NWCG Leadership Subcommittee Attends I/ITSEC

NWCG Leadership Subcommittee members had the unique opportunity to attend the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) which "promotes cooperation among the Armed Services, Industry, Academia and various government agencies in pursuit of improved training and education programs, identification of common training issues and development of multiservice programs."

Keynote speakers General James N. Mattis (USMC, Command, US Joint Forces Command) and John M. (Mike) McConnell (Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton and former US Director of National Intelligence) kicked off the conference with a "Train to Fight, Fight to Win" theme. You can watch their speeches at http://www.simtv.org/channel.cfm?c=667&s=70.

A major message throughout the conference was our ability to maintain our competitive edge as a nation and to avoid what retired Vice Admiral Al Harms, retired US Navy, calls a "glide to mediocrity" with respect to our educational efforts. Panelists discussed the risk of becoming a nation of functional illiterates posed to lose its leadership position. All agreed that the next generation force must be adept to carrying out varying strategies using new technological capabilities.

Leadership Subcommittee members now ponder the question "What innovations can America bring to bear to transform education to maintain world leadership?" In turn, the Subcommittee asks you to reflect on how we can transform our training system to meet the future needs of the wildland fire community.

For more information about I/ITSEC, visit their website at http://www.iitsec.org.

The WFLDP has experimented with various methods of communicating with the field including the "Leading & Learning" newsletter and our former website feature called "What's New." The newest tool in the WFLDP arsenal is a leadership blog.

Launched in January 2010, the blog provides a place for students of fire to exchange comments, feedback, ideas and concerns. Blogs don't replace face-to-face or verbal communication; however; they provide a mechanism where members of the wider community can come together in one space for respectful debate and information sharing at their own convenience.

Participants of the blog are asked to follow After Action Review guidelines of limiting topics to the "what" and not the "who."

Share your leadership successes with the wider community and advance the grassroots efforts of those wildland fire leaders that have gone before you.