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Position Naming Board

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Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The Position Naming Board (PNB) provides national leadership to maintain incident management position title and mnemonic consistency throughout the wildland fire community.

Body

photo of firefighters with forest burning in the background. Decorative.Primary Objectives

  • Establish business rules and processes for managing the position list in the system of record.
  • Maintain definitions of titles and associated mnemonics.

Request for Change

The NWCG Position Naming Board (PNB) is the authority for the approval of all position codes and position titles assigned for each position for incident management mobilization that are utilized by the wildland fire community. All position codes and position titles additions or modifications must be PNB approved prior to utilization in the national mobilization system.

Use this form to submit the following

  1. Request new position title and position code
  2. Modification to existing position title and/or position code
  3. Notify of inactivation of an existing position

Process

All change requests must be submitted via the online request form.

All position code and position title requests submitted to the PNB for consideration must adhere to the NWCG PMS Data Standards for Position Codes and Position Titles.

All requests must be validated by the submitter's Incident and Position Standards Committee (IPSC) agency representative to ensure the request meets the need of the agency.

  • Requests submitted directly to the PNB prior to IPSC agency representative validation will be sent to the representative for validation. No action by the PNB will occur until validated/approved by the representative.
  • Requests submitted to the PNB by an IPSC agency representative is assumed to be agency validated and will be addressed by the PNB at the next scheduled meeting. 

Requests will only be addressed at the next scheduled PNB quarterly meeting due to impacts to the qualification and ordering systems. Quarterly meetings (March, June, September, December) occur on the third Thursday of the month.

Once a decision has been reached, the PNB chair will inform the requester of the decision and document the decision on the RFC form.

Instructions

  1. Email Address: Enter the email address of the person submitting the request.
  2. Requesting Change Select the appropriate agency or select the NWCG Committee requesting the change. For the selection of State or NWCG Committee, indicate which one at the next screen.
  3. Requester Information Please provide the name, agency, home unit, and telephone number of the person initiating the request so the board may make contact for additional information, if necessary.
  4. Request Type
    • New position: Enter requested new position title and position code
    • Change to existing title and/or code: Identify current position and identify requested change.
    • Inactivation of existing position: Identify position requested to be inactivated and the effective date.
  5. Description of the Proposal
    • Position Description: Detailed description of the positions duties and responsibility when assigned to an incident.  
    • Description of Issue and Reason for Change: Describe the issue the proposal is intended to address or reason for the change.
    • Qualification Guides and Systems Affected: Identify the qualification documents and the applications that will be affected.
    • Supporting Documents: Is there supporting documentation that needs to be submitted to support request? If yes, submitter will be contacted for the document(s) after request is submitted. 

Request for Change Form

Position List (Mnemonics)

The position list represents all PNB approved positions being, or have been, utilized by the wildland fire community for incident management mobilization.

Chair: Gina Papke

NWCG Coordinator:

Parent Committee: Incident and Position Standards Committee

Meeting Schedule: Quarterly on the 3rd Thursday (March, June, Sept, Dec)

Page Last Modified or Reviewed:

NWCG Latest Announcements

The Incident Position Standards and Next Generation Position Task Book are now available for Status/Check-In Recorder (SCKN)

Date: August 27, 2024
Contact: Incident Planning Subcommittee 

NWCG is excited to announce that the NWCG Incident Position Standards for Status/Check-In Recorder, PMS 350-32, NWCG Position Task Book for Status/Check-In Recorder (SCKN), PMS 311-32, and Checking In Resources Customer Service Job Aid, J-111 are now available.

The Performance Support Package, which for SCKN includes the Incident Position Standards, Next Generation Position Task Book, and job aid were developed through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort. The Performance Support Package will support trainees, those qualified in the position, and evaluators.

References:

NWCG Status/Check-In Recorder Position Page

NWCG Incident Position Standards for Status/Check-In Recorder, PMS 350-32

NWCG Position Task Book for Status/Check-In Recorder (SCKN), PMS 311-32

Checking In Resources Customer Service Job Aid, J-111

The Next Generation Position Task Book and Incident Position Standards are now available for Safety Officer, Field (SOFF)

Date: July 26, 2024
Contact: Risk Management Committee 

NWCG is excited to announce that the NWCG Incident Position Standards for Safety Officer, Field, PMS 350-81 and NWCG Position Task Book for Safety Officer, Field (SOFF), PMS 311-81 are now available.

The Safety Officer, Field (SOFF) is responsible for monitoring operations on an incident from a risk management perspective to provide for the welfare of incident resources and the public. The new Incident Position Standards and Next Generation Position Task Book are developed through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization (IPTM) effort.

References:

NWCG Safety Officer, Field (SOFF) Position

NWCG Incident Position Standards for Safety Officer, Field, PMS 350-81

NWCG Position Task Book for Safety Officer, Field (SOFF), PMS 311-81

Updated NWCG Standards for Electronic Documentation (eDoc), PMS 277

Date: July 25, 2024
Contact: Incident Planning Subcommittee 

The Incident Planning Subcommittee has updated the NWCG Standards for Electronic Documentation (eDoc), PMS 277.

The NWCG Standards for Electronic Documentation (eDoc) establishes the standards for collection and retention of records on wildland fires. This July 2024 update will provide incident management teams the most current standards required to maintain incident records and submit them to host units at the close of an incident.

References:

NWCG Standards for Electronic Documentation (eDoc), PMS 277

eDoc Box Directory (zip file)

NWCG Off-Highway Vehicle Typing Standard Request for Comment

Date: July 24, 2024
Contact: Mobile Fire Equipment Subcommittee 

The Mobile Fire Equipment Subcommittee has released Equipment Bulletin 24-002 NWCG Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Typing Standard - Request for Comment. This bulletin outlines the proposed NWCG OHV typing standard, as well as the business need for establishing the standard. Comments on the proposed standard will be accepted through August 15th using the comment form linked below.

References:

ETC-EB-2024-02: NWCG Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Typing Standard - Request for Comment

NWCG Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Typing Standard Comment Form