Our Foundation

The values (Duty, Respect, and Integrity) and principles are the foundation of the Wildland Fire Leadership Development Program (WFLDP) that was created as a response of the Tri Data study from the South Canyon fire. They were first seen as a part of the Report of the Leadership Task Group to the Training Working Team. On establishing values and principles, the report said (page 26 of the report):

Without common definitions and agreed-upon principles for leadership, how can people learn what to focus on in their own development or the development of their subordinates? For example, if "decisiveness" is a leadership trait that the organization values, it constitutes a defined set of behaviors that can be studied and practiced. Further, if "seek responsibility" is a valued leadership principle, employees can use that as a guide in making decisions on a daily basis.

Leadership may be many things to many people; but without some type of road map, the only good leaders that our organizations will have will be ones who have found a workable formula through trial and error. Obviously our organizations do have some good leaders, the question is are there enough of them? The military has some poor leaders, even with its emphasis on leadership development. The question is, how many more poor leaders (or how many fewer good leaders) would the military have without such emphasis?

Leadership gurus in the private sector, such as Steven Covey, promote "principle-centered leadership". All branches of the U.S. military have defined leadership "traits" and "principles." While the terminology may vary from one organization to another, many of the concepts appear to be fairly universal. Military organizations worldwide supply their leaders with a list of the leadership traits and principles that are valued by the organization. The wildland fire community owes its leaders no less. (See Appendix B for examples of other organizations' lists and Appendix C for a prototype for wildland fire).”

By definition, a principle is defined as "a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning." Good principles are neutral, broad in scope, and always apply. The leadership principles were derived from a 1948 study of effective leadership during World War 2 and became accepted doctrine within all branches of the military. With some minor changes, acceptance was achieved within the NWCG interagency community for these principles. The values and principles were designed to be inclusive and timeless.