Watertown Fire Chief to Attend National Fire Academy Program

The following information is from the Watertown Fire Department: 

The Watertown Fire Department is pleased to announce that Chief Mario A. Orangio has been accepted into and will begin the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy’s (NFA) Executive Fire Officer Program in January 2013.

“Just to be accepted into the program is a great honor for me. Having the ability to network with the senior fire officials from around the world who attend the program alone, will prove to be a treasured professional experience,” said Orangio.

“Additionally, through this program and the research I will be required to conduct, I have the opportunity to potentially make significant changes to fire and emergency services organizations both in the U.S. and internationally.”

The Executive Fire Officer Program (EFOP) is designed to provide senior fire officers and others in key leadership roles withan understanding of: the need to transform fire and emergency services organizations from being reactive to proactive with an emphasis on leadership development, preventionand risk-reduction; transforming fire and emergency services organizations to reflect the diversity of America's communities; the value of research and its application to the profession; and the value of lifelong learning.

Another goal is to enhance executive-level knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to lead these transformations, conduct research and engage in lifelong learning. The officers improve their professional development through a unique series of four graduate and upper-division-baccalaureate equivalent courses. The EFOP spans a four-year period with four core courses.

Each course is two weeks in length. EFOP participants must complete an Applied Research Project (ARP) that relates to their organization within six months after the completion of each of thefour courses. A certificate of completion for the entire EFOP is awarded only after thesuccessful completion of the final research project.