Incident Command: Decentralized vs Centralized

Introduction

• Strategy requires seeing the battle in your mind, training, forecasting, and preparing for unknowns
• Mastering building construction, fire behavior, and tactical decision-making is critical
• Hands-on training and pre-planning in realistic environments drive winning battles
• Modern incident command is a team sport, requiring exponential thinking and decentralized decision-making
• Adapt to simultaneous actions, rapid growth, and unprecedented challenges

Decentralized vs Centralized Command

• Span of Control is the number of resources a commander can effectively manage
• Modern realities reduce the span of control to 3:1 due to radios, bystanders, and other factors
• Centralized command means all resources report directly to the IC, making the IC the single point of contact
• Centralized command often overloads radio and removes the IC from seeing the "what-if" scenarios
• Centralized command ethos allows the fire to outpace operations
• An effective incident command needs to train and empower the entire alarm as a team, decentralizing decision-making authority
• All members should be trained, so the IC can focus on strategy

New Factors in Emergency Response

• New realities require more overhead and thinking
• Incidents have become more complex due to various factors
• Examples of new factors include:
• Increased response levels
• Decreased staffing
• Building construction
• Synthetics
• Civil unrest
• Covid

Sacramento Metro Fire Span of Control Example

• Span of control was 15:1 as of 2023
• Battalion chief managed engines, trucks, medic units, and another BC
• The BC juggled driving, dispatch, responding companies, MDC, and maps
• Tactical channels were busy, the command channel was overwhelmed, and the BC was not even at the scene
• The notion of 5:1 is not just the resources you are managing, it includes demanding your attention
• Managing all of this information quickly, leads to the 5:1 measure going out the window

Commander's Intent

• Organizations must ensure a reasonable span of control
• Optimal Span of Control is situation-dependent
• A greater number of subordinates allows greater flexibility
• Too many subordinates limits a commander's ability to address each unit individually
• Narrowing the span of control (less immediate subordinates) deepens the organization by adding layers of command

Fog of War

• The Fog of War is confusion or uncertainty about the situation
• Often involves the status of the enemy (fire), troop strength, and positioning on the battlefield (building)
• This is common in Maydays and close calls

Decentralized Command

• Decentralized command divides an incident into manageable parts
• Tactical divisions or group supervisors are empowered with authority and resources to complete objectives
• Supervisors account for crews, communicate strategy, manage risk, & maintain the span of control
• Gives tactical supervisors freedom to carry out objectives as they see fit and allows the IC to focus on strategy and unknowns

Mission Command

• Mission Command is the Army's approach to command and control
• Empowers decision-making and decentralizes execution
• Requires trust developed through training and time
• War is a human endeavor and dynamic, so plans must change rapidly
• Mission Command principles are:
• Competence
• Shared understanding
• Mutual trust
• Mission orders
• Commander's intent
• Disciplined initiative
• Risk acceptance
• Builds effective teams, encourages risk acceptance, and promotes disciplined initiative
• Commanders focus leaders on the operation's *purpose * rather than tasks
• Doing this minimizes detailed control and maximizes freedom of action to accomplish tasks
• Delegating authority requires providing appropriate resources and setting conditions for success

Commander's Intent

• Provides focus and helps subordinate commanders to achieve the commander's desired results
• Helps even if the operation does not unfold as planned
• In the fire service, Commander's Intent is the Incident Priority/Strategy
• Declared upon the assumption of command
• IC states: "We are in life priority/offensive strategy..."
• Sets boundaries for the incident
• Tactical supervisors execute mission objectives

Developing Officers for Mission Command

• Involves establishing a command structure through standards, expectations, and performance
• Must develop the team and build trust via training
• Empowers officers to step in as division/group supervisors
• Must train in realistic conditions and maintain situational awareness
• Because mission command decentralizes decision-making authority, training demands more of subordinates at all levels
• Commanders train and educate leaders to show good judgement when exercising initiative
• Subordinates must be field-competent and have the commander's support
• Embracing responsibility is key

Commanders Develop Basic Control

• Embrace mission command at every level
• Inculcating mission command via training simplifies command and control
• Subordinates must be comfortable with mission command before operations commence
• Effective mission command requires subordinates capable of decentralized execution of missions and tasks
• Shared experiences build trust to foster competence in shared understanding
• Trained teams are able to communicate explicitly and implicitly, conduct decentralized operations, and achieve unity of effort

Tenets of Mission Command

• There are tenets that include competence, shared understanding, mutual trust, mission
• All may seem simple or hard to accomplish
• A member must be skilled in their jobs and provide professionalism
• If any assistance needed, intervention must be done immediately
• Competence includes being skilled in the tasks

Shared Understanding

• Ensuring all entities are on the same page regarding the incident priority, along with the resource status
• Mutual trust is the glue that will hold a the team together
• Training and time makes the trust emerge, and it is tested on a fireground

The Enemy

• Recognise what type of threat it is
• Know the battlefield and understand how people may occupy said battlefield
• Know tools and weapons associated with the battle
• Have a size up and understand how the threat may behave
• Stay ahead of any incident curve so as to plan and prepare

Soberanes Fire

• The case that was burned in California, which burned acres of land, and killed the dozer operator named Robert Reagan and had over 5000 personal assigned

What to do at incidents

• Do not assume clear clear leader's intent, focus the tactical troops and important controls
• Establish divisions, and groups early, also utilize team work in ICS's
• Have another plan as a contingency, or for emergencies
• Give your input but also understand that the Incident Commander has a reason for their thoughts and calls

Facts

• Most fires cost a large impact on finances or injury

Bread and butter fires

• It is lack of respect for the greatest enemy
• Anytime the enemy does not receive respect, most likely they will win
• Acknowledge house fires with what they are that take lives of the citizen, or a firefighter