The Combat Ready Company Officer – Player and a Coach

By:  Brian Brush

With the roll out of the Fire Service Warrior fitness program and the presentation of our belief that firefighters are industrial athletes I see an opportunity to make some connections.

A professional football team follows a general preparation plan for competition. They start with a preseason program of strength and conditioning; they study of general strategies of offense, defense, and special teams, and do countless drills in practice. This program then becomes more refined as the season approaches and further focused upon the start of the season to specific prep for each week’s opponent. The focused week planning is what I want to draw on since it best reflects our profession and our continuous season.

The Company Officer is both a player and a coach therefore he or she must both prepare and plan. In the week prior to a game the head coach is hitting it hard. Players will be practicing and conducting workouts, the head coach is also spending extra hours pouring over game films, reworking play books, and planning specific strategies to counter the talents and exploit weaknesses of the opponent. I think that this is an excellent model of planning for the company officer and can provide you a quick example.

In my firehouse my assignment is not fixed; I rotate between the engine and the truck. We work a 48 on 96 off schedule. The 48 is called a set and the 96 a four day. I will work 6 sets on the engine then 6 sets on the truck which is roughly a month. So as an example, it is my last set for my rotation on the engine. In the morning I will go on four day to return to start my month on the truck. I want to apply that head coach planning to my preparation for the change in assignment.

Take a good look at the rosters and the match-ups:

• Take your staffing and match it to your expectations on scene. Preassignments are not always so cut and dry. The true talents of an individual may be more important than what seat they are in.

 Study the films:

• There is no shortage of video today, gain experience from others. Watch each video from different angles of thought or duty, take notes, develop plans and ideas then share.
• Flat roof training review- A short video I made based on the flat roof portion of my ventilation class paired with an idea for a flat roof prop and plan for a drill - http://youtu.be/OXmoRLOfoBk
• 7,9,8 Cut video- A real time representation of proper flat roof cut procedure and saw handling technique - http://youtu.be/rIBMAURz4h0
• Helmet camera footage of a peaked ventilation operation on an actual incident. If you aren’t getting these experiences first hand this might be the next best thing -http://youtu.be/NniLmq3sIp0

 Prepare and review the playbook:

• The 40 yard line with 2 minutes left is too late for planning and the fireground is even less forgiving. Get your plan on paper then put it in practice, this is a two step process. You must test your plan with your people before you will know if it works.

Alright now it is game time and I am heading in to work to start my shift on the truck. I got my mind prepared for truck company roles and responsibilities. I have my line up set with the best people in the best spots. Once we are done with our truck check we can sit down and discuss some assignments maybe even watch a few videos as a crew, then we are going to do a few drills before lunch. Eventually the time will come where this model is tested and because of your preparation you will be successful and start chalking up the wins. Will the guys give you a hard time because you think you are Lieutenant Ditka? No, because this is just a thought process and a planning model. No one but you needs to know what your approach is they just need to see it through on game day.

©2011 Brian Brush (Text and Images) - All rights reserved