National Wildfire Coordinating Group

L-481, Advanced Leadership for Command and General Staff, 2015

L-481 Decorative banner. Three photos of wildland fire operations. Three fire personnel stand at hood of truck with maps spread out and a water bottle on top, with female incident commander pointing toward sky. Four fire personnel stand in a tent, the incident commander making a phone call on a landline. A large group gather around a maps table in a tent.

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Description

This is a leadership development recommendation that focuses on leadership within the context of large/complex incident management, to include team collective tasks and functions accomplished by large Incident Management Teams (IMTs). Individual tasks include functioning as a productive member of a staff organization, being a positive contributor to staff decision-making, maintaining a common operating picture, demonstrating staff member ethos, and projecting operational culture and leader’s intent.

This course is targeted at personnel desiring to become qualified as Command and General Staff (C&G) on an Incident Management Team (IMT). The intent is to produce C&G members who can effectively fulfill their responsibilities within the IMT decision process and act as organizational leaders within their own functional areas. This course focuses on leadership within the context of large/complex incident management. This includes team collective tasks and functions accomplished by large IMTs. Individual tasks include functioning as a productive member of a staff organization, being a positive contributor to staff decision making, maintaining a common operating picture, demonstrating staff member ethos, and projecting operational culture and leader’s intent.

THIS IS NOT A COURSE PACKAGE AVAILABLE FROM THE NWCG PRODUCTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

The NWCG Leadership Committee has maintenance responsibility for the L-481 course package and evaluation process. However, the delivery process used to meet this training recommendation will need to be determined by the hosting agency. Specific course information can be found at the Wildland Fire Leadership website at https://www.nwcg.gov/wfldp.

Selected course materials should address these topics:

  • Establishing a staff value system, team culture, and command presence
  • Developing and maintaining a team-level common operating picture
  • Developing and communicating leader’s intent through a critical thinking process
  • Propagating intent at all levels of the incident organization
  • Effectively operate in the ICS system and utilize ICS products and doctrine
  • Promoting integration of functional areas and a high-level of teamwork into strategic planning

Objectives

  • The intent of this training is to produce Command and General Staff members who can fulfill the responsibilities of an effective staff officer or section chief within an IMT, contribute effectively to an IMT’s decision-making process, and perform as an effective organizational leader in their own functional area and as a member of the IMT.

Target Group

Personnel desiring to be qualified in a command or general staff position on an Incident Management Team.

Prerequisite Qualifications and Training

  • Successful completion of L-480, Organizational Leadership in the Wildland Fire Service

OR

  • Successful completion of L-380, Fireline Leadership

OR

  • Successful completion of L-381, Incident Leadership

OR

  • Successful completion of L-180, Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service; plus completion of 40 hours in any supervision or leadership training course(s)

AND

  • Satisfactory completion of pre-course work.

Session Offerings

Sessions of this course may be available in the NWCG Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP). Enrollment requires an account. Log on as a guest to search for session offerings of this course and to view other public content. To search for a specific course, use the FIND LEARNING menu at the top of the page, then select UPCOMING COURSES. To view Geographic Area training schedules, select the specific GEOGRAPHIC AREA information using the drop-down menu at the top of the page. Contact your local Training Officer for more information about local course sessions.

 

Delivery

L-481 is available as classroom instructor-led training.

Course Components and Hours to Complete

Course Component Course Time
Pre-course work 8
Pre-selection assessment N/A
Online training N/A
Instructor-led training 32
Total Hours 40

Course Level

Regional, state, or area

Minimum Instructor Qualifications

For instructions on how to become a course provider, including course design criteria, minimum instructor qualifications, and certification process, refer to Reference Materials for Becoming an NWCG L-Course Provider.

Curriculum lead contact list.

See NWCG Standards for Course Delivery, PMS 901-1, Instructor Standards for more information.

Certification Date:

2015-05

Previous Certification Dates:

None

 

Print Training Overview Page

 

 

Functional Area: 
CGS Command
Primary Committee: 
Required For: 
FSC2, ICT2, LSC2, OSC2, PIO2, PSC2, SOF2
Page Last Modified / Reviewed: 
2022-12-16

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