Navy investigates firefighting training options. (People Planes Places).

JO2 Jd Walter

Seeking out training and educational solutions from the civilian sector is a primary focus of the Navy's Revolution in Training initiative. Taking the best that industry offers and adapting it to Navy needs provides Sailors with proven and respected training certifications and professional credentials, while creating a more efficient and effective training program for the Navy.

At the International Center for Emergency Response Training Academy (ICERTA), Ocala, Fla., the temperatures soar as two fire hose teams advance into a towering inferno. Black smoke curls into the afternoon sky, blotting out the sun. Underneath 70 pounds of Nomex, beads of sweat roll into the eyes of the Sailors, stinging as they struggle to subdue a 1,000-degree propane fire.

This course is part of the CNO's initiative to revolutionize Navy training and education. At ICERTA, eight Sailors are earning not only professional firefighting certifications, but also college credits. This ensures that Sailors are not only employed, but employable.

Through the eight weeks of arduous schedules and intense heat, the course receives nothing but accolades from the students. All coming from damage control backgrounds, they represent a cross-section of Navy platforms, from fleet training centers to precommissioning crews and aircraft carrier flight decks. Likewise, the class ranges from the enlisted ranks of second-class petty officer to chief warrant officer. Despite their years of experience in the Navy, the ICERTA course is still teaching them new ways to go about the business of fighting fires.

"There is a big difference between fighting fires aboard a ship and fighting a house fire," said HT1(SW) William Stevens, Fleet Training Command Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Va. "If necessary, you can leave a burning house and fight the fire from the outside. Aboard a ship, there is no leaving until the fire is out, and if we don't put it out, we don't go home, ever." Stevens sees great benefits for the Navy damage control program in outside training, "Even though the techniques aren't always the same, this training provides a new way of thinking about fighting fires."

A new way of thinking is exactly what the Revolution in Training is all about. The course began with Sailors completing an intensive Firefighting I and II section, the initial course required for all civilian firefighters, which included practical applications on vehicle, structure and gas fires. Students also completed training in rappelling, search and rescue and ladder handling. The course merges several ICERTA components specifically for the Navy.

Upon completion of the course each Sailor will receive International Fire Service Certification and Accreditation Commission certifications in Fire Fighter I and II, Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations, Fire Instructor I, and Fire Officer I and II. The certifications will be issued through the Missouri State Fire Marshall's office. Additionally, each student will be awarded eight credits from the University of Missouri, which can be applied to a degree in the field of fire science.