Duties of a Training Officer: Never Stop Experimenting

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Blog by Brian Ward
Chief of Emergency Operations, Training Director for Georgia Pacific, Madison, Ga.

I recently had the opportunity to manage the Training Officers Desk Reference for a Jones and Bartlett publication. Despite having been a training officer for a few years, I had never really considered all the various areas a training officer must be versed. As I reviewed this process and determined the critical areas to focus on, it was amazing to recollect the amount of knowledge and aptitude that accompany this role.

As a training officer, you have a responsibility to exhibit solid interpersonal skills, computer skills, knowledge of performance metrics, generational issues, alternative-learning methods, strategic planning, investigations and budgets, just to name a few.

How can one person be proficient in all of these areas? The answer is continuous education and experimentation. Continuous education is easy. We have to constantly be willing to learn new methods and research technological advancements. However, the experimenting aspect can be much more difficult.

We should never experiment during investigations and budgets; however we can experiment with alternative learning methods such as computer-based learning, tactical decisions games, conferences and more. We can also experiment with altering classes based on the generations served inside and outside of the classroom.

As a training officer, we have to be willing to try these new methods. Some will work, some will not, but you will learn from your experiences. This, in conjunction with your continuous education will prove to be extremely valuable with your influence inside your department and within your region.

It will also lend credibility and respect for your programs and classes as your students will respect your efforts to provide information in new and enlightening ways.

As always, train hard, take care and be safe.

About the Author
Brian Ward is the chief of emergency operations and training director for Georgia Pacific, Madison, Ga. He is a past training officer for Gwinnett County, Ga., chairman of the Metro Atlanta Training Officers and currently serves on the Honeywell Advisory Council. He is a State of Georgia Advocate for Everyone Goes Home and the ISFSI Board of Directors Director At Large and Lead Live Fire Credentialing Instructor. Brian was recently awarded the National Seal of Excellence from the NFFF/EGH. He has an associate’s degree in fire science and a Fire Safety and Technology Engineering Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Cincinnati. He is the founder of FireServiceSLT.com and Georgia Smoke Diver #741.

 

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