Lead the system.
ICS taught you the system. Now learn to lead the system.
ILDC treats leadership as a profession with standards, practice, and grades. To show what that means, we'll walk one team leader through the 2026 Sand Creek Fire and stop at the moments the course is built for.
The route
- 1The fire. Sand Creek, Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF, August–September 2026.
- 2Four decisions. Each one is a chapter of the ILDC curriculum.
- 3What changes. How ILDC-trained teams are expected to perform.
- 4The ladder. Orientation through Command, and what you leave with.
- 5Reserve. Pick a level and a date. Your card is charged only when the course is confirmed.
Sand Creek grew from 1,400 acres to 35,520.
- 1Aug 3Steel Fox Road. Prep and egress work west of the fire.
- 2Aug 7South flank. The fire runs south overnight.
- 3Aug 11Elkhorn Hot Springs. Structure protection, GO evacuations.
- 4Aug 13The byway. The fire crosses; day 12 on the line.
- 5Aug 15Old Tim Creek. Direct handline west of Maverick Mountain.
- 6Sep 12Steel Fox Road again. Suppression repair and the after-action review.
Perimeters are illustrative, scaled to reported acreage. Fire facts from Beaverhead-Deerlodge NF and NBC Montana reporting.
* Jess Albright is a fictional character, a composite created to illustrate ILDC. Her decisions are hypothetical. The Sand Creek Fire, its dates, acreages, and places are real.
Nobody was carrying logistics.
Jess's squad was cutting and scouting along Steel Fox Road to open egress routes. By early afternoon two saws were down on bar oil, the water cache was a quarter-mile behind them, and nobody had said a word, because nobody had been told it was theirs.
She wasn't the crew boss. She said, "I've got fuel and water until 1600," sent one person back, and went back to scouting.
The seven ICS functions don't go away when the team is small.
Scan: which function is going uncarried right now? Executive belongs to the leader. Safety belongs to everyone.
* Jess Albright is a fictional character, a composite created to illustrate ILDC. Her decisions are hypothetical. The Sand Creek Fire, its dates, acreages, and places are real.
Act now, or wait?
The fire spread south overnight. The radio wanted direct line on the south edge before the afternoon push. An IR flight was due within the hour and the dozer line wasn't tied in yet.
Jess asked her lead to hold for the flight, and gave him a trigger: if the IR shows the south edge inside a mile of the anchor, we pull to the dozer line. If not, we go direct at 1300. The flight showed spotting across the drainage. They pulled back. No one had to run.
Urgency is a feeling. Importance is a fact.
Tactical Patience is acting at the right time, not the first available time. A wait without a trigger is drift. When the trigger hits, move first.
* Jess Albright is a fictional character, a composite created to illustrate ILDC. Her decisions are hypothetical. The Sand Creek Fire, its dates, acreages, and places are real.
The plan was good. One piece was wrong.
The southeast corner reached Maverick Mountain. Crews set pumps and sprinklers from Elkhorn toward the ski area. The division plan staged Jess's engines on a spur road she had driven that morning, and it had one way out.
She didn't argue on the radio and she didn't go around her supervisor. She walked over, said what she'd seen, and offered a second staging spot with two exits. It took four minutes. He moved the engines.
Lead in support of the person in charge, not around them.
- Say what you see. Facts first: "The spur has one exit and it crosses the slope."
- Say what it means. "If the corner spots, those engines are cut off."
- Offer a better option. Bring the answer with the problem.
- Know when it's safety. Then say the word, and escalate until it's heard.
Influence comes from knowledge, track record, relationships, and conduct. Crews who know each other move faster and speak more honestly. That is an asset, not a weakness to train out.
* Jess Albright is a fictional character, a composite created to illustrate ILDC. Her decisions are hypothetical. The Sand Creek Fire, its dates, acreages, and places are real.
Day twelve is where judgment goes.
The fire crossed the byway toward Comet Mountain. Jess was on her twelfth day, and her task force agreed fast on a plan to cut direct line toward Old Tim Creek before dark. Everyone was tired, and everyone said yes.
Fast agreement from a tired team is a warning. She asked the quietest sawyer what he'd change. He named a snag patch on the route in. They went the long way.
On September 12, back on Steel Fox Road for repair, she ran the after-action review for her task force: what happened, why, and what she would change about her own part.
- Fatigue changes judgment, and you are the last to notice it in yourself.
- Ego is normal. Learn the moments it takes over a decision.
- Consensus can be dangerous. When the team agrees too fast, ask the quiet person.
- Debrief your own part first. The AAR is practice, graded at every level.
Not deciding is a decision. Ask who it lands on and what it does to trust.
* Jess Albright is a fictional character, a composite created to illustrate ILDC. Her decisions are hypothetical. The Sand Creek Fire, its dates, acreages, and places are real.
ILDC-trained teams are expected to perform 40 to 50% better.
The same people, the same ICS forms, the same fire. The difference is a team where every function gets carried, concerns get raised early, and the leader decides on purpose.
These figures are a planning model for ILDC, comparing teams with standard ICS training to teams with ILDC-trained leaders. They are targets the program will measure against, not results from completed cohorts.
Seven measures of an incident team.
Leadership is a profession. Train like it.
Orientation
The purpose of the program and how it works, with guidance. No grade, no certificate.
Basic
ICS decision making, leading when you're not the formal leader, the Seven Hats, Tactical Patience.
Team Leader
For first formal team leaders: the impact of decisions, gathering input, when consensus is dangerous.
Section Leader
Unit and section leadership, decisions that withstand pushback, handling arguments and the day after.
Command
Two 5-day blocks with a 60–90 day field assignment between. Leading through Sections, Branches, and Unified Command.
Graded, every level
Classroom work plus field exercises run in real terrain and weather. Students can wash out. That's what makes the certificate mean something.
Report time 06:30
The standard starts before the first lesson. If you can't be present on time, you aren't ready to lead people who are.
Experience counts
Seasoned professionals can apply to waive lower levels when they reserve. Waivers are reviewed before any charge.
A credential anyone can verify.
- ILDC certificate, credentialed by the RP1 RegistrarA numbered credential with public verification. An employer can confirm it in seconds.
- Documented contact hoursILDC is pursuing IACET accreditation. Cohorts before accreditation receive a certificate stating contact hours, without CEUs.
- A textbook and field cards for each levelClassroom text, plus waterproof pocket cards for the line.
- Permanent access to your recordScores, materials, and credentials in the student app, for good.
- Practice that transfersAAR practice, ICS form templates, and a training incident system used in class.
- Instructors who've led under pressurePrincipal Instructor Mark A. Nitz, former Army OCS TAC Officer and experienced combat leader, with associate instructors and a dedicated Safety Lead.
* Jess Albright is a fictional character, a composite created to illustrate ILDC. Her decisions are hypothetical. The Sand Creek Fire, its dates, acreages, and places are real.
Pick a level. Pick a date.
Dates load from the live schedule.
- 1Reserve your seat. Your card is saved, not charged.
- 2The course confirms when it reaches its minimum. That is when you are charged. A waiver request is reviewed before any charge.
- 3Your student app opens the day your seat is held: packing list, prep reading, and directions.
- 4Day one, 06:30.