NWCG Systems Improvement

Improvement of NWCG systems components is an ongoing effort intended to support the core mission – enabling interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners. Systems improvement efforts include:

Website

• Increase visibility of and access to NWCG materials.
• Convert publications to web portals as appropriate.
• Consolidate information and reduce redundancy and discrepancy across website.

Publications

• Establish a comprehensive catalog of publications and portals.
• Improve capability to identify and simultaneously revise interrelated materials.
• Ensure that primary documents focus on NWCG standards and best practices.

Position Management

Wildland fire personnel throughout the nation mobilize by NWCG position under NIMS-ICS principles. This enables consistent and uniform position performance in support of nationally interoperable wildland fire operations. Improved position management will strengthen that connection and improve our ability to successfully teach, train, and operate to accurate position-related standards. Improvement efforts include development of Incident Position Descriptions (IPDs), implementation of a systematic process to identify training and performance support needs for each position, and development of position-specific standards. The Incident Position Performance Cycle demonstrates the interconnectedness of these elements.

Position pages provide the single authoritative source for:

• IPDs
• Standards and References

Position Qualification Requirements (established through the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1)

Training Materials

• Make all materials fully accessible according to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
• Make training and performance support content freely available so it is fully interconnected, easily accessible, and can readily serve as reference material. This includes:
  • NWCG standards
  • IPDs
  • Training and performance support materials
  • Forms and checklists
  • Position task books (PTBs)
• Post training and performance support material in the training catalog using the NWCG course page template to ensure consistency, branding, and ease of use.
  • For PowerPoint materials, use the NWCG standard template to eliminate duplication and conflict between slide content and instructor notes and to ensure training content is available for current and future reference. This will also serve as the instructor guide for the course, containing both presentation material and instructor notes.
  • Other NWCG templates are available for instructor guides.
• Use NWCG standards publications as student workbooks to eliminate redundancy and conflict and to train to established standards.

Training Material Templates

• PowerPoint Template (PPT)
• Instructor Guide Templates 
  • Course Outline (Word)
  • Individual Unit (Word)
• Handout Template (Word)
• Sample Course Agenda Template (Word)

Position Task Books (PTBs)

• Improve connectivity between established position-specific standards, position qualification requirements, and the PTB.
• Ensure that PTBs are effective training and evaluation tools.
• Eliminate unnecessary roadblocks to qualification.
• Work within a system that allows/supports responsive changes in position duties.
• Remove unnecessary redundancy.

NWCG Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP)

The NWCG Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP) is a learning management system intended to enable training providers and users to manage and track training information, including:

• Training schedules
• Student nominations and registration
• Self-directed (online) training courses
• Pre-course work for instructor-led (classroom) training courses
• Simulations, exams, and other instructor-specific materials
• Local enhancements, per NWCG Standards for Course Delivery, PMS 901-1
• Student assessment and performance tracking

Non-NWCG Positions

• Non-NWCG positions, including those found in the Federal Wildland Fire Qualifications Supplement, will not being evaluated by NWCG due to constraints of oversight to positions.
• The Federal Wildland Fire Qualifications Supplement would add 117 positions to the process. NWCG does not establish or facilitate the development of the standards, training, publications, and support materials associated with these positions.