The National Fire Academy (NFA) works to enhance the ability of fire and emergency services and allied professionals to deal more effectively with fire and related emergencies. Free training courses and programs are delivered at our campus in Emmitsburg, Maryland, online and throughout the nation.
The information below highlights the Managing Officer Program and the Executive Fire Officer Program offered by the NFA.
Managing Officer Program
The National Fire Academy’s (NFA’s) Managing Officer Program is a curriculum that introduces emerging emergency services leaders to personal and professional skills in change management, risk reduction and adaptive leadership. Acceptance into the program is the first step in your professional development as a career or volunteer fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) manager, and includes all four elements of professional development: education, training, experience and continuing education. –National Fire Academy
The Managing Officer Program consists of:
- Five prerequisite courses (online and classroom deliveries in your state).
- Four courses at the NFA in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
- A community-based capstone project.
A certificate of completion for the Managing Officer Program is awarded after the successful completion of all courses and the capstone project.
Academic Requirement
To be considered for the Managing Officer Program, you must have:
Earned an associate degree from an accredited institution of higher education.
OR
Earned a minimum of 60 college credit hours (or equivalent quarter-hours) toward the completion of a bachelor’s degree at an accredited institution of higher education.
In addition, you will need to complete the five prerequisites prior to applying
Check out more at by visiting https://www.usfa.fema.gov/training/nfa/ and clicking on the MO Program.
Executive Fire Officer Program
The Executive Fire Officer (EFO) Program is the flagship program of the National Fire Academy (NFA). It provides senior fire officers with a broad perspective on various facets of fire and emergency medical services (EMS) administration. The courses and accompanying how to exercise leadership when dealing with difficult or unique problems within communities. –National Fire Academy
The ideal candidate
You must be willing and able to commit to two years of rigorous academic and professional development activities that include multiple in- sessions at the NFA in a cohort environment and online mediated courses throughout the two years. With a cohort is no flexibility to change sessions, and there are stringent deadlines for the completion of required course work.
You must also meet the service and academic requirements.
Service requirement
You must hold one of the following ranks or positions within an agency:
- Chief of department or equivalent.
- Executives/Chiefs/Command-level officers who report directly to the chief.
- Chief-level officers or equivalents who head major bureaus or divisions (suppression, prevention, training, emergency medical services (EMS), etc.).
- Chief officers and senior deputies of state governmental fire or EMS organizations (e.g., state fire marshals, state EMS directors and state directors of fire training).
- Ten years of progressive rank advancement and leadership experience in fire, EMS or related public safety discipline.
- Three years of experience at the supervisory or managerial level with responsibility for two or more subordinates.
- Demonstrated functional responsibility at the supervisory or managerial level a work unit or program that has organizational or community-wide impact.
Academic requirement
The EFO Program selection process is a transcript-based evaluation process. You must have a baccalaureate degree (Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science) from a nationally or regionally accredited institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time of application.
Check out more at by visiting https://www.usfa.fema.gov/training/nfa/ and clicking on the EFO Program.