New and acting officers
Lieutenants and captains, 0–3 years in the seat, often leading former peers.
Your next shift is coming either way.
Show up with a plan. Start with the free First 90 Days checklist.
Fire service leadership for new and aspiring company officers
Where company officers are made.
Practical, kitchen-table leadership for new lieutenants and captains, from the fire service, not the classroom.
Tools you can use next shift.
Who it's for
For the officer's seat, and the ones next in line.
For new lieutenants and captains, the firefighters studying to get there, and the officers who train them.
Next up for promotion
Senior firefighters and engineers studying for promotion who want to be ready before the bars, not after.
Training officers and chiefs
Leaders building an officer development program for their department.
Career, combination, or volunteer, it's the same seat.
The problem
Lead the crew you came up with.
Yesterday you were splitting the grocery bill with them. Today you're signing their evals.
Textbook officer courses teach you to pass the test. They don't tell you what to do when the people you rode with for years are now looking at you for the call. That part you learn in three places:
- At 0700 line-up
- At the kitchen table
- From the front seat
You're not their buddy anymore. You're still their brother or sister. Here's how to hold both.
You don't have to pick between friend and officer. Pick fair, every time, and say it out loud at line-up.
Have the hard conversation in the office before the shift, not in the street.
Your chief, your admin, the new kid: they're all part of the job. Lead anyway.
Training
Forged in the firehouse. Proven on the fireground.
Training for new officers, built by fire officers in the firehouse, not the classroom. Every class gives you something to say, do, or fix before your next tour. No theory for theory's sake.
Buddy to Boss
The first 90 days in the seat and leading the people you came up with.
Kitchen Table Talks
Crew culture, accountability, and the hard conversations.
Front Seat Decisions
Fireground leadership: size-up, radio discipline, command, crew accountability.
Officer Admin Survival
Reports, documentation, scheduling, and working with the chain of command.
Forged Stories
Down the road: guest officers who've been there, sharing first-year mistakes, mentors, and hard-won lessons.
Details to come. [COURSE FORMATS, DATES, AND PRICING] Grab the free checklist below and you'll be the first to hear.
Free download
First 90 Days as a Company Officer
The first 90 days in the seat set the tone for everything after. Get the free checklist and walk into your first line-up with a plan.
For new lieutenants and captains, and anyone acting up.
[PHOTO OF DANIEL THOMPSON: real station, natural light]
About
About Daniel Thompson
Company Officer Forge is Daniel Thompson's fire service leadership training for new and aspiring company officers.
Captain · Fire service since 2017 · B.S. in Management
Daniel joined the fire service in 2017, after holding various leadership roles outside it. He's worked the job as a firefighter, then as a lieutenant, and today he's a captain. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management. He built Company Officer Forge for the officers coming up behind him.
A forge is where raw metal becomes a tool through heat, pressure, and repetition. Officers are made the same way: not born, not handed a badge, but shaped shift by shift.
Our mission
Company Officer Forge prepares firefighters to take the officer's seat and lead their crews with competence, character, and credibility, starting the first shift they wear the bars.