The National Fire Academy’s (NFA’s) Managing Officer Program is a multiyear curriculum that introduces emerging emergency services leaders to personal and professional skills in change management, risk reduction and adaptive leadership. Acceptance into the program is the first step in your professional development as a career or volunteer fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) manager, and includes all four elements of professional development: education, training, experience and continuing education.
The Managing Officer Program can help you, as a first- or mid-level officer/supervisor, jump-start professional development early on in your career or volunteer service. You will build on foundational management and technical competencies, learning to address issues of interpersonal and cultural sensitivity, professional ethics, and outcome-based performance. On completion of the program, you will:
A certificate of completion for the Managing Officer Program is awarded after the successful completion of all courses and the capstone project.
The selection criteria for the Managing Officer Program are based on service and academic requirements.
At the time of application, you must be in a rank/position that meets either the Training or Experience requirements below. Your chief (or equivalent in nonfire organizations) verifies this training and experience through his or her signature on the application.
1. Training
You should have a strong course completion background and have received training that has exposed you to more than just local requirements, such as regional and state training with responders from other jurisdictions.
This training can be demonstrated in one of many forms, which may include, but not be limited to, the following:
2. Experience
You must have experience as a supervising officer (such as fire operations, prevention, technical rescue, administration or EMS), which could include equivalent time as an “acting officer.” Your chief's signature on the application attests that you have supervised others.
To be considered for the Managing Officer Program, you must have:
Earned an associate degree from an accredited institution of higher education.
OR
Earned a minimum of 60 college credit hours (or equivalent quarter-hours) toward the completion of a bachelor’s degree at an accredited institution of higher education.
In addition, you need to pass these courses before applying (available both locally and online through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the NFA):
You may submit an application package at any time during the year, but not later than April 15 for consideration in the next available session.
To apply, submit the following:
You may take prerequisite courses before, during or after the NFA on-campus first and second year program. If you complete the on-campus program but not the prerequisites, you won't receive a certificate until you complete them.
Starting Oct. 1, 2017, prerequisite courses must be completed before beginning the on-campus program.
| Prerequisites substitutes are not allowed | First-year on-campus courses offered back-to-back only, twice a year | Second-year on-campus courses offered back-to-back only, twice a year |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Emergency Response to Terrorism (Q0890) | Applications of Community Risk Reduction (R0385) | Contemporary Training Concepts for Fire and EMS (R0386) |
| Leadership I for Fire and EMS: Strategies for Company Success, November 2011 version or later (F0803 or W0803) | Transitional Safety Leadership (R0384) | Analytical Tools for Decision-Making (R0387) |
| Leadership II for Fire and EMS: Strategies for Personal Success, November 2011 version or later (F0804 or W0804) | ||
| Leadership III for Fire and EMS: Strategies for Supervisory Success, November 2011 version or later (F0805 or W0805) | ||
| Shaping the Future (F0602 or W0602) |
Courses must be completed back-to-back; they can't be split. You are eligible for stipend reimbursement on one trip per year to the NFA.
The Managing Officer Program Capstone Project allows you to apply concepts learned in the program toward the solution of a problem in your home district.
You and the chief of your department (or equivalent in nonfire organizations) must meet to identify a problem and its scope and limitations. The scope of the project should be appropriate to your responsibilities and duties in the organization, and it should be appropriate to the Managing Officer Program. Possible subjects include:
Before initiating the project, you must submit a letter from your chief indicating the title of the project, projected outcomes, how it will be evaluated or measured, and approval for the project to go forward. When the project is completed, your chief must submit a letter indicating that it was completed successfully.
We will mail your certificate to the supervisor you specify for official presentation by your fire department when you complete the Managing Officer Program. To do this, we need the following information:
Please email this information, along with your Managing Officer Program course completion checklist (download below), to the NFA’s Managing Officer Program manager.
