Individual enrollment
Choose your learning format
Founding participant rate: $249Available only by direct invitation.
CTS Learn · officer development
Company Officer Foundations
A 48-hour course for aspiring, acting, and new company officers. Study crew supervision, training, department responsibilities, and incident command, then apply what you learn across 10 modules.
Course overview
Prepare to lead a fire company
Practice the responsibilities of a company officer through lessons, assignments, and incident exercises. Instructors review your work and provide feedback before the final assessment.
- Audience
- Aspiring, acting, and recently promoted company officers
- Workload
- 48 hours of instruction and applied work
- Delivery
- Department cohort or individual participation
- Completion
- Core, sequence, and full-series completion options
Build the foundation
Lessons, transcripts, workbooks, flashcards, and practice guides explain the company-officer role and its responsibilities.
Work through the decisions
Practice crew supervision, administrative work, safety decisions, radio communication, and incident command. Submit assignments for review and feedback.
Show what you have learned
Completion reflects satisfactory knowledge checks, assignments, practical evaluations, remediation when needed, and final review.
Pricing and availability
Individual and department course fees
The fees below cover the full 48-hour course, learning materials, assignments, assessments, and required evaluations. CTS confirms availability, dates, and written terms before enrollment.
Request individual information
Department pricing
Choose the group size
The fee covers the full 48-hour course, learning materials, assignments, assessments, and required evaluations for the group. CTS confirms the schedule and department arrangements in a written quote.
More than 50 learners or custom deliveryRequest a quote for your group.
Request a department quote For a shorter course devoted to practicing early command decisions, explore Initial Incident Command Lab.
Course structure
Three sequences form the full course
Foundations Core
The 19-hour Core develops crew leadership, initial incident command, and the ability to coach, document, train, and improve performance.
Officer practice
Role transition and ethics, health and safety leadership, and administration and policy add 11 hours of guided and applied officer work.
Full COF Series
Community responsibility, advanced tactical decision-making, critical-event command, and the integrated capstone complete the 48-hour pathway.
Before you begin, CTS confirms the sequence, delivery format, schedule, evaluation plan, price, and completion requirements. Department-sponsored and individual learners meet the same performance standard.
Detailed unit topics and required work
Foundations Core
The 19-hour Foundations Core
| Unit | Performance objective | Learning sequence | Required work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01Lead the Crew · 8 hr | Set clear crew standards, delegate with accountability, communicate under pressure, coach performance, and address conflict within the company officer’s authority. | Video, Facilitated practice | Knowledge check; Crew Expectations & Delegation Plan; unit completion review |
| 02Lead the Initial Incident · 6 hr | Build and update an initial operating picture, establish command, communicate condition-supported strategy and objectives, deploy and account for resources, manage changing risk or a crew emergency, and transfer command with continuity. | Video, TACTRIUM™ practical | Knowledge check; command decision record; two TACTRIUM™ practicals; unit completion review |
| 03Coach, Document & Improve · 5 hr | Plan safe, measurable company training; apply CTS observation and documentation methods; provide feedback under CTS reassessment rules; and close corrective actions with verified evidence. | Video, Facilitated practice | Knowledge check; drill, observation, documentation, and remediation package; unit completion review |
Officer practice sequence
11-hour Officer Practice sequence
| Unit | Performance objective | Training material | Required work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04M01 · The Officer Role, Ethics & Trust · 3 hr | Define the company officer’s authority and accountability, apply a documented ethical decision process, establish behavior-based expectations, and build a measurable development plan. | 5 instructional briefings, workbook, job aids, flashcards, case, facilitated practice, and rubric | Knowledge check; expectations brief; ethical decision record; development plan; unit completion review |
| 05M05 · Safety, Risk, Health & Wellness · 4 hr | Apply first-line risk controls, intervene on unsafe conditions, plan for physiological and environmental stress, and use supportive escalation for health, wellness, or impairment concerns. | 5 instructional briefings, workbook, job aids, flashcards, case, facilitated practice, and rubric | Knowledge check; risk and wellness intervention plan; optional decision lab; unit completion review |
| 06M06 · Administration, Policy, Legal & Labor Foundations · 4 hr | Interpret policy within first-line authority, prepare accurate and protected records, respond to complaints neutrally, and identify matters that require legal, labor, civil-service, human-resources, or command review. | 5 instructional briefings, workbook, job aids, flashcards, case, facilitated practice, and rubric | Knowledge check; policy memo; supervisory report; unit completion review |
Advanced and capstone sequence
18-hour Advanced & Capstone sequence
| Unit | Performance objective | Training material | Required work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07M07 · Community Relations, Prevention & Investigations · 3 hr | Use local risk information to improve company-level prevention and preincident planning, communicate responsibly with the public and partner agencies, and protect the integrity of fire-investigation interfaces. | 4 instructional briefings, workbook, field tools, flashcards, case, assessment, rubric, and facilitated practice | Knowledge check; preplan gap analysis; investigation coordination exercise; public action brief; unit completion review |
| 08M09 · Strategy, Tactics, Resources & Critical Events · 7 hr | Command an expanding incident through continuous risk review, strategic and tactical adaptation, accountable organization, resource coordination, and a disciplined response to a simulated firefighter emergency. | 7 instructional briefings, workbook, field tools, flashcards, case, assessment, rubric, and TACTRIUM™ practical work | Knowledge check; complex command package; two TACTRIUM™ practicals; unit completion review |
| 09M10 · Integrated Officer Capstone · 8 hr | Integrate company-level leadership, administration, training, community responsibility, safety, and incident command in an assessed portfolio, oral defense, unknown TACTRIUM™ incident, after-action review, and continuing development plan. | 4 instructional briefings, workbook, field tools, flashcards, case, assessment, rubric, and TACTRIUM™ practical work | Knowledge check; integrated case; portfolio and oral defense; unfamiliar TACTRIUM™ scenario; AAR and development plan; unit completion review |
Course outline
Ten modules covering the company officer’s responsibilities
| Module | Course topic | Hours | Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | The Officer Role, Ethics & Trust | 3 | Officer Practice |
| M02–M03 | Lead the Crew | 8 | Foundations Core |
| M04 | Coach, Document & Improve | 5 | Foundations Core |
| M05 | Safety, Risk, Health & Wellness | 4 | Officer Practice |
| M06 | Administration, Policy, Legal & Labor Foundations | 4 | Officer Practice |
| M07 | Community Relations, Prevention & Investigations | 3 | Advanced & Capstone |
| M08 | Lead the Initial Incident | 6 | Foundations Core |
| M09 | Strategy, Tactics, Resources & Critical Events | 7 | Advanced & Capstone |
| M10 | Integrated Officer Capstone | 8 | Advanced & Capstone |
Standards and professional practice
How the curriculum is developed and reviewed
Course development uses fire-officer, responder-safety, training, and incident command references, including National Fire Academy materials. Exercises should be considered alongside the learner’s department procedures.
Standards and references
References include current NFPA professional, safety, wellness, and training standards; FEMA NIMS and ICS; National Fire Academy benchmarks; and the learner’s current local policy.
Learning through completion
Outcomes are taught, applied, assessed, and remediated when necessary. Completion is determined from learner work, reviews, practical evaluations, and capstone performance.
Independent and accountable
CTS authors and delivers this curriculum. Local procedures control actual operations, and any outside credit or recognition is stated only when formally approved.
Completion requirements
What every learner must complete
Independent learners and department groups meet the same assessment requirements. Your instructor will explain the practical exercises, review your work, and arrange additional practice when needed.
- Required learning activitiesComplete assigned briefings, readings, guided study, cases, and practice.
- Knowledge assessmentsEarn at least 80% on each unit knowledge check, with targeted remediation and equivalent reassessment available.
- Applied assignmentsSubmit each assignment and meet all assessment criteria, including the critical safety and performance requirements.
- Practical demonstrationComplete required facilitated or TACTRIUM™ decision work and receive a satisfactory rating on designated behaviors.
- Unit certificatesEligible learners may receive a CTS certificate after completing each unit.
- Course and sequence certificatesThe Foundations Core certificate requires its three units. The Full COF Series certificate requires all 48 hours, the integrated capstone, and final review.
CTS-authored professional training: Company Officer Foundations is independently developed and delivered by Command Training Systems. When CTS issues a completion certificate, it identifies the program requirements completed and the program edition. Any formally approved outside recognition is identified separately.
Next step
Plan your Company Officer Foundations course
Ask about an individual place, a guided group, or a quote for your department.
Course arrangements
- Preparation
- For aspiring, acting, and new company officers. CTS confirms eligibility and practical requirements before enrollment.
- What is included
- The full 48-hour series, lesson resources, assignments, assessments, and required evaluations. Guided groups include scheduled instructor support.
- Scheduling and access
- Independent study allows flexible lesson pacing. Practical evaluations and cohort sessions require scheduling. Your enrollment offer states the access window and dates.
- TACTRIUM™ practical work
- CTS confirms the exercise setting, facilitator, equipment, and any department arrangements before enrollment. A program seat does not provide a separate department software subscription.
- Completion
- Complete the required learning, assessments, practical work, and final review for the applicable CTS unit, sequence, or full-series certificate. CTS completion does not replace department qualification or an outside certification.
- Terms and assistance
- Review the written cancellation, transfer, refund, and accommodation arrangements before paying. Read course policies or get help.