Principles of Fireground Battle (Part 3)
In the third part of our series, “The Principles of Fireground Battle”, we look at the third tactical tenet of battle which is Offensive or as the Fire Service terms it, Pro-Active Advantage. The Pro-Active Advantage allows us to capture, retain and exploit the tactical advantages which we must solidify in order to accomplish our purpose.
Often we find fireground commanders place resources in a defensive advantage in the initial stages of the incident. With that, we find the reflex time to re-position resources to capture the advantage in offensive manners is lost, and the tactical advantage goes to the incident. This is typically a situation where the lack of understanding of the big picture vision is not clearly communicated or lost in the haze of battle. Using the OODA Loop, we understand the faster we move through the Loop, the better we are at gaining the tactical advantage.
The OODA Loop model was developed by Col. John Boyd, USAF (Ret). When Colonel John Boyd first introduced the OODA (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) loop concept during the Korean War, he was referring to the ability possessed by fighter pilots that allowed them to succeed in combat. It is now used by many other Combat oriented organizations. I believe that in order to use the OODA Loop it must be used in conjunction with the Fireground Mindset for it to be effective on the Fireground.
What is Fireground mindset? For the Fireground commander this mindset is the conscious or subconscious willingness to assess the fireground based upon the presentation of facts. Utilizing the knowledge captured in the information exchange and the intelligence phase the fireground commander can rapidly make decisions to better accomplish the purpose and effectively operate in a position of Pro-Active Advantage. When engaging in fireground operations, this particular mindset, more often than not, will be the determining factor as to your success or failure, regardless of technical proficiency. Anybody can train in fireground command, but few have the technical and analytical skill to rapidly exercise judgment based upon the presentation of facts, therefore, they rely upon tactical work-sheets to guide them through the process, hence, we develop check-box command.
OODA Loop defined :( Fire Service Version)
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