IAFC Releases Officer Development Handbook

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has released the Officer Development Handbook, a professional development guide for current and aspiring chief fire officers. Published in partnership with the IAFC Foundation, the handbook is intended to help fire officers at all levels plan a systematic and lifelong development program for their professional fire service careers.

The Officer Development Handbook outlines four key elements of professional development—education, training, experience and self-development. The handbook discusses each of these elements at different levels of a fire officer’s career—supervisor, manager, administrator and executive fire officer. Each section also includes an overview of the corresponding National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1021 standard for fire officer professional development.

The handbook’s introductory remarks point out that the need for professional development is not a new issue. As far back as 1966, in the IAFC’s first decennial Wingspread conference, top fire service leaders complained that the industry’s traditional reliance on promoting personnel through the ranks—then training them to be leaders on the job—was unlike any other major profession and could not guarantee continuity in the development of its leadership.

By 1996, Wingspread IV’s official position on leadership foretold today’s emergency climate with its statement: “To move successfully into the future, the fire service needs leaders capable of developing and managing their organizations in dramatically changed environments.” The purpose of the handbook is to create fire officers who can do that from the ground up.

“The IAFC has championed the idea of moving the fire service toward professional status,” IAFC President Ernest Mitchell said. After three years in the making, “The Officer Development Handbook is another significant step in that direction.”

The four sections, divided by officer level, outline a combination of management science, biological and environmental science, ethics and philosophy, writing and communication skills, political and social science, economics and legal issues, in addition to classic training methods and years in the field of fire safety and intervention. Physical and mental fitness are also featured components.

The handbook’s electronic version is available now free of charge at www.iafc.org/downloads/OffrsHdbkFINAL3.pdf.

—KR