USFS Fire Suppression Doctrine

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USFS Fire Suppression Doctrine

• Doctrine and the High Risk Environment
• USFS Intent for doctrine - application on the
  ground
• What does it mean to me?

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Introductions
Ed Hollenshead Acting Director, Fire Aviation
Management USFS Pacific Southwest Region,
Vallejo, CA
Mark Smith Mission-Centered Solutions, Inc.
Denver, CO
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Definition of Doctrine
Doctrine is the expression of the fundamental
concepts and principles that guide planning and
action.
Doctrine is definitive enough to guide specific
operations, yet adaptable enough to address
diverse and varied situations.
Doctrine is authoritative but flexible. It
requires judgment in its application.
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Problem a changing world.

• A maturing culture fire organizations have
  come into their own with more of everything
• More complex problems
• More resources involved
• More agencies involved
• More money
• More attention
• More expectations
• More people
• More accountability for a result

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Bad Outcomes
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Downward Spiral
Failure generates more rules Failure to follow
new rules undermines trust and invites oversight
by others More oversight generates more rules
(see 1) Consequences get worse every time the
cycle goes around
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More complexity, more rules, more complexity

• Will invariably be found in violation of own
  rules in the event of an investigation
• Rules added over time as organization learns
  from painful experiences
• Parent agencies influenced by larger societal
  changes
• Safety programs become more intense and
  compliance based

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Rules versus Principles
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Bottom Line

• Quiet acknowledgment that effective firefighting
  breaks a lot of rules a lot of the time
• Cultural norms of selectively adhering to rules
  develops
• Frustration that the organizational expectation
  and the operational reality are at odds with each
  other

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High Risk Operational Environment
Firefighters routinely encounter numerous and
varied risks This environment poses inherent
risks that can, even with reasonable mitigation,
cause harm or death to firefighters engaged in
fire suppression operations.
USFS Fire Suppression Foundational Doctrine
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Environmental Characteristics

• Complex system many interrelated variables
• Most variables beyond human control limited
  ability to predict

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Environmental Characteristics

• Success requires a potentially dangerous mix of
  humans, machines and nature

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Environmental Characteristics

• Operational tempo can change dramatically and
  without warning
• The cost of failure is high

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The Human Factor

• Human Element is Core to Operations
• Human decision making and communication are the
  primary methods that are used to focus operations
  within these environments
• Situation awareness is critical
• Human error is prevalent

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Dynamic, Dangerous and Chaotic

The art and science of firefighting is more akin
to war fighting than it is to industrial safety
and health
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Fog of War
Friction
Danger
Carl Von Clausewitz On War - 1830
Uncertainty
Inherent in a high risk environment
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Nature of the War
The essence of emergency operations is a clash
between the human will and the environment David
Festerling, Deputy Chief, Ventura County Fire
Department

• Incident Priorities
• Life
• Property
• Natural Resources
• Containment
• Control

inherent in a high risk environment
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What is needed..

• Synergy and concentric action (reduce friction)
• Risk mitigation (mitigate danger)
• Ability to identify emerging risks (remove
  uncertainty)
• Freedom to take initiative to act
• Shared principles to guide that action

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Challenge Concentric Action
With independent action, you get a lot of
productivity, its just that as IC you may not
know, or be able to direct, what that
productivity is.
Chief Tim Sappok, CDF
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Mission Oriented Command
Friction
Danger
Carl Von Clausewitz On War - 1830
Uncertainty
Auftragstaktik Mission Oriented
Command decentralized decision making delegated
to empowered leaders
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Shared Doctrine
Link and synchronize leader action through a
common understanding of organizational intent and
operational concepts, principles and standards.
(doctrine)

• Principles of War
• Objective
• Offense
• Mass
• Economy of Force
• Maneuver
• Unity of Command
• Security
• Surprise
• Simplicity

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Principles of Action
Link and synchronize leader action through a
common understanding of organizational intent and
operational concepts, principles and standards.
(doctrine)

• Principles of Action
• Objective
• Unity of Command
• Offense
• Safety
• Focus
• Speed
• Positioning
• Reserves
• Simplicity

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In a Doctrine (principles)-based Culture.

• Leaders have the ability to choose, to make
  decisions
• Leaders are properly prepared for these roles and
  responsibilities by the agency
• Understanding intent, and the application of
  judgment are at the focus of performance

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Rules

• Management expectations of what and how things
  will be done
• Decisions deemed by the organization as unable to
  be delegated to subordinate leaders regardless of
  conditions or circumstance
• Exceptions are not allowed, or reserved for only
  the highest levels of authority
• Thou shall Thou shall not

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Rules
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Rules Culture

• performance expectations and accountability are
  rule-defined
• success and failure are measured by the
  absence or occurrence of bad outcomes
• improper behaviors, poor judgment, or the lack of
  critical decision-making skills are seldom
  evaluated, and may go unnoticed until they result
  in a bad outcome
• personal performance is gauged by ones adherence
  to or deviation from rules rather than by the
  appropriateness of the behaviors and judgment
  used to accomplish the task

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Rule Traps
Does it work?
Yes
No

• Discourages the use of judgment
• Discourages initiative and innovation
• Causes the development of a compliance culture
  measures success by adherence to or deviation
  from rules, not attitude and behavior
• Form over function (4Ps)
• Rules are rules regardless of time, place,
  person or circumstance

Dont mess with it!
Yes
Did you mess with it?
No
Does anyone know?
No
You Idiot!
Will you catch hell?
Yes
Yes
Hide it!
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!
No
No
Trash it!
Can you blame someone else?
Yes
No Problem!
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Rule Example
FSM 5700 Aviation Management (5713.53 - Search
and Rescue) In emergency situations, such as
search and rescue or medical evacuation, Forest
Service employees may need to ride in unapproved
public agency, military, commercial, or private
aircraft. The employee's District Ranger, Center
Director, Forest Supervisor, or other line
officer may authorize each flight, and document
it on Form FS-5700-14, Aviation Safety Communique
(SAFECOM) Report. (See FSH 5709.16, sec. 33.24b
for additional search and rescue direction.)
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Safety Communiqué Form REPORTED BY (optional)
Name E-Mail Phone Cell Phone Pager
Organization Organization Other Date
Submitted mm/dd/yyyy EVENT Date mm/dd/yyyy
Local Time hhmm Injuries Y/N Damage Y/N
State Location (Airport, City. Lat/Long or
Fire Name) Operational Control Agency
Region Unit MISSION ( see look-up tables)
Type Other Procurement Other
Persons Onboard Special Use Y/N Hazardous
Materials Y/N Departure Point Destination
AIRCRAFT ( see look-up tables) Type Tail
Manufacturer Model Owner/Operator
Pilot NARRATIVE (A brief explanation of the
event) CORRECTIVE ACTION (What was done to
correct the problem)
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Throwing out all the rules?

• NO!

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Discipline and Accountability

• Some acts are reckless or negligent and warrant
  severe sanctions
• A completely blame free culture is impractical
• Punishing all violations of the rules is
  impractical
• Discipline should be predicated on an understood
  distinction between acceptable and unacceptable
  behavior
• The determining factor is not the act, but the
  nature of the act

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When things go wrong

• Performance will be measured by application of
  doctrine, not by BW rules intended for static
  environments
• Leader performance is evaluated based upon
  understanding of intent, application of
  operational principles, and judgment expectations
  given the level of experience, training and
  certification levels
• Conducted through a peer review process to
  determine a standard for the reasonable person
• Leaders will be held firm for adherence to the
  established rules, now clearer and more
  meaningful than previously

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When things go wrong

• Learning from the event is considered a primary
  goal
• Solutions, remedies, and punishments are crafted
  to remedy the situation, and are proportionate
  and measured
• Focus on human performance
• Cant eliminate inherent risk allows us to
  depart from the zero defect approach, and allows
  us to go to the reasonable person approach

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Doctrine and Organizational Behavior
Those who are possessed of a definitive body of
doctrine and deeply rooted convictions based upon
it, will be in much better position to deal with
the shifts and surprises of daily affairs, than
those who are merely taking short views, and
indulging their natural impulses as they are
evoked by what they read from day to day.
Sir Winston Churchill
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"I am therefore committing us to move toward a
point where we anchor our actions and decisions
to a well-understood doctrine. Forest Service
Chief Dale Bosworth,January 26, 2006
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Summary

• An organization guided by well understood and
  shared doctrine exhibits a workforce with well
  developed character and initiative, a workforce
  that has good understanding of the mission of the
  organization and the intent of its leadership.
• It relies on sharply honed judgment and
  decision-making skills

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Additional Pressure

• South Canyon
• Thirtymile
• Cramer
• Congressional attention and oversight
• OSHA
• OIG

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Reality
USFS is not structured for, and cannot reasonably
exercise, positive control and oversight over
all employees all the time.
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Dilemma
Agency is finding that its mission and values are
in danger of being authored by others in the
absence of any defining, clear, guidance about
who they are, what they do, and how they do it.
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Unique to the USFS? No

• Symptoms of four things
• Natural maturing process from a small
  organization to a large one
• The high-risk directorate living within the walls
  of a low-risk parent organization
• Desire to reach the next logical step in maturing
  the organization to be a true high reliability
  organization
• Pressures stemming from a rising expectation of
  performance (although variable and subjective)

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Bottom Line

• An increasing need to somehow reconcile the
  functioning of the organization with the needs of
  its operational environment, and the mission.
• Need to define a standard of performance that the
  agency can meet and be held accountable to.

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What will it mean toEmployees?
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What will it mean toManagement?
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What will it mean toCooperators?
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Realities tough road ahead

• Understanding
• Validating
• Implementing

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Perspective

• Doctrine is not the end all be all solution
• It is most appropriate for dynamic operations
  that require judgment and flexibility
• Will be used in only some aspects of the USFS
  operational theater, but will probably be a part
  of the agency policy structure from top to bottom

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New Organization