Areas of Operation

Operational Levels

Operations Section Chief

Deputy Operations Section Chief

Branch Level

Group Level

Division Level

Strike Team Level

Task Force Level

Single Resource

Areas of Operation - Established by the Operations Section to divide work direction into manageable tasks, which can be assigned to operations personnel. Areas of Operation are defined by the Operations Section Chief (or his/her designee), and may be either geographically- or functionally-based, depending on the needs of the incident. They are organized according to IMS principles to maintain unity of command and span of control. Typical IMS-compliant titles for areas of operation include: Branch, Group, Division, Strike Team, and Task Force.

Branch - The organizational level having functional/geographic responsibility for major incident operations and managed by a Branch Director to manage span of control. The Branch level is organizationally between Section and Division/Group in the Ops Section.

Group - Groups are composed of resources assembled to perform a function not necessarily within a single geographic region and are managed by a supervisor. The Group level is organizationally between the Task Force/ Strike Team and the Branch if established.

Division - The organizational level having responsibility for operation within a defined geographic area and managed by a supervisor. The Division level is organizationally between the Task Force/Strike Team and the Branch if established.

Strike Team - A group of like resources with common communications and a leader assembled for a specific mission.

Task Force - A group of dissimilar resources with common communications and a leader assembled for a specific mission.

Single Resource - A single resource assigned to a specific task usually during the Response Phase of an incident response.