Program News
May 6, 2011
Four Basic Academies were held in 2011:
- Basic 54: February 28th –March 25th
- Basic 55: March 7th- April 1st
- Basic 56: March 27th – April 22nd
- Basic 57: April 4th- April 29th
Three hundred and eight Apprentices attended academy this year. Basic Academy consists of a series of courses designed to prepare entry level firefighters to become a fully qualified Firefighter Type 1. Classes are conducted in both the classroom and the "field" to give them a well rounded experience. Apprentices are divided into four crews and remain together for the duration of the Academy. Each crew has a Crew Boss and Assistant they report to just as if they would if they were a part of a fire crew. We encourage firefighters to workout prior to arriving at Basic to ensure they're ready to fully participate in field exercises and physical training. Physical fitness testing is conducted in the beginning and end of academy.
April 20, 2011
Basic allocation requests for FY12 are due by April 30th from Unit Managers and Regional Coordinators. Each unit is responsible for verifying their basic academy allocation requests by October 1st, 2011. If we have not received confirmation by this date your allocations for FY12 will be based upon what you submitted in April.
Please submit all allocation requests to the Wildland Firefighter Apprenticeship Lotus Notes email account: wfap@fs.fed.us
October 30, 2010
We are underway with the Wildland Firefighter Advanced Academy 52 at the Wildland Fire Training & Conference Center. The second set of Advanced Academies (51 & 53) will begin on January 16th and January 23rd respectively. This is an exciting time for the apprentices who are representing National Forests and Bureau of Land Management Districts throughout the United States, and the manyfamilies who support them. This also completes an apprentice's residental academy portion of the program. In addition to receiving a letter of completion, we will be presenting a certificate to the apprentice with the highest overall Academic Achievement, Leadership, and Physical Fitness scores for each academy.
Apprentices are strongly encouraged to invite family and friends and I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in our graduation ceremonies as we celebrate the completion of the apprentice's formal academy training, and they move one step closer to becoming future agency managers. All Graduations begin at 1400 hrs. Graduation dates are as follows:
- Advanced Academy 52 - November 12th, 2010
- Advanced Academy 51 - February 11th, 2011
- Advanced Academy 53 - February 18th, 2011
October 18, 2010
The new 2010 National Apprenticeship Standards have been approved. The Roll-Out Team has prepared a package of instructions to help guide the Regional Coordinators and Unit Managers into making this transition. This roll out package is now available on the website and can be found here.
October 17, 2010:
The first fall academy begins today! Advanced Academy 52 begins today and will run until November 12th. The next Advanced Academy (Academy 51) will start on January 16.