Efo 48724

Running head: PREPARING COMPANY OFFICERS FOR PROMOTION TO CHIEF 1
Preparing Company Officers for Promotion to Chief Officer
In Order to Ensure Future Organizational Success
Michael Robertson
Evesham Fire-Rescue, Evesham, New Jersey

Appendices Not Included. Please visit the Learning Resource Center on the Web at
http://www.lrc.dhs.gov/ to learn how to obtain this report in its entirety through
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PREPARING COMPANY OFFICERS FOR PROMOTION TO CHIEF 2
CERTIFICATION STATEMENT
I hereby certify that this paper constitutes my own product, that where the language of
others is set forth, quotation marks so indicate, and that appropriate credit is given where I have
used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another.
Signed: __________________________________
Abstract
The problem is that the Evesham Fire-Rescue Department (EFD) has not fully prepared
its company officers to assume the role of Deputy Chief. The purpose of this research is to
identify the components of a chief officer development program to prepare current and future
company officers for promotion to chief officer.
The research project will utilize a descriptive research methodology and will be
completed by interviewing retired EFD Deputy Chiefs, the current Deputy Chief and Assistant
Chief, and surveying the current company officers about professional development at the EFD.
In addition, a survey will be sent to other combination and full career fire departments of similar
size in New Jersey. The New Jersey Administrative Code will also be reviewed to determine the
state requirements for certification and training of fire officers.
Research questions used to guide the study include determining what the state standards
for chief officer in New Jersey, the components of chief officer development programs of other
combination and full career departments, the components of successful management
development programs in other industries, and what do current and retired fire officers at EFD
think should be included in a chief officer development program.
The research indicates that many fire departments in New Jersey, including the Evesham
Fire Department, do not have formal professional development programs to prepare career
company officers to promote to chief officer. The research also indicates this has and continues
to be a problem nationally since it was first identified by the fire service in 1966.
The author’s recommendations include using the National Professional Development
Matrix from FESHE to develop professional development plans for all officers in the
department. Each fire department must develop a clear mission statement, vision statement and
core values. Each of these must be communicated throughout the organization.

Table of Contents
Abstract .…………………………………………………………………. 3
Table of Contents ……………………………………………………….. 5
Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 6
Background and Significance ……………………………………………. 7
Literature Review ………………………………………………………... 9
Procedures ………………………………………………………………... 32
Results ……………………………………………………………………. 36
Discussion ………………………………………………………………… 41
Recommendations ………………………………………………………… 50
Reference List …………………………………………………………….. 59
Appendix
A1 – A5 Wingspread Conference - Statements of Significance (1966-2006)
A6 – CHFD Policy Directive No. 1217 – Fire Officer Development Program
A7 – National Professional Development Matrix – Fire Officer
A8 – National Professional Development Matrix – EMS Officer
A9 – Chief Officer Survey
A10 – Request to send surveys – Chief of Department
A11 – Survey request – Chief Officers
A12 – EFD Company Officer Survey
A13 – EFD Retired Chiefs – Interview Form

When looking at the future of the fire service nationwide, it must be recognized that there
is a tremendous amount of experience exiting the fire service as countless firefighters enter
retirement and a new generation enters the workforce (Alyn, 2012, pg. 13). Many of these
retirements are being caused by economic impacts at the local and state level including changes
to employee pension systems and health care benefits. And while there are many other issues
facing today’s fire service including shrinking municipal budgets, a decrease in municipal tax
revenue, and also increased liability in fire suppression and emergency medical services, the
most pressing issue is leadership and the development of future fire officers (Alyn, 2012, p. 14).
The problem is that the Evesham Fire-Rescue Department (EFD) has not fully prepared
its company officers to assume the role of Deputy Chief, which is currently the first level chief
officer above the rank of Captain. The purpose of this research is to identify the components of a
chief officer development program that will prepare current and future company officers for
promotion to first level chief officer.
The research project will utilize a descriptive research methodology and will be
completed by interviewing retired EFD Deputy Chiefs, interviewing the current EFD Deputy
Chief and Assistant Chief, and surveying current EFD company officers about their thoughts on
professional development at EFD. I will also review the job description for EFD Deputy Chief
to better understand the roles and responsibilities of this position. In addition, a survey will be
sent to other combination/full career fire departments of similar size in New Jersey. The New
Jersey Administrative Code will also be reviewed to determine the state requirements for
certification and training of fire officers.
The research questions that were used to guide this research project included:
1. What are the state standards for chief officer in New Jersey?
2. What are the components of chief officer development programs currently being
utilized in other combination and full career departments of similar size in New
Jersey?
3. What are the components of successful management development programs in other
industries?
4. What are the formal and informal roles of Deputy Chief at the EFD?
5. What do current company officers at the EFD think should be included in a chief
officer development program?
6. What training do retired EFD Deputy Chiefs think would have better prepared them
for promotion to their position?
Finding the answers to these questions and then making recommendations to improve my
department will be the basis for this applied research project.
Background and Significance
The Evesham Fire-Rescue Department is a combination Fire-EMS department with 32
career personnel and approximately 100 volunteer personnel. The career staff includes the Chief
of Department, an Assistant Chief, a Deputy Chief, two Captains, four Lieutenants, and 19
Firefighter-EMT/Inspectors. We are also completing a hiring process that will add four
additional Firefighter-EMT/Inspectors in November 2014. The volunteer staff includes
supervisory ranks of Deputy Chief, Battalion Chief, Captains and Lieutenants, in both the Fire
and EMS divisions. The career staff provides primary coverage Monday through Friday during
the hours of 0700-1800 (plus one BLS crew working from 0500-1600 on weekdays) and the
volunteers provide primary coverage weeknights from 1800-0700 hours, all weekends, and
major holidays. The department responds out of three stations strategically located throughout
the community of 48,000 residents living across 30 square miles. The community includes
residential, commercial/retail properties and a large area of wildland urban interface. The
department also provides fire code enforcement, public education and technical rescue services
(Evesham Fire-Rescue - About Us, n.d.).
Our department is anticipating the retirement of its career chief officer staff in the next
one to three years. While the three chiefs will not retire at exactly the same time, their departures
will all occur in a relatively short period of time. It is also anticipated that one career Captain
will also retire in the next six to eighteen months, which is the next level career officer in our
department below the rank of Deputy Chief. The loss of our top four senior officers will result in
a significant loss of knowledge and experience at the upper end of the fire department in a very
short period of time.
My concern is that after this series of anticipated retirements, which includes our chief
officer staff and a senior Captain, the remaining company officers may not be fully prepared to
assume the roles of Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief and Chief of Department. This is not to say
that our remaining company officers, including myself as a Lieutenant, are not capable of
assuming these chief officer roles, but instead I say that we as an organization may have not lead
them down a formal, structured, uniform path of professional development to prepare them to
step into the roles of our three chief level officer positions.
The near future loss of our most senior officers could possibly create a “shock wave”
through the organization and affect its continued success as a highly respected fire and EMS
agency in Burlington County, New Jersey. While this would be a worst-case scenario, at the
minimum our department could digress while our company officers “catch up” to their new roles
and responsibilities of chief officer. Our future success as an organization will ultimately
depend upon whether or not the remaining company level officers are fully prepared to assume
the roles of Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief and Chief of Department.
This research paper is a part of the Executive Development course from the first year of
the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
The research paper will make use of the information shared in this two week course with great
emphasis on the modules about Exercising Leadership, Change Management and also
Organizational Culture and Change (U.S. Fire Administration, 2010). The results of the research
paper will allow me to address a current problem in my department and provide us with the
solutions to resolve this issue, thereby making us a better organization.
The research paper will also support one of the five major strategic goals of the United
States Fire Administration (USFA). The research paper will specifically focus on USFA
Strategic Goal 3: Improve the fire and emergency services’ professional status. As a future
chief officer in my department, I have the responsibility to ensure that not only myself, but also
future company officers at EFD are guided toward professional development that encourages
learning and improvement throughout their career. This is important to ensure the continued
success of our organization in the community that we serve.
Literature Review
A literature review was conducted to locate information that would help me to answer the
research questions in this paper. Answers to the research questions are the driving force behind
reaching my final recommendations. The sources of information that follow will be current and
comprehensive, and will be used to show what other people have said and published about the
topics covered in my research questions.
In a recent fire service article, the subject of the American fire service having a leadership pandemic is
discussed. The author Anthony Kastros (2014) discusses how many fire departments across our country
do already have good leaders. However, many of these leaders came “out of the box” as good leaders
or they went and sought out other good leaders to emulate. Many of them also completed additional
leadership training on their own time. The problem Kastros cites is today these exceptional leaders in
the fire service are disappearing and becoming extinct. This is compounded by most fire departments
lacking any type of in-house, systematic, modern, realistic, effective, continuous and hands-on scenario
based leadership training (Kastros, 2014, p. 129). In addition to fireground simulations, leadership
training for fire officers must include role-play scenarios that mimic situations the officers will face in the
station and out in public. These role-play scenarios should include discussion after about how the
officer handled the situation and alternative solutions for the same scenario.
A well known motivational speaker and renowned expert on the subject of leadership is
John Maxwell. In his book, Developing Leaders Around You, Maxwell discusses the principle
that you must grow leaders in order to grow your organization. Maxwell refers to a second
principle that the top one percent of all great leaders understands that acquiring and keeping
good people should be the leader’s most important job in their organization. In addition, he
explains that the very best leaders work to take their people to the next level and develop them,
so that they can reach their full potential (Maxwell, 1995, p. 107).
Those who really want to be successful leaders must not only develop leaders around
them, but also establish a team of leaders to help the organization grow. A team of leaders that
has certain traits will succeed over almost any challenge. These traits include that the leadership
team within the organization must care for one another, they must understand what’s important
to the organization (core values and mission), the leadership team must communicate with one
another to ensure tasks are not duplicated or left undone, and the team members must place their
own self-interests below what’s best for the team and the organization (Maxwell, 1995, p. 131).
Maxwell further discusses that potential leaders are either an asset or a liability to the
organization. When there is a problem in the organization, a “fire” in his analogy, the leader is
often first to arrive. The leader has two buckets in his hands. One bucket contains water, the
other bucket contains gasoline. As the overall leader of the organization, the Chief should ask
the question, “Am I training them to use the gasoline or the water?” (Maxwell, 1995, p. 4). This
analogy can be applied to any type of business or organization, including the fire service.
In the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Officer Development Handbook
(ODH), Second Edition, the history of professional development in the fire service is discussed
and how this was identified as a problem for our nations fire service as far back as 1966 at the
original Wingspread Conference on Fire Service Administration, Education and Research (IAFC
ODH, 2010). The Wingspread Conference, led by an ad hoc committee of fire service
professionals and educators, was first convened to address areas of national significance related
to the fire problem in the United States. The conference is held in ten year intervals, with the
next one scheduled for 2016 (Wingspread Conference I-V Reports, n.d.). In the very first
Wingspread Conference, the following were just a few of the 12 key statements that were
concluded:
- Professional status begins with education
- The scope, degree and depth of the educational requirements for efficient
functioning of the fire service must be examined.
- Increased mobility at the executive level of the fire service will be important to
the achievement of professional status.
- The career development of the fire executive must be systematic and deliberate.
The topic of professional development in the fire service continued to be identified as an
unsolved issue contributing to the fire problem in America in every wingspread conference that
followed in 1976, 1986, 1996 and most recently in 2006 (Wingspread Conference I-V Reports,
n.d.). I have included the statements of national significance from each of these conferences in
the appendix (Appendix A1-A5).

In an article from a fire service trade publication, Dr. Harry Carter (2014) writes about
the importance of succession planning and positioning your fire department for future success.
He discuss the most common ways that fire departments fail themselves and the taxpayers. His
list of mistakes includes:
- Failing to accept responsibility
- Failing to properly develop people
- Trying to control results, rather than stimulate thinking
- Being a buddy rather than a fire officer
- Failing to set standards (a long car trip with no map)
- Failing to train people to do their job
- Tolerating incompetence
Three of the seven common mistakes listed above are related to our failure to
professionally develop personnel in the organization. Dr. Carter explains that as we approach the
year 2020 and our budgets continue to increase, taxpayers and city officials are looking more
closely at who we are and what we do. In this political climate, we must develop people who
are professionally competent and trained to do their jobs in manner that is both efficient and cost
effective. He emphasizes that it will take a conscious and dedicated effort to develop personnel
this way and our ability to do so will be a key factor in our future success as a community-based
emergency service organization (Carter, 2014).
Dr. Kimberly Alyn, who was a best-selling author and international fire service speaker
prior to her recently having passed away, discusses in her book, Leadership Lessons, the
importance of creating success with succession planning in the fire service. Dr. Alyn writes,
“Leadership training starts the first day a firefighter enters your department. It doesn’t start the
month before they are thinking about promoting” (Alyn, 2012, p. 156).
Every fire department has a responsibility to develop effective leaders to prepare the
organzation for future promotions throughout the entire chain of command. This responsibility
must be shared between management, firefighters and the labor union in the case of departments
with career personnel. Management has the responsibility to provide a combination of strong
role models, opportunities for mentoring, and training. Firefighters are responsible to hold each
accountable to the mission, vision and core values of the fire department. If firefighters sit back
and watch as other firefighters violate polices, core values, or the mission, then they are equally
responsible for a leadership void in the department. Finally the labor union must hold its
members to a high standard of accountability and responsibility (Alyn, 2012). It should be the
goal of the union to ensure that a firefighter facing discipline gets a fair process, but it should not
be their focus to get a guilty firefighter off the hook when he is actually deserving of punishment.
Dr. Alyn (2012) identifies that once everyone in the department begins to hold
themselves and each other accountable to the mission, vision, and core values of the fire
department, the result is that you will find a great pool of prospective leaders for succession
planning. Of course, your fire department must actually have these three important pieces
clearly defined and known by everyone throughout the organization in order to hold each other
accountable to them.
Another source for my research, The Fire Chief’s Handbook, 6th Edition, includes a
collection of individual chapters written by various fire service professionals with topics relevant
to being the Fire Chief. There are two chapters of special interest to my research paper, Chapter
6 - Personnel Adminstration and Chapter 9 - Fire Service Training and Education. In Chapter 6,
Saunders discusses how there is a considerable difference between leadership skills needed for
tactical incident command versus the leadership skills needed to deal with our staff the rest of the
day (Saunders, 2003). In most fire departments around the country, the time spent on the
fireground is small in comparison to the amount of time spent in station, at training, peforming
inspections, and the many other tasks that occur during a firefighter’s average shift.
In too many fire departments, mid-level fire officers are promoted primarily based upon
their ability to take tests and their ability to operate at emergency scenes. But being prepared for
a written exam or understanding fireground strategy and tactics doesn’t teach new fire officers
how to manage and lead their people in the fire station (Saunders, 2003). The chapter continues
by identifying different resources for the fire officer to learn about how to become an effective
leader and manager of people. The resources include books, academic degree programs, state
and local fire schools, conferences and the National Fire Academy.
In Chapter 9 of the Fire Chief’s Handbook, 6th edition, chapter author Russell J.
Strickland discusses what a fire department training program should include, the need for
certification based training and evaluations. He concludes with training methodologies and
resources for training. Strickland discusses the importance of certification programs to guide the
professional development of chief level officers in the fire service (Strickland, 2003).
The chapter includes information about the Chief Fire Officer Designation (CFOD), a
national certification program overseen by an independent commission created under a trust
agreement between the International Association of Fire Chiefs and the International
City/County Management Association. The voluntary program has seven major components to
achieve the CFOD including: Experience, Education, Professional Develoment, Professional

Contributions, Association Membership, Community Involvement and Technical Competencies
(Strickland, 2003).
During my research, I reviewed several military leadership books, as our country’s
military is known for its continuous commitment to development of front line personnel up
through its highest ranking leaders. In one of my source books about using Marine Corps
leadership to succeed in the business world, there is an entire chapter dedicated to making new
leaders. The chapter opens with a profound statement that “All commanders should consider the
professional development of their subordinates a principal responsibility of command”
(Adamchik, 2006, p. 111). One concept in this chapter is that the Marine Corps considers
reading and discussion highly effective tools for developing organizational leaders. The Marine
Corps Professional Reading Program was established on the idea that we must make time for
reading, with just as much importance as we place on making time for physical training. The
original objectives of the reading program remain the same today as when they were first
implemented (Adamchik, 2006, p. 115). The objectives of the reading program are:
- Impart Marine values and traits
- Increase knowledge of our profession
- Improve analytical and reasoning skills
- To increase the capacity of using printed media as a means of learning and
communication
- To increase knowledge of our nation’s institutions and the principles upon which
our country and way of life were founded
- To increase knowledge of the world’s governments, culture and geography

The idea of having professional reading lists for an organization’s leadership personnel is
not unique to the Marines. In fact, there are many corporations that having reading programs.
Employees on the lower section of the organizational chart may be given a suggested book for
reading, then have a lunch and learn session at work where major concepts from the book are
discussed. At the higher end of the organizational chart, top-level executives may be required to
read certain books as part of their job responsibilities (Adamchik, 2006).
In a quote from Harry S. Truman, “All readers are not leaders, but all leaders are readers”
(Harry S. Truman Quotes, n.d., p. 1). I have a coworker who has inspired me during the past
two years of supervising him to become more of a reader. This firefighter, who I believe will be
a future company officer in our department, has inspired me to make time for reading in each
day. This firefighter can be routinely found reading during lunch breaks, before shift starts,
after meals, and after completing his assigned daily duties during the work day. Through his
inspiration, I have found myself reading more fire service and non-fire service leadership books
in the past two years than I have in the past ten years. As a company officer, I also now make it
a point to share fire service articles or pieces of fire service leadership books with my crew at the
kitchen table in the morning, following our line-up and apparatus checks. This same firefighter
provided me with the military leadership books used as part of my literature review.
In the military leadership text, Non-Commissioned Officer, 8th Edition, there is a chapter
that discusses the importance of self-development. This includes both development of the person
as a leader and also yourself as a person. The chapter emphasizes the importance of taking on
leadership positions as early as possible in your career and also rotation through other specialized
job assignments (Rush, 2006). The chapter stresses the importance of understanding the duties
and responsibilites of your rank and the next highest rank that you hope to achieve. As an
example of this, the book provides a chart entitled The NCO Roadmap to Success which provides
a chart listing some of the officer ranks in the Marine Corps including Sergeant, Staff Sergeant,
Sergeant First Class and Master Sergeant. The chart futher lists what the job assignments,
positions, military schools, education requirements, and promotion process are for each rank
(Rush, 2006).
In the fire service leadership book, First In, Last Out, Chief John Salka talks about the
importance of developing leaders at all leves of the organization. This creates a foundation for
what is known as the “leadership pipeline”. A leadership pipeline is a process that can be used in
any organization for selecting and developing leaders. He cites that one of the biggest problems
facing any organization is “the lack of homegrown talent, or those who have been developed
from within” (Salka & Neville, 2004, p. 205). When you develop a leadership pipeline in-house,
it helps to assure that future leaders understand the character and mission of the organization,
resulting in them being prepared to assume top management positions when they arise and be
effective in those positions (Salka & Neville, 2004).
Salka emphasizes that a leadership pipeline doesn’t happen accidentally. It’s the result of
using a process for “evaluating your people, identifying potential leaders, developing those
leaders and then assessing their eligibility to take on higher positions in the organization” (Salka
& Neville, 2004, p. 205). The best way to develop leaders throughout the organization is to
figure out what you consider to be essential leadership qualities, then identify which of your
people demonstrates those qualities and then guide them into temporary positions of leadership.
These temporary positions would include placing them in charge of a workgroup or a new
project that impacts the station or even the entire fire department. This allows you to evaluate
the persons leadership skills without actually moving them into a permanent position. When the
project or special assignment is done, they return to their normal position in the organization
(Salka & Neville, 2004, Chapter 11).
Sometimes evaluating your people includes discussing potential leaders with other
leaders in the organization – both official and unofficial leaders – who have worked with the
leadership candidate in the past. Sometimes their assessment and experiences with the person
can help you to compensate for your biases or blind spots when acting as a talent scout.
In order to discuss preparing company officers to promote to first level chief officer, I
needed to determine what the state standards are for chief officer in New Jersey. This led me to
the N.J. Division of Fire Safety (DFS), Office of Training and Certification. The Division of
Fire Safety falls under the umbrella of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
(DCA), which is a state agency created to provide administrative guidance, financial support and
technical assistance to local governments, community development organizations, business and
individuals to improve the quality of life in New Jersey (NJ Department of Community Affairs -
About DCA, n.d.).
The mission of the New Jersey DFS is to serve as the focal point for the state’s fire
service community and the general public in any matter related to fire safety. This includes
development and enforcement of the State Uniform Fire Code, as well as public education
programs and firefighter training programs. Within the DFS are the Bureau of Fire Code
Enforcement and the Bureau of Fire Department Services. The Bureau of Fire Department
Services is responsible for firefighter training and education, fire incident reporting, firefighter
serious injury and fatality investigations and public education (NJ Department of Community
Affairs - Division of Fire Safety, n.d.). The DFS, Office of Training and Certification staff
referred me to the New Jersey Administrative Code for the legal requirements for fire officer
training in New Jersey.
The State of New Jersey has regulations, called rules, which implement our state statutes
and are the legal basis for operating state programs and services. The New Jersey Administrative
Code (NJAC) compiles all the effective rules adopted by State agencies and filed with the Office
of Administrative Law. The NJAC is updated regularly in printed loose-leaf format and can be
found in any public library in New Jersey. It is also available online at LexisNexis, the publisher
licensed by the New Jersey Office of Administrative law (NJ Department of Community Affairs
- Current Administrative Rules and Regulations, n.d.).
NJAC Chapter 73 is the Standards for Fire Service Training and Certification in New
Jersey. This chapter contains eight subchapters which include 1 - General Provisions, 2 -
Educational Programs and Facilities, 3 - Reserved, 4 – Firefighter I and II, 5 – Instructors, 6 –
Hazardous Materials/Incident Management Certification, 7 – Fire Police Officer Training, 8 –
Fire Officers. Subchapter 8 serves as the main source of information for the first research
question (N.J. Standards For Fire Service Training And Certification, Subchapter 8. Fire
Officers, February 18, 2003).
Subchapter 8 defines four levels of Fire Officer in New Jersey and the certifications and
training required for each level. These four levels parallel the four levels of officer certification
in NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications (National Fire Protection
Association [NFPA], 2014). Certification for each level in New Jersey requires completing a
course of instruction that meets the requirements of each Fire Officer Level I-IV in NFPA 1021.
NFPA 1021 defines Fire Officer Level III (Administrative) and Fire Officer Level IV
(Executive) as chief officer certification levels (International Association of Fire Chiefs and
National Fire Protection Association [IAFC & NFPA], 2012, p. 5).
New Jersey Fire Officer III certification requires completion of the following four items:
N.J. Fire Officer II Certification; Instructor Level 1 as defined in NJAC 5:73-5.2, completion of
a course of instruction meeting requirements of NFPA 1021 - Fire Officer III, and then pass a
written exam administered by the New Jersey DFS, Office of Training and Certification. New
Jersey Fire Officer IV certification requires: N.J. Fire Officer III certification, completing a
course of instruction that meets the requirements of NFPA 1021 - Fire Officer IV, and pass a
written exam administered by the New Jersey DFS, Office of Training and Certification (N.J.
Standards For Fire Service Training And Certification, Subchapter 8. Fire Officers, February 18,
2003). The focus of my research paper is about the preparation of our career Captains to
promote to career Deputy Chief, which most closely aligns with the Fire Officer III certification.
Next, I conducted research to find officer development programs locally and nationally to
see what the content of these programs were. I was only able to locate one department in my
region of south jersey that had a formal, written, Fire Officer Professional Development
Program. The Cherry Hill Fire Department (CHFD) in neighboring Camden County, New
Jersey, is well-known for its success with developing its leadership personnel, and also for being
a recognized leader in Fire and EMS services in New Jersey. Their former Fire Director Patrick
Kelly, who was in charge of their department at the beginning of my research, is himself an
Executive Fire Officer Program graduate. Director Kelly was very supportive of my research
work and offered the full cooperation of his department. In addition to sharing their Policy
Directive No. 1217 – Fire Officer Professional Development Program, Director Kelly also
allowed me to send a survey to all the chief officers on his staff, which included both Battalion
Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs.
The Cherry Hill Fire Department Policy Directive No. 1217 states that its purpose is to
guide the professional development of in-grade fire officers (Cherry Hill Fire Department, 2013).
The directive was created in June 2007 and was last updated in November 2013. The directive is
broken into two major sections, the first of which is - A) Preparation for Next Higher Rank,
which sets minimum criteria to be eligible for promotion between the ranks of Firefighter,
Lieutenant, Captain and Battalion Chief.
The other major section is - B) Newly Promoted Fire Officer, which defines initial in-
house training for officers upon promotion to their new rank. This section covers all officers
from Lieutenant through Fire Chief/Fire Director. This section also lists special assignments
that must be completed during their first year in rank, such as development of a Department
Operating Guideline, coordinate a station level project, prepare a budget request, or manage a
department wide training exercise on an assigned fire service topic. The document states that all
officers from Lieutenant to Battalion Chief must serve one year probation in rank and complete
all assignments and competencies in order to be sworn into their rank permanently at the end of
the probation period (Cherry Hill Fire Department, 2013).
Section B of CHFD Policy Directive No. 1217 also defines any certifications for
Battalion Chiefs, Assistant Fire Chiefs and the Fire Chief or Fire Director that must be obtained
prior to or immediately upon promotion, such as New Jersey Incident Command Levels I-III. It
also sets increasing requirements for all chief level officers to complete academic degree
programs such as an Associate’s Degree, Bachelors Degree and enrollment into the NFA
Executive Fire Officer Program. The academic requirements specific to each chief level rank
are required after January 1, 2018, which allows current and future chief officer candidates five
years from the most recent update of the directive to achieve these academic goals (Cherry Hill
Fire Department, 2013). I have included a copy of CHFD Policy Directive No. 1217 in the
appendix (Appendix A-6).
Another professional development guide I was able to locate during my research was
from the Prince George County Fire/EMS Department in Maryland. The document entitled
Professional Development/Promotional Procedures Handbook outlines in matrix form the
timeline and minimum qualifications to promote through the fire ranks of Firefighter, Fire
Technician, Fire Lieutenant, Fire Captain, Battalion Chief and Fire Major. The same document
also includes progression through the EMS ranks of EMT Basic, EMT Intermediate, EMT
Paramedic, Paramedic Lieutenant and Paramedic Captain. Additionally, there are minimum
qualifications and training to be eligible to participate on specialized teams/assignments in the
fire department such as Technical Rescue, Hazardous Materials Response Team, Marine
Division, Special Hazards Inspector, Fire Investigator, Bomb Technician and Equal Employment
Opportunity Investigator (Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department [PGFD], 2011).
Another model officer development program that I found was the Fire Officer
Development Training Guide that was created in 2006 by the Virginia Fire Service Occupational
Development Consortium. The document was created by a team of members representing
stakeholder groups in the Virginia Fire Service. The goal of the document was to create a
standardized professional development plan for fire officers in Virginia. The document follows
the four levels of fire officer certification from NFPA 1021 and provides objectives for personal
development, training and education for each level. The document also provides a listing of
relevant courses in the Virginia Community College System (Virginia Fire Service Occupational
Development Consortium, 2006)
Another outstanding resource that I located under the Education & Development link on
the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) website is the Officer Development
Handbook (ODH). The ODH, now in its second edition, provides a roadmap for current and
future fire service leaders toward professional development in the fire service. The latest edition
follows the recommendations of the IAFC for career advancement, with great emphasis on
leadership competencies through four defined levels of officer development. I purchased this
handbook about a year ago and it has been the single most important reference for my research
paper, as well as being a guide for my own professional development.
The IAFC ODH goes on to further discuss the national problem of professional
development in the fire service in regards to the lack of coordination with Fire Service Training,
Education and Certification. The current system has resulted in a generation of firefighters and
fire officers with more college credits than they need and no degrees to show for their hard work.
These same firefighters and fire officers have enough training, certification and experience to
qualify for college level learning, but have no plan for personal development or career map that
joins the three areas together. These firefighters and fire officers will often end up with enough
certificates of training to cover an entire wall, as well as college transcripts with an
overabundance of fire science and general education credits. In addition, they end up with plenty
of certifications, but these combined with all their training certificates and college credits many
times don’t satisfy necessary credentials needed for advancement (IAFC ODH, 2010, p. 8).
The IAFC ODH offers a national solution to the problems above. The National Fire
Academy (NFA) and Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) Program have
collaborated to create the National Professional Development Matrix (NPDM) models for Fire,
EMS, and Fire Prevention Officers. The NPDM strives to coordinate training, education and
certification into an organized and deliberate path for individuals to conduct their professional
development planning (National Professional Development Matrix, n.d.).
The NPDM for the fire service charts a path from Firefighter I up through Executive Fire
Officer, encompassing the levels of Fire Officer I through IV (Appendix A-7). The companion
NPDM for EMS provides a path for professional development from Emergency Medical
Technician up through EMS Executive, encompassing the supervisory levels of EMS Supervisor,
EMS Manager, EMS Chief Officer, and EMS Executive Officer (Appendix A-8). The NPDM
for Fire Prevention Officers provides a professional development path in the areas of Inspections,
Public Education, Fire Investigations and Plans Review.
Next, I researched management and leadership development programs in other industries.
For this research question, I chose to review three industries that have placed great value on
management training programs - the hotel industry, rental car industry and home building
industry. In addition, I also researched examples of what the U.S. Military and the New Jersey
Law Enforcement community are doing to train current and future leaders. I felt that together
these five industries and their ability to successfully cultivate managers and leaders were very
relevant to the fire service, since we are both a customer service focused industry, as well as
being a paramilitary structured emergency response agency.
Marriott is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, with 85 years in the hotel industry
and more than 3,700 properties. In discussing their business model, they explain that their
culture places a high value on their associates. This is evident when reviewing their core values
and heritage. Marriott’s first core value is, “We put people first – take care of our associates and
they will take care of the customers. Giving the associates opportunities to grow and succeed is
part of the company’s DNA” (Marriott International, n.d.). Their website has information on
Career Paths in the Marriott Corporation and how they offer opportunities for associates to
inspire, mentor, and achieve. Ask yourself this question, “Does the fire service demonstrate this
same level of enthusiasm and value professional development of our management and future
leaders?” Well if not, then maybe we should.
For college graduates, Marriott has a management trainee program called The Voyage
Global Leadership Program. This 12-18 month program seeks out the best and brightest college
graduates to learn about the global scale of Marriott hotel operations. The program gives
management trainees direct exposure into the operations of an individual hotel and also allows
for discipline specific training directed to the interests of each management candidate. Specific
disciplines include Food & Beverage Operations, Culinary, Revenue Management, Accounting
& Finance, Rooms Operations, Human Resources, Engineering, Event Management, and Sales &
Marketing (Marriott International, n.d.).
Another recognized leader in the hospitality industry is Hilton Worldwide. Hilton
Worldwide includes ten hotel brands, in 92 countries, with over 4,100 hotels. Hilton Worldwide
also has one of the largest hotel management companies in their industry. Hilton Management
Services (HMS), which has over 665 managed properties with more than 100,000 employees,
emphasizes recruiting talent and retaining its team members. Using a proven team of learning
and developmental personnel, Hilton Worldwide strives to provide the highest level of service
for the guests of their clients by offering continuous training and development of their
employees, including their hotel management staff. The HMS management and leadership
training program includes the topics of Employee Relations, Collective Bargaining Agreements,
Recruiting, Training and Employment Law (Hilton Worldwide, n.d.).
In the residential building industry, Toll Brothers prides them to be “America’s Luxury
Home Builder”. The company was established in 1967 and its primary businesses are luxury
home building, master-planned community development, golf course, and golf club development
and general land development. They also operate related businesses in Architecture,
Engineering, Mortgage, Title Insurance, Landscape Design, Component Assembly, and
Manufacturing. The company operates in 50 markets in 19 states and has its corporate
headquarters in Horsham, Pennsylvania (Toll Brothers Career Center, n.d.).
Toll Brothers has a program for college graduates with a focus on
“Training Our Next Generation of Leaders”. The Toll Brothers Assistant Project Management
Training Program (APM) is listed as their most intensive training program and the starting point
for most of their company’s project managers. Trainees spend 12-16 months learning about all
facets of real estate development through five major categories: Construction, Sales &
Marketing, Finance & Reporting, Land Development, and the most important category of
Management, Motivational, & Leadership Skills.
The Toll Brothers company website states that graduates of the program become
managers of multi-million dollar projects and can then look forward to tremendous opportunities
for growth. Toll Brothers also discusses career paths within the company and provides a list of
the progression in job assignments for each career path. The career paths listed include Project
Management, Construction Management, Land Acquisition, Land Development, Engineering,
Architecture, Sales, and other Subsidiaries (Toll Brothers Career Center, n.d.).
In 1957, a concept of bringing the rental car to the customer from locations around the
state of Florida was the idea of a rental car branch manager. This later became the foundation on
what Enterprise Rent-A-Car is known for today. Enterprise founder Jack Taylor built the
company to a worldwide leader in car leasing using the simple idea of focusing all the
company’s resources on two things: satisfaction of the customer and the success of their
employees. By concentrating on these two things, he said everything else would take care of
itself. And still today, Enterprise is known worldwide for its management training and personnel
development programs. Even when you read through their list of core values, each value has a
direct link back to customer satisfaction and the success of their employees. Their core values
include Brand, Honesty, Service, Fun, Hard Work, Listening, Community, and Inclusion
(Enterprise Rent-A-Car Careers, n.d.).
Reviewing more of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Careers Site, they provide prospective
employees a wealth of information about their management training program, which includes the
topics of Customer Service, Finance, Marketing, and Logistics (Enterprise Rent-A-Car Careers,
n.d.). Additionally, Enterprise offers its management trainees a formal career path, which
includes steps to management trainee, management assistant, assistant manager, branch manager,
area manager, and then also related careers in a car sales, fleet management, recruitment,
commercial truck, and business rental sales.
With over 12,000 promotions annually, Enterprise’s policy of promoting from within
shows the value of preparing people in the company for promotion at all levels. This promote
from within policy is very common in fire departments, usually up until the rank of Chief of
Department, in which case they may hire from outside the organization. Shouldn’t we really be
preparing our fire department staff to promote at all levels, so that we don’t have to hire a Chief
from outside the organization?
The U.S. Military is known for its development of personnel through its intense
leadership and officer development training programs. They offer both Basic Level and Ongoing
Training for soldiers. For example, when you first join the Army, you attend Basic Combat
Training (BCT). Over ten weeks in the BCT course, you learn how to transition from being an
everyday citizen to a soldier. Emphasis is placed on the seven core Army values and how to
succeed together as a team. I equate this to our Basic Firefighter or Firefighter 1 courses. From
there you enroll in your Advanced Individual Training (AIT) where you learn the skills to
perform in your specific Army job. I equate this to our Engine Company, Truck Company, and
Rescue Company courses and certification programs (Go Army - Army Careers, n.d).
Soldiers who want to make a career of the Army are directed into either Leadership
Training to prepare them for promotion or into Specialized Schools. Leadership Training
includes courses such as Warrior Leader Course, Advanced Leader Course, First Sergeants
Academy, and Command Sergeants Major Academy. I would equate this to our Fire Officer I,
II, and III certification programs. Specialized Schools include Air Assault School, Special
Forces Training, Airborne School, and Jumpmaster School. I would equate this to Technical
Rescue Teams like Urban Search and Rescue Teams, Hazardous Materials Teams, Rope Rescue,
and Confined Space Rescue. The Army provides many, many types of training opportunities for
professional development and also provides clear career paths for their soldiers (Go Army -
Army Careers, n.d.).
Another branch of the military with a strong focus on developing its members for
leadership positions is the Navy. The Navy has the Officer Training Command (OTC), whose
primary mission is to train civilians, enlisted, and newly commissioned personnel to be Naval
Officers. The OTC is located in Newport, Rhode Island and is tasked with preparing officer
candidates physically, morally, and mentally (Naval Officer Training Command Home Page,
2014).
One of five different officer accession programs offered at the OTC is the Officer
Candidate School (OCS). The OCS is a 12 week course for those considering a career as a
commissioned naval officer. The focus of the program is develop the candidates with officer
qualities to help them succeed as Junior Officers. Skills emphasized in the training program
include discipline, attention to detail, building esprit de corps, time management and physical
fitness (Naval Officer Training Command Home Page, 2014).
Another of the five training programs at the OTC is Officer Development School (ODS).
ODS teaches the newly commissioned officer about military structure, traditions and customs,
the legal system, and finally military etiquette. The five week program also covers Naval
Leadership, Naval Administration, Sea Power, Military Law, Military Indoctrination, Naval
Warfare, and Damage Control. Completion of this course also includes physical fitness training
called Physical Readiness Tests (Naval Officer Training Command Home Page, 2014).
For years, the law enforcement community nationwide has routinely been awarded
millions of dollars more in federal grant money than the fire service. This has always been
attributed to law enforcement doing a much better job with data collection and justification for
funding to obtain more officers, better weapons and armored vehicles, as well as specialized
training. You may even find that the law enforcement community does a better job at providing
professional development for their future leaders than the fire service does. One possible reason
for this is that law enforcment is more closely aligned with the military in its mission, structure,
and deployment than is the fire service, which is considered more para-military in nature.
In my research about New Jersey Law Enforcment leadership training, I found
information about the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police (NJSACOP). Its primary
mission is the challenge of developing future law enforcement leaders. One of the main links on
their homepage is their Professional Development Division. Within this division, they offer a
Command & Leadership Academy, New Police Chiefs Orientation Program, the Police
Executive Institute, Annual Training Conference, Front Line Supervisors Programs, a Senior
Leadership Seminar, and a five day program called the Normandy-Portsmouth “D-Day”
Leadership Experience. I was truly amazed at the wide array of courses they offer to
development law enforcement officers at all ranks (New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of
Police, 2014).
I quickly began a search of companion associations in New Jersey’s fire service. I was
able to locate the New Jersey State Fire Chiefs Association and the New Jersey State Volunteer
Fire Chiefs Association. Niether one offered anything on their association website about
development of future fire service leaders. I also located a website for the New Jersey Deputy
Fire Chiefs Association, which was a little better in referencing that they work to “Advance
Professional Fire Management and address areas of Safety, Education and Training for the
firefighters and citizens of the state” (New Jersey Deputy Chiefs Association, n.d., p. 1). Further
review of this website left me once again unable to find any specific chief officer development
courses or programs that they offer. I do know that this association does routinely sponsor fire
service seminars around the state on topics related to fireground tactics, incident command, and
leadership. However, I was unable to find anything that showed their association hosting any
type of professional development academy (New Jersey Deputy Fire Chiefs Association, n.d.).
At the national level, I referred to the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the
mostly widely recognized professional networking group among the fire service worldwide. In
existence since 1873, the IAFC has provided a forum for fire service leaders to exchange ideas,
develop professionally, and uncover the newest trends in products and services available to first
responders. The IAFC represents chief and company officers serving in fire departments that are
volunteer, career, combination, industrial, and military (International Association of Fire Chiefs,
n.d.). I was already familiar with the IAFC, because I previously served as a volunteer deputy
fire chief in New Jersey and I am currently a company officer affiliate member of the IAFC. My
current role a company officer makes me eligible for this level of membership in the IAFC.
Regular membership in the IAFC is afforded to an fire chief, chief officer, or fire marshal with 2-
5 bugles (International Association of Fire Chiefs, n.d.).
Reviewing the IAFC website, they have a comprehensive section dedicated to Education
& Development of fire service leaders at all levels. There are links to toolboxes for the
Company Officer, New Chief, and Veteran Chief. Each of these leads to a link on Officer
Development and a host of opportunities for professional development including symposiums,
conferences, and leadership academies. In addition, the same link officers a list of training
materials, textbooks, and manuals on topics including professional development, fire service
consolidations, human resource management, as well as recruitment and retention of volunteer
firefighters.
Procedures
The procedures section of the research paper discusses the steps taken to arrive at the
final results of the study. It will define what was done, when it was done, who did it, and who
was involved. The procedures section will allow another member of the fire service to replicate
the research if they have a similar challenge in their department related to my research topic.
This process started while I was still at the National Fire Academy (NFA) for the
Executive Development course in March 2014. During that time, I visited the Learning
Resource Center on campus and utilized the electronic catalog to find sources for research,
which included textbooks, journal articles, and other EFO research papers. The LRC staff at the
NFA campus was very helpful during the times that I visited the LRC to locate sources. Once I
returned home, I continued to review other sources including military and business management
textbooks, fire service textbooks, journal articles, and websites.
When I returned from the course, the first research question I wanted to answer was,
“What are the state standards for chief officer in New Jersey?” This led me to an internet search
of our state government website, more specifically our state Division of Fire Safety, Training and
Education section. Research on this section would then lead me to our state statutes annotated
online for more information. The search of these two sources is covered in greater detail in the
literature review section of this paper.
The next question to address was, “What are the components of chief officer
development programs in other career and combination departments of similar size to EFD?” I
created an online survey tool using the website surveymonkey.com. The survey I created is
included in the appendix of this research paper (Appendix A-9). The survey was needed to
collect information from other departments and answer this research question. I decided to
survey other New Jersey fire departments that had approximately 100 or fewer career
firefighters, and also having career chief officers below the rank of Chief of Department (i.e. –
Battalion Chief, Assistant Chief, and Deputy Chief). I also included a few departments locally
that I knew had Captains with daily responsibilities closely aligned with the rank of a Battalion
Chief. I also chose to include in the survey two local Chiefs of Department, who were both
appointed to their positions in the past two years and were both in their middle thirties. I felt that
their answers to my survey questions about professional development in their departments would
be relevant.
To find my pool of departments to survey, I went to the website for the New Jersey based
labor union which I am a member of, the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent
Association (NJFMBA). On their website is a listing of all the fire departments in New Jersey
that have membership in the NJFMBA (New Jersey State Firefighters Mutual Benevolent
Association, n.d.). I clicked on each department’s web link to view their fire department
website and determine which fire departments fit my survey criteria. I was also then able to
locate the name and email address of their Chief of Department.
I then sent each Chief a request by email identifying myself as a student in the EFO
Program and asked permission to survey his chief officer staff to obtain information for my
research project. A copy of my email sent to the Chiefs is included in the appendix (Appendix
A-10). If I did not receive any response from a Chief after one week, I would send a second
request by email. With the exception of a few Chiefs that did not reply to me, the overwhelming
majority of Chiefs that I contacted provided me names and email addresses for their chief officer
staff.
I then sent an email to each chief officer that I was provided contact information for and
once again identified myself as a student in the EFO program conducting original research about
what other departments are doing to prepare their company officers for promotion to chief
officer. I asked each of them to take a short anonymous online survey, for which I provided
them a link to in the email. A sample of this email sent to my survey group is also included in
the appendix (Appendix A-11). There were fifty-two chief officer respondents to my online
survey.
The next research question was, “What are the components of management training
programs for successful companies in other industries?” For this I conducted an internet search
on the subjects of management and leadership training programs. This led to me research the
hotel industry, rental car industry, residential building industry, New Jersey Law Enforcement,
and finally two of our U.S. Military branches. This is covered in greater detail in the literature
review section of this paper.
To answer the research question, “What are the formal and informal roles of Deputy
Chief at the EFD”, I surveyed our current Deputy Chief, the rank above him (Assistant Chief)
and the rank immediately below him (two Captains). Only the Deputy Chief and Assistant Chief
responded to my question. I also obtained the job description for our current Deputy Chief and
also Battalion Chief, which currently does not exist in our career staff, but may in the future.
The job descriptions helped to the formal roles of the Deputy Chief. The informal roles were
other duties, roles, and responsibilities that the Deputy Chief does that are not necessarily
assigned by job description. These are discussed later in the results section of the research paper.
Next, I wanted to answer the research question, “What do current company officers at
EFD think should be included in a chief officer development program?” Again, I created an
online survey tool using the website surveymonkey.com that I sent to the current Captains and
Lieutenants on our career staff at EFD. The survey again allowed them to answer questions
anonymously and return the results to me directly. The survey included questions about their
perspective of professional development currently at EFD. A copy of this survey is included in
the appendix of this research paper (Appendix A-12)
The final research question I wanted to answer was, “What training do retired EFD
Deputy Chiefs think would have better prepared them for promotion to their position?” For this I
created a list of interview questions and met with our two retired Deputy Chiefs. I also decided
to interview our retired Captain, because I felt that he would have good information with regards
to his professional development at EFD. I also felt that he was capable of being promoted to
Deputy Chief if he had not retired. I also interviewed the current Deputy Chief and Assistant
Chief to get their perspective of their professional development while advancing in their careers
at EFD. I have included the interview form in the appendix of this research paper (Appendix A-
13).
Some limitations to my procedures are discussed further in the following paragraphs.
One limitation to my survey of outside departments was that I chose not to interview any Chief
of Departments in my survey (with the exception of the two local Fire Chiefs mentioned above),
only the chief officers below them. My thought was that most of the Chiefs would be in the
later stages of their fire service career and I wanted to hear more from chief officer ranks that
still had time remaining in their career to do more professional develop and promote further.
Another limitation of my survey instrument was that I limited my survey group to career and
combination fire departments from New Jersey, and also a few referred to me from Connecticut,
with approximately 100 or less career personnel.

Another limitation of my survey instruments were that because my online surveys
allowed participants to respond anonymously to the survey questions, it did not allow me to
follow up with anyone individually to get more information. For example, out of fifty-two
responses to a question about chief officer development programs, only seven respondents said
that their department had a formal program like this. However, because the responses were all
anonymous, I was unable to follow up with these seven people to see what their fire
department’s chief officer development program included. I chose to use surveys that did not
identify the respondent, because I felt that people taking the survey would be more honest in
their responses about their fire departments professional development program, or lack of one, if
they knew that their responses were anonymous and would not be tied back to them directly.
A final limitation was that in my first survey instrument sent to other fire departments of
similar size, I included a response option of “neutral” for each question. I also chose to use a
category for agree and disagree that paired them with the term “strongly”. Once I reviewed the
results of this survey, I decided not to use them in my second survey instrument sent to EFD
company officers, because I wanted more definitive answers to my questions and less generality
that came from using “neutral” and also “agree/disagree” versus “strongly agree/strongly
disagree”.
Results
The results section includes findings from the original research that I conducted and the
resulting data collected. My second research question looked for information regarding other
fire departments of similar size and make-up to EFD and what do their chief officer development
programs include. I contacted other similar sized career and combination (career/volunteer)
departments in New Jersey and Connecticut and then conducted a survey with their career chief
officers below the rank of Chief of Department. My survey instrument and how I conducted the
survey are discussed in further detail under the Procedures section of this paper.
One of the survey questions asked participants if their department had a Chief Officer
Development Program. Out of 52 people who responded, only seven or 13.5% said their
department had a training program like this. When I contacted many of the mutual aid
departments in my area with career personnel, with the exception of one department, they all said
they did not have a formal chief officer development program.
Another interesting response to my survey questions was when asked if they felt their
department had adequately prepared them for promotion to their current rank, only twelve
respondents or 23% said they agreed. When asked if their department understood the value of
succession planning in preparing their department for upper management retirements, 23
respondents or 44% said they disagreed and another ten respondents or 19% were neutral.
When given a list of nineteen topics that could be included in a chief officer development
program, the top five topics that were selected were:
1) Dealing with Municipal Government Officials – 94%;
2) Finance/Budgeting – 90%;
3) Written & Oral Communications – 88%;
4) Dealing with Difficult Employees / Human Relations – tied at 86% each
5) Applying for Grants and Alternative Funding Sources / Emergency Management &
Disaster Planning – tied at 84% each
When asked if their department were to create a Chief Officer Development Program,
would they actively participate in the program, 47 respondents or 90% said yes they would.
When asked if they thought it was important to provide professional development for both career
and volunteer chief officers in a combination fire department, 44 respondents or 85% said they
agreed.
My findings to my third research question, about what were other industries doing to
development future leaders, found similarities in their management training programs. The U.S.
Army and U.S. Navy both provide opportunities for officer development which are visible, easy
to locate, and show what the career paths are for a future Army or Naval Officer. At Enterprise
Rental Car, the mantra was to take care of their employees and everything else would take care
of itself. They also provided written career paths for different tracks to promotion within their
company.
In the hotel industry, Marriott’s first core value is to put people first, by taking care of
their employees they will take of the customers. Giving the employees opportunities for
advancement within the company is again linked back directly to their core values. Marriott
Corporation also provides written career paths showing the steps and training needed to advance
in different parts of the company. Similarly, Hilton Hotels emphasizes offering continuous
training development throughout an employee’s career, not just entry-level training.
In the custom home building industry, Toll Brothers recognizes the importance of
professional development by naming their management training program, Training Our Next
Generation of Leaders. Their professional development model puts new managers in charge of
multi-million dollar real estate development projects. Toll Brothers also provides written career
paths to follow so that their employees know where they are headed in the future and what steps
they need to take to achieve their goals for advancement.
For the fourth research question concerning formal and informal roles of the Deputy
Chief rank at EFD, I asked by sending an email to the current career EFD Deputy Chief, the
Assistant Chief above him, and the two Captains below him what they perceived these to be.
The two captains did not respond to my multiple requests, which I believe was an accidental
oversight.
The results were that Deputy Chief perceived his formal roles to be those included in his
job description, but also to never forget where he came from as a firefighter and be and honest
leader. The Deputy Chief perceived his informal roles as being an organization cheerleader,
always marketing the department and its resources, while also applauding great efforts of our
personnel. The Deputy further responded that his informal roles included being a mentor and
trainer to others, be professional and never stop both learning and teaching, and finally to be
realistic about what are department is and isn’t, understanding our department and community
specific challenges and issues. Meaning that what we are is a suburban Philadelphia,
combination, fire-rescue department. We are not a metropolitan city fire department, nor do we
have the same issues or challenges that they do, and they don’t have ours.
The results to the fourth research question from the Assistant Chief were that his formal
roles were the daily responsibilities of responding to incidents, personnel scheduling and
administration, as well as training. The Assistant Chief perceived that his informal roles revolve
around that the job is a lifestyle and not just a position. The higher up you move in the
organization, the more phone call you get at all times of the day and night. Many times these
calls are personal in nature and members need guidance with problems. Sometimes the member
is just looking for advice, but this can also put the chief officer in a difficult position if he has to
discipline the member for what he just shared.
In order to answer research question number five, I needed to survey current company
officers at EFD about their thoughts on professional development. Two EFD Captains and three
EFD Lieutenants participated in their online survey of ten questions. When asked if the next
rank above them were to become vacant next week, had our department adequately prepared
them to promote into the next rank, three respondents agreed and two disagreed. When asked if
the fire department had helped to prepare them to promote into their current rank, three
responded as disagree and two responded as being neutral. One survey question asked our
company officers to rank the following six topics in order of importance for development of
future chief officers. While it was agreed that all six topics were important, the results of being
asked to rank them were:
1) Written & Oral Communications
2) Incident Scene Strategy and Tactics
3) Budgeting and Finance
4) Labor-Management Relations
5) Employee Discipline
6) Career-Volunteer Employee Relations
In another survey question, EFD company officers were asked does department recognize
the value of succession planning in preparing the organization for future chief officer level
retirements, unanimously the response was disagree. When asked who was responsible to
prepare officers to promote to the next rank – the officer, the fire department, or a combination
of both, four out of five respondents said a combination of both, while one respondent said it was
solely the officer’s responsibility. When asked if our department currently has a chief officer
development program, unanimously the response was disagree. The follow up question was that
if the EFD were to create a Chief Officer Development Program would they participate in it, the
response was a unanimous agree.

When asked if it was important to provide professional development plans for both career
and volunteer officers in the EFD, all five company officers responded that they agreed. When
given a list of 18 topics that could be included in a chief officer development program, the
following topics were all picked unanimously as should be included. They are in no particular
order: Finance & Budgeting, Strategy & Tactics for Multi-Alarm Incidents, Emergency
Management/Disaster Planning, Human Relations, Written & Oral Communications, and
Dealing with Local Municipal Government Officials. The remaining thirteen topics in the
survey question were all selected between one and four times as “should be included” in a chief
officer development program.
For research question number six about what training would have better prepared them
for promotion to their final rank as a chief officer, I interviewed two retired EFD Deputy Chiefs
and a retired EFD Captain. I then decided to use the same interview tool and interview the
current EFD Deputy Chief and Assistant Chief. Their individual responses were tremendously
helpful to my research and more importantly understanding the history of the Evesham Fire
Department and its growth as a combination career-volunteer organization.
Discussion
The purpose of the applied research project was to determine if the Evesham Fire
Department has fully prepared its career company officers for promotion to chief officer. In the
discussion section, I will review and analyze the results of my research, including what others
have said about my topic, things I have discovered through my original research and what the
impacts are for my own organization.
All of the literature I reviewed confirmed the importance of professional development in
order for any organization to be successful. Since February 18, 2003, the laws of New Jersey
mandate professional development by requiring certification and training for fire officers (N.J.
Standards For Fire Service Training And Certification, Subchapter 8. Fire Officers, February 18,
2003). The New Jersey statute for Fire Service Training and Certification, Subchapter 8 – Fire
Officers, follows the nationally recognized levels of Fire Officer I through Fire Officer IV as
taken from NFPA 1021, Standard for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications.
I also discovered through the literature review that an organization’s continued success is
also directly impacted by the ability to cultivate new leaders to replace departing leaders. The
fire service has identified every ten years since the original Wingspread Conference in 1966 that
professional development of fire officers continues to be an area of national significance to the
fire problem in the United States (IAFC ODH, 2010). I also found that acquiring and keeping
good people should be the most important job of the organizational leader. And those who really
want to be successful leaders not only must develop those around them, but they must also
cultivate a team of leaders to help the organization grow (Maxwell, 1995).
With regards to succession planning and the future success of the organization, Dr. Harry
Carter discussed in his article how failing to properly develop people and failing to train people
to do their job top his list of ways that fire departments fail to position themselves for future
success. Carter tells us how our future success as a community based organization is dependent
upon a dedicated and conscious effort to develop our personnel to lead the organization (Carter,
2014).
Every fire department has a responsibility to develop effective leaders to prepare the
organization for future promotions. And this responsibility is a shared one – between
management, firefighters and the labor union (Alyn, 2012, p. 156). It is also further emphasized
how critical it is to have a clear organizational mission, vision, and core values that members of
the organization can use to guide their daily decisions (Alyn, 2012, p. 159). The research also
shows that an organization that understands the importance of succession planning is ahead of
other fire departments in preparing for the future. It’s important for the organization growth to
engage future leaders with meaningful and challenging assignments to test their ability for
advancement (Weymouth, 2011, p. 37).
With regard to developing our personnel to be future leaders, the fire service has spent
the majority of our time focusing on leadership training for fireground strategy and tactics, as
well as incident command training. The fire service must also recognize that this isn’t enough,
because most of our time is spent away from the emergency incident scene and in fire stations
dealing with people. Human resource training, dealing with difficult employees, administering
discipline, and providing leadership in the firehouse are all topics that must be included in a
professional development program (Saunders, 2003, p. 229).
Professional development must become part of the organization’s culture as means for
continuous improvement (IAFC & NFPA, 2012, p. 48). For any organization to remain strong
and vibrant, it must continuously improve. This is a basic management concept. Each person
must develop both personally and professionally. It’s important for each person to establish
career goals, be involved in the community and volunteering, and conduct a personal audit of
your knowledge, skills and abilities. Once you have done these things, then you can work
toward developing a professional development plan that combines training, education, and
certification (IAFC ODH, 2010, p. 8).
Through my research of military books I learned that professional development of
subordinates is a primary responsibility of commanders (Adamchik, 2006, p. 111). One way to
develop our subordinates is to provide reading lists of both fire service and non-fire service
books on leadership, human relations, and personal development. The military also shows the
importance of providing guidance on career paths and direction for how to prepare to promotion
to the next rank, as well as ranks further on.
The military encourages personal development by having their members take on
leadership positions early in their career and rotate through other specialized job assignments
(Rush, 2006, p. 126). The subject of job rotation as one component of professional development
is also discussed in the textbook used by New Jersey for its Fire Officer III course (IAFC &
NFPA, 2012). While job rotation as a positive means for professional development is discussed
in several sources from my literature review, this has been a source of frustration for some
personnel in my own department.
Our department does practice this concept by sporadically reassigning our company
officers between Training, Prevention and Operations. This has been done with the intention of
allowing officers to understand and experience all parts of the organization, an organization they
may one day be a chief officer in. However, sometimes a company officer will view
reassignment to Prevention for example as a punishment, because they are stronger in another
area of the department like Operations. The rotation of officers has also sometimes frustrated
firefighters in our department, who perceive this as once a company officer has strengths in
particular area or becomes really good at a job assignment, it’s taken away from them with a
periodic job rotation (i.e. – Training Officer gets reassigned to Prevention).
I was one of the company officers who were very frustrated by my first job rotation to
our Prevention Bureau some years ago. Looking back now, it was a great experience, afforded
me the opportunity to attend training in cause and origin investigation, and also allowed me to
get a better knowledge of the New Jersey Uniform Fire Code. This has helped me in my current
assignment as a Lieutenant in Operations, because our Operations personnel supplement our fire
inspectors assigned to the Prevention Bureau by also conducting fire inspections in our first due
area. Today I recognize that job rotation is an effective tool for professional development for
future chief officers.
Many of the sources in my literature review discussed the benefits of mentoring as a
means of professional development. Not only does the protégé benefit from the relationship, but
also the mentor benefits from it (IAFC & NFPA, 2012, p. 121). Mentoring programs are the best
way to prepare new officers and also compensate for the years of experience lost when senior
members retire and probationary firefighters replace them (Viscuso, 2013, p. 119). Mentoring
programs can be multi-purpose for any organization. They can be used to educate and prepare
newly hired personnel, instill values and improve the attitude of mentees, preserve the history of
your fire department, encourage all members to help in developing the organizational team,
increase the confidence level of those in the mentoring program, and finally increase morale by
involving other people that might otherwise just sit on the sideline and not participate (Viscuso,
2013, p. 120).
Mentoring is not a new concept and can be traced back to the middle ages, when young
boys worked alongside of masters in a particular craft or trade. The skills they gained along the
way allowed them to eventually become journeymen and then finally become masters (IAFC
ODH, 2010, p. 6). As the leader of an organization, you must first realize that you alone do not
determine the success of the department. The collective efforts of everyone on the team,
including middle managers and front line personnel, determine organizational success. That
being said, you can multiply your effectiveness by instituting a quality mentoring program
(Viscuso, 2014, p. 83).

My department actually has a mentoring program for new hires on the career staff and
also new members of our volunteer staff. In both systems, new members are assigned a mentor,
who becomes their “go to” person for any questions they have during their recruit period. The
new member is given a recruit manual with important information about the organization
including a historical overview, organizational chart, and checklists of things they must complete
during their recruit period. Our recruit manual for volunteer personnel is over 80 pages and is
more comprehensive than our career recruit manual. This is because in most cases when
someone joins our department as a fire or EMS volunteer, they usually have no emergency
services background. In a few cases, a volunteer member will move into town and have
experience with a prior Fire or EMS agency. All of our career hires on the other hand must
already be certified as both Firefighters and EMTs, and have two years experience in order to be
eligible to participate in our hiring process.
In both career and volunteer sections of our organization, the mentor stays assigned to
work with the new member until they complete their recruit period and promote up to full
Firefighter or EMT status. While we have had many years of success with this recruit mentoring
process, we have not applied it to development of company officers and chief officers. I believe
we could easily adapt this model for new hires and use it as a professional development tool for
current and future officers.
Looking at the results from my internal and external surveys, as well as my interviews
with current and retired chief officers from EFD, I have found that our department is no different
than most departments in New Jersey when it comes to professional development. We are
lacking in a formal structured professional development plan for our officers. While our
department does afford our members considerable training opportunities in comparison to other
departments locally of similar size, we still may not be doing the best we possibly can to ensure
that company officers are prepared to be future chief officers in the Evesham Fire Department.
The department does place value on advanced education, as evident by our requirement of 60
college credits to be eligible for career employment at EFD. Additionally, career and volunteer
personnel are both eligible for college tuition reimbursement, after meeting minimum
requirements for passing grade levels and also participation/activity levels for the volunteer
members of the department.
During my more than fifteen years with EFD, I have been afforded the opportunity to
attend national training conferences and two-week courses at the National Fire Academy. The
EFD has approved and paid for almost any outside seminar or training session that I requested to
attend on my off time. In the past five years, we have also spent significant funds from our
training budget to bring nationally recognized fire service instructors in to our department, so
that all our members could receive advanced training. Overall, I believe that the EFD is
supportive of its members who desire to attend additional training opportunities beyond those
offered in-house at our department.
The research I have done for this paper requires me to consider the implications of the
study results on my own organization. Up until now, our promotion process from company
officer up to our first level chief officer (Deputy Chief) has historically been an interview
process with no other written exam or assessment center. This was sufficient because of the
infrequency of promotions and the limited number of eligible officers, due to the relatively
smaller size of our organization. Our promotions at the chief level also have been limited,
because our current chief officer staff has been in their positions for longer periods of time.
For example, our Chief of Department has held this rank since 1989. Our Assistant
Chief, who is currently second in command of the department, has been in his position since
2003. Our current Deputy Chief, who is next in our command structure, has held this position
since 2005. The first department Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal was in that position for 13 years
until his retirement in 2005. Another Deputy Chief, who has also since retired, was in his final
rank for seven years. We also had a Captain retire after more than 20 years in his final rank.
Fortunately for our department, I believe that our current Assistant Chief has been well
groomed, prepared, and educated to become our next Chief of Department. I feel equally as
confident that our current Deputy Chief has the proper experience, education, and training to
become our next second in command of the organization and future Chief of Department. This
is a testament to our current Chief who has worked closely with our Assistant Chief and Deputy
Chief during their time as chief officers.
Both our Assistant Chief and Deputy Chief have over 24 years total service time with the
EFD and could both conceivable retire within the next 10 months to 2 years. Their retirement
dates will most certainly be affected by the current political climate in New Jersey and our
Governor’s current mission to reduce the pensions, health benefits, and retirement payouts of
public employees in New Jersey. This is being done with specific emphasis being placed on
telling the residents of our state that firefighters, police officers, and teachers are overpaid and
that our retirement and health benefits are too generous.
Twenty-five years ago when our fire department was very small with only two fire
stations, no EMS services as part of its mission, and only a handful of career personnel, our first
Chief was promoted from within at a point early in his career at EFD. As a result, he has
remained in this leadership position for many years, as the fire department has grown
exponentially in size, call volume, and number of career and volunteer personnel. The career
position of Deputy Chief was also filled early in our organization’s history as a combination fire
department, when we only had a handful of career firefighters.
The lack of turnover at the top of our organization has had the indirect result of limiting
the advancement of the middle of the organization for our Lieutenants and Captains. Reviewing
our job descriptions for Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief, we now have company officers that
don’t meet the time-in-grade requirements to promote to Deputy Chief or Battalion Chief. For
example, our job descriptions for Deputy Chief and Battalion Chief (has a job description but the
rank is not currently assigned to our career staff) both require a minimum of three years service
time as a Captain at EFD, with five years as a preferred qualification.
Our two Captains on the career staff (one of which can retire at any time now) have been
in their current rank for less than three years. This also leaves four Lieutenants who also have no
time-in-grade as Captains. This results in the possibility of having three chief officers who
could retire from the organization in a short span of time and only have one Captain eligible to
promote to Deputy Chief, which is only the first-step or junior level chief officer in our
department. While I did not review our job descriptions for Assistant Chief or Chief, I would
expect that they both also require time-in-grade at the Deputy Chief level in order to promote to
either rank. In some fire departments that are currently experiencing retirements of chief
officers, this same situation could result in:
A. chief officer ranks being eliminated or left vacant and not back filled with
promotions;
B. using lower ranking officers to do the assignments previously done for many
years by the higher rank (i.e. – Captains doing the jobs previously done by Deputy
Chiefs);
C. hiring from outside of the fire department to fill vacant chief officer positions.
In some fire departments, lack of advancement opportunities can be a reason for an
employee to leave for other fire departments, where they perceive there are greater opportunities
for advancement. When career employees leave the department, the department incurs a
significant loss of time and money that was spent on hiring, outfitting, providing benefits for and
training the employee during their employment term with us. In my 15 plus years at EFD, our
department has experienced some career firefighters leaving for other opportunities, but no
career officers have ever left to this point.
All three chief officers are experienced fire ground officers and incident commanders.
Our Chief and Assistant Chief are both graduates of the Executive Fire Officer Program and
have Masters Degrees in Public Safety Administration. Our Deputy Chief has a Bachelors
Degree in fire science. All three participate in ongoing education and training respective to their
duties and responsibilities for their rank. While these three chief officers have served our agency
well, we are about to experience the impacts of their near future retirements from the department.
This combined with the near future loss of a veteran Captain at the operational level, will
undoubtedly have a noticeable impact on a combination department of our size.
Recommendations
The Evesham Fire Department has been recognized as a leader in Burlington County,
New Jersey for its ability to deliver a variety of services to the residents and visitors of Evesham
Township, using a blend of career and volunteer personnel. These services include handling Fire
and EMS responses, fire code enforcement, public education, and technical rescue services. In a
period of less than 35 years, the EFD has grown substantially and now serves the largest
community in Burlington County, New Jersey; with over 48,000 residents spread over 30 square
miles.
The department is facing a critical time in its history, with the anticipated loss of the four
most senior members of its career staff in a very short span of time. The study shows the
importance of professional development and creating a leadership pipeline within in the
organization to ensure continued success. The department must recognize the need to adopt a
model of continuous improvement to ensure its future success.
As a result of the findings in this applied research paper, the author makes the following
recommendations:
1. The EFD must begin to take a more active role in preparing its current company
officer staff for roles as chief officers. This includes meeting with company
officers to review the job description of the next two ranks above them and
determine what needs to be done to prepare them for these roles. This should also
include current chief officers sharing anticipated retirement dates, for the purpose
of transition planning for the remaining officers. This could possibly be done
with all career officers gathering in a day trip or weekend retreat format at a
location away from the EFD.
2. The EFD should re-evaluate its current mission statement to see if it is still
relevant and appropriate as written. In addition, the EFD must clearly define what
its core values and its vision are, and make them clearly known to all members of
the organization. Included in our core values should be a commitment to
professional development of future leaders in the department.
3. Any review or update of the mission statement, organization vision and core
values should include representation from all segments of the department. This
will ensure support for these important tools for organizational decision making.
4. The EFD should assign the role of Professional Development Officer (PDO) to an
existing supervisor on the career staff. This position should be separate from the
Department Training Officer, as this new position will have significant and time
consuming responsibilities. This officer will be responsible to create model
professional development plans for each supervisory rank in the EFD. These
plans should be aligned with the EFD job descriptions for each rank. These
professional development plans would follow the National Professional
Development Matrix as established by FESCHE and also adopt the guidelines in
the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Officer Development Handbook.
5. Once model plans have been completed for each supervisor rank, the PDO would
be tasked with meeting individual with career officers and volunteer officers to
explain the professional development model and provide guidance for each
supervisor of what they need to do to prepare for promotion to their next rank.
The PDO would meet with each supervisor at some predetermined interval (six
months, annually, every three years, etc).
6. The EFD should purchase and issue copies of the IAFC Officer Development
Handbook, current edition, to all current career and volunteer officers. Personnel
receiving the book would be given an assignment that would require them to read
the book in order to complete.
7. The EFD should establish a Relationship by Objectives workgroup between labor
and management to discuss the benefits of formalizing a professional
development plan for career personnel. The workgroup should identify the
obstacles to formalizing this type of program including who can participate in
outside training programs with regard to staffing levels and what costs the EFD is
contractually obligated to pay for.
8. The EFD should establish minimum criteria for career firefighters to serve as an
“acting officer” in the temporary absence of a career company officer. The
criteria would define minimum time employed by the department, as well as
training and certification needed to be an acting officer. In addition, acting
officers must complete an EFD course of instruction covering a review of critical
EFD Standard Operating Procedures, the roles and responsibilities of the first-due
company officer at an incident scene, as well as in-station duties of the company
officer. This course would be developed jointly by the Professional Development
Officer and the Department Training Officer.
9. The EFD should create an application process for career and volunteer company
officers to be accepted into a formal Chief Officer Development Program. The
application process would formalize the member’s intention to pursue future chief
officer leadership opportunities in the department and identify future key leaders.
The application process would also establish a partnership between the member
and the EFD, defining the roles and responsibilities of each party. Upon
acceptance into the program, the applicant would be required to complete or
update their professional development plan. The EFD should purchase and issue
the IAFC Officer Development Handbook, current edition, to each member
accepted into the program.
10. The EFD should create an application process for firefighters to be accepted into a
Company Officer Development Program. The application process would
formalize the member’s intention to pursue future leadership opportunities in the
department and establish a partnership between the member and the department,
defining the roles and responsibilities of each party. Upon acceptance into the
program, the applicant would be required to complete a professional development
plan. The EFD should purchase and issue the IAFC Officer Development
Handbook, current edition, to each member accepted into the program. The
member will be given an assignment that would require them to read the
handbook in order to complete it.
11. The EFD should establish a mentoring program as part of its professional
development plans. Each level of the organization, career and volunteer, should
have the responsibility to mentor those in ranks directly below them, including
Lieutenants mentoring firefighters. The mentoring program should be established
in writing and define objectives of the program and benchmarks for learning to
promote to the next rank. The program may also include partnerships with other
fire departments in New Jersey to exchange officers for the purpose of mentoring.
12. The EFD should establish a Duty Chief program for volunteer officers, requiring
all volunteer officers at the rank of Captain and above to rotate as the “on call” or
Duty Chief during the volunteer staffed hours, seven days a week. Volunteer
Captains would initially ride along with existing volunteer chief officers during
normal duty crew hours, before then being allowed to act as the Duty Chief.
Existing volunteer chief officers would also participate in the program. The Duty
Chief would utilize a command car during their assigned shift of 4, 8, or 12 hours
as defined by the program. Requirements and minimum standards to participate
in the program regarding experience, education, and certifications would be
defined jointly by the career Deputy Chief of Operations and the volunteer chief
officers. This program would be used to develop future chief officers from within
the volunteer company officer ranks.
13. The EFD should develop a reading list of both fire service and non-fire service
books and target them toward each rank in the organization. This established
reading list should be periodically updated and may also be used in future
promotional processes for each rank.
14. The EFD should pay for its career and volunteer company officers to be members
of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Company Officer Section. The
research showed that membership in networking groups is a key component to
professional development. The IAFC website and monthly newsletters are great
resources of information for today’s fire service leaders to keep abreast of the
challenges in our industry. EFD already pays for annual membership in the IAFC
for its career and volunteer chief officers.
15. The EFD should require its volunteer and career chief officers to attend a
minimum number of meetings and serve on committees for the Burlington County
Fire Chiefs Association. I am a member of this organization as a past volunteer
Deputy Chief in our county and I attend meetings on a regular basis. With the
exception of our Chief of Department, who has served as a past president and has
served on many committees, our department has no regular representation at this
association’s meetings. Our county fire chiefs association is a very strong
professional networking group of volunteer and career, past and present, chief
level officers. This organization can only remain successful with continued
participation from the leaders of fire departments across our county. The research
also showed that membership in networking groups is a key component to
professional development.
16. The EFD should host future leadership retreats locally or out of state for both
career and volunteer officers. These could be done in a one-day or weekend
format, similar to those that I participated in as a part of the campus residence hall
staff when I attended college.
Following these recommendations will ensure that company officers are fully prepared to
assume the role of chief officer as positions open up due to a variety of reasons including
retirements, unexpected injuries, job relocation for volunteer officers, or career officers leaving
for outside advancement opportunities. Some of the recommendations above can be
implemented in shorter time frames than others can; however, they are all important steps to
ensuring the future success of the Evesham Fire Department in the community that we serve. It
is my hope that the recommendations of this research paper will benefit officer development in
both the career and volunteer divisions of the EFD.

The challenge of preparing career company officers for advancement to career chief
officer is certainly not unique to the Evesham Fire Department. It is being experienced daily by
fire departments all around the country, including volunteer, career and combination departments
alike. If you are a Chief or any level of chief officer, I strongly encourage you to step back and
take a look at your command structure and then evaluate what the next one, three, five, and ten
years looks like in your organization. Is your organization ready for anticipated retirements or
people in key positions leaving unexpectedly? If your answer is no, then you probably need to
update or implement a professional development plan for your leadership team.
Professional development is a process that must embraced early on and done
continuously throughout a person’s fire service career. It can’t begin a few months before a
promotion process occurs. Professional development is also a key element of succession
planning. The biggest mistake a company officer can make is not to prepare for promotion to
chief officer.
For future readers of this research paper, I recommend that you take some time to first
research what your state requirements are for fire officer or determine if your state even has any
requirements. Then seek out and read the 2006 Wingspread Conference report and learn about
the items of national significance impacting our fire service. Visit the International Association
of Fire Chiefs website and purchase their Officer Development Handbook – it will be the best
twenty dollars you ever spent. Attend classes at the National Fire Academy. At the very least,
attend your state weekend program there. For the cost of a meal plan, you’ll receive some of the
best education and networking you will ever experience in your fire service career. Travel back
to Emmitsburg, Maryland each year in October and participate in Memorial Weekend. It will
give you a somber and chilling perspective of the seriousness of our calling to serve others.
Attending this weekend for the past seven years has changed my life. Find a mentor and create a
professional development plan for you and then create one for your department. I have been
fortunate to have a few outstanding personal and fire service mentors in my life.
In closing, I’d like to thank my Chief of Department, Thaddeus Lowden, for allowing me
to participate in the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy. It has been a
great experience so far and I intend to make the organization, my family, and my friends proud
by graduating from the program in the future. I’d like to further acknowledge Chief Lowden’s
many personal and professional accomplishments during his long tenure as our Chief.
Critical knowledge gained from my research would not have been possible without the
cooperation extended to me by other Fire Chiefs from around New Jersey and Connecticut, and
also their chief officer staffs who participated in my online survey. I hope the results of my
research paper help to improve each of your organizations, as well as my own.
A special thanks to our EFD retired officers, my Assistant Chief and Deputy Chief, and
my fellow company officers for their cooperation and input. Finally, I would like to thank all of
the firefighters, a.k.a. “the blue shirts”, at the Evesham Fire Department who work with me every
day. I have no doubt that they all have the capability of being future leaders at the EFD. Our
people are the real reason that the organization and I continue to be successful, as well as
continuously provide a high level of service to the community every day. I stand as your boss,
proud to wear the EFD patch on my shoulder, and I salute each of you. I hope this research
paper inspires each of you to commit yourself to a life of personal and professional development.
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Running head: PREPARING COMPANY OFFICERS FOR PROMOTION TO CHIEF 1

Preparing Company Officers for Promotion to Chief Officer

In Order to Ensure Future Organizational Success

Evesham Fire-Rescue, Evesham, New Jersey

used the language, ideas, expressions, or writings of another.

company officers for promotion to chief officer.

state requirements for certification and training of fire officers.

combination and full career departments, the components of successful management

think should be included in a chief officer development program.

The author’s recommendations include using the National Professional Development

core values. Each of these must be communicated throughout the organization.

Table of Contents ……………………………………………………….. 5

Background and Significance ……………………………………………. 7

Literature Review ………………………………………………………... 9

Reference List …………………………………………………………….. 59

A1 – A5 Wingspread Conference - Statements of Significance (1966-2006)

A6 – CHFD Policy Directive No. 1217 – Fire Officer Development Program

A7 – National Professional Development Matrix – Fire Officer

A8 – National Professional Development Matrix – EMS Officer

A9 – Chief Officer Survey

A10 – Request to send surveys – Chief of Department

A11 – Survey request – Chief Officers

A12 – EFD Company Officer Survey

A13 – EFD Retired Chiefs – Interview Form

promotion to first level chief officer.

certification and training of fire officers.

3. What are the components of successful management development programs in other

officer development program?

for promotion to their position?

department will be the basis for this applied research project.

Background and Significance

The Evesham Fire-Rescue Department is a combination Fire-EMS department with 32

additional Firefighter-EMT/Inspectors in November 2014. The volunteer staff includes

(Evesham Fire-Rescue - About Us, n.d.).

short period of time.

the roles of Deputy Chief, Assistant Chief and Chief of Department.

solutions to resolve this issue, thereby making us a better organization.

success of our organization in the community that we serve.

topics covered in my research questions.

In the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Officer Development Handbook

- Professional status begins with education

functioning of the fire service must be examined.

the achievement of professional status.

The topic of professional development in the fire service continued to be identified as an

the appendix (Appendix A1-A5).

list of mistakes includes:

- Failing to accept responsibility

- Failing to properly develop people

- Trying to control results, rather than stimulate thinking

- Being a buddy rather than a fire officer

- Failing to set standards (a long car trip with no map)

- Failing to train people to do their job

emergency service organization (Carter, 2014).

national certification program overseen by an independent commission created under a trust

achieve the CFOD including: Experience, Education, Professional Develoment, Professional

Contributions, Association Membership, Community Involvement and Technical Competencies

During my research, I reviewed several military leadership books, as our country’s

professional development of their subordinates a principal responsibility of command”

- Impart Marine values and traits