possess a minimum of an associate's degree from a regionally accredited college or university. Rank/position classification is determined by grouping applicants into one of two categories: Chiefs of department, second-level officers or heads of division; or the Key Leaders category.

USFA and NFA staffs review applications to ensure compliance. Essay forms then are mailed to semi-finalists. Candidates' responses to a short-answer essay questionnaire must be received by Sept. 1. The essay questionnaire serves as a tool to determine:

• Perceived professional accomplishments.
• Clarity of expression and thought.
• Writing and vocabulary capabilities.
• Perceived expectations regarding the EFOP program and process.
• Perceived organizational and professional issues.

Additional factors that affect final EFOP selections are:

• Overall quality of application materials.
• Number of applicants from each state.
• Number of applicants from a single fire/emergency services organization.

The more applicants from a given state or organization increases competitiveness within the process.

USFA/NFA notifies semi-finalists of acceptance or non-acceptance by mid-October.

For More Info

National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program www.usfa.fema.gov/fire-service/nfa/courses/oncampus/nfa-on2.shtm

National Society of Executive Fire Officers Call the International Association of Fire Chiefs at 703-273-9815, ext. 334, or e-mail msasst@iafc.org

Grand Canyon University www.grand-canyon.edu/cobps/public_safety/msefsl/msefsl_home_page.htm

Oklahoma State University http://gradcollege.okstate.edu/programs/femp.htm

International Association of Fire Chiefs www.iafc.org

Chief Fire Officer Designation Program www.cfainet.org/cfod/index.htm