Part of ChathamCountyGA.gov
Training Division - Company Officer Academy
Chatham County Company Officer Academy
The Chatham County Fire Department Company Officer Academy was developed by Training Chief Joshua Anderson. This program is the first of its kind in the state of Georgia and is modeled after the South Carolina Firefighters Association Fire Officer Academy. Designed to prepare the next generation of fire service leaders, the academy emphasizes operational excellence, leadership development, and accountability, setting a new standard for company officer training in Georgia.
COMPANY OFFICER ACADEMY APPLICATION
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
Information required below must be submitted to be
selected for admission to the Chatham County
Fire Department Company Officer Academy.
This is a 6-day course designed to help improve
or instill positive leadership qualities, and
decision making techniques for current or
future company officers.
The academy is held at Chatham County Fire Department Station 3, 2009 Grove Point Road, Savannah, Georgia 31419 (Fire Training Center). The academy has nearly 80 hours of instruction and will be both physically and mentally taxing. This course is not designed to be a pass or fail course, however, there is a basic expectation of firemanship and the ability to perform basic tasks as a firefighter.
Candidates of the course will be required to provide documentation that they are able to perform basic tasks including:
- Students shall be able and willing to perform basic yet taxing physical fitness training.
- Students shall be able to don and doff personal protective equipment efficiently and in a professional manner without wasting air.
- Students shall be able to deploy a ground 24' ground ladder by themselves without the use of an assistant.
- Students shall be able to perform forcible entry by themselves without the use of an assistant.
- Students shall be able to deploy a preconnected hose load from an engine by themselves without assistance in deployment, minimizing kinks.
- Students shall be able to perform basic search techniques including split search, oriented search and vent-enter-search (VES).
- Students shall be able to carry victims down a ladder.
STUDENT MINDSET
The mindset of the student is that of a leader who can identify their personal shortcomings, embrace them, and work to overcome them. The student must identify their imperfections and understand that all people are fallible and with their own unique imperfections. The intent of the course is to provide the students with a mirror to reflect upon themselves and work to become the best version of themselves for THEM. Everything that this course teaches, teaches us to become better servants of the world around us, for our personnel, who in turn perform their duties for THEM.The student must understand that this course is designed to promote success, not failure. While the academy does not rely on traditional terminal performance objectives measured strictly on a pass/fail basis, this does not relieve participants of the responsibility to fully engage and perform all required work. The academy operates under the principle of “work to task, not to time,” emphasizing completion of assigned tasks and objectives to a satisfactory standard rather than within a fixed instructional timeframe. Instruction, mentorship, and reinforcement will be provided to support each student in meeting course expectations.
However, any attendee who is unable to satisfactorily complete the required academy curriculum tasks and physical performance objectives WILL NOT graduate from the academy.
The student must understand that their attitude and approach to events dictates the attitude of the instructors. This course is not meant to be a high-intensity course that causes attrition through physical and mental stress, this course is meant to instill the expectations of a good company officer into its students. The instructors are expected to act as “gentlemen” as long as the student performance allows them to maintain that decorum. If the students fail to meet objectives (losing personnel in an IDLH environment, having maydays occur during routine operations, fail to rescue victims, or actively work against the safety of victims), they can expect that the instructor demeanor will become inherently negative. Continuation of these actions can lead to an increasingly negative response from instructors, which may lead to punitive physical fitness exercises. The goal is to reinforce company officers to make good decisions, it is the student actions which determine whether the reinforcement is positive or negative. The student should strive to engage with their classmates and work towards building a positive relationship with all classmates and instructors. The networking aspect of this course will allow students access to resources they otherwise would not have developed and help to provide them with new resources to maintain their personal and professional accountability.
SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION
The applicant will be required to submit the following documents:
Letter of intent, resume, and candidate essay.
Letter of Intent: Candidates will write a letter to the instructor
cadre which outlines their reasoning to take the course, what they
hope to achieve in this course, and how they feel that this course
will impact their career.
Resume: Candidates will provide a professional resume which shall
be no longer than 2 pages, outlining their professional career and
background. This should include professional qualifications,
positions held, and professional objective.
Essay: Candidates will write a 3 or more-page essay (doublespaced)
on one of the following topics:
Your largest fire service failure, how you fixed it or how you
should have fixed it.
What do you perceive to be the single most important training
aspect today.
The single largest issue plaguing the fire service today, and why.
Candidates are expected to provide support for their position utilizing at least two outside resources. You should include a reference page for any quotes that you may use, formatting for citations is not required to be in APA or MLA format, however, you should indicate quotations of resources and provide a reference. Please note that reference pages or title pages do not count towards the page count. Please Note: This is an officer-level course, and candidates should ensure that their documentation is professional. Considerations for grammar, appearance, spelling, and formatting are taken into consideration along with the content of the documents provided. The effort you put in will reflect in the potential for selection.
- Candidate Name
- Candidate Organization
- Candidate Rank
- Years of Service
- Shirt Size
- Letter of Intent
- Resume
- Essay
By submitting an application, I attest that all of the information listed above has been read, and thoroughly understood as part of the application process for the Chatham County Company Officer Academy. I affirm that all of the information is true and that I intend to participate fully and to the best of my ability in the program if selected. Additionally, I understand that this application is not a guarantee for program selection.
Program Alumni
When that tone goes off you may or may not have to perform tactical level skills on that scene, but your people might have to.
Chief Joshua Anderson
CCFD Training Chief
Our profession has a massive void of direction. We must challenge ourselves to rise to the occasion when others refuse to step up and heed the call. This course helps to answer the question, "If not you, then who?"
Training Chief Ian Schulte
Pooler Fire Rescue
Have fun, get better, don't suck.
Training Chief Woody Childs Hardeeville Fire Department
"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius
Captain Andrew Ulmer
Chatham County Fire Department
The future of the fire service is unknown, but you can be part of the change as a leader
Battalion Chief Jordan Johnson
Chatham County Fire Department
Grooming officers and future officers to build a better culture for the fire service.
Captain Jonathan Campbell
Chatham County Fire Department
Chief Ali Mims
Swainsboro Fire Department
Understanding what you signed for was a career. Why? Wouldn't you want to get better!
To take a good look from the inside to see the shortfalls and become a better officer.
Lieutenant Jackie Howell
Pooler Fire Rescue