ICS 100 – Incident Command System
10
ICS Organizational Components
Sections: The organizational levels with responsibility for a major functional area of the incident
(e.g., Operations, Planning, Logistics, Finance/Administration). The person in charge of each
Section is designated as a Chief.
Divisions: Used to divide an incident geographically. The person in charge of each Division is
designated as a Supervisor.
Groups: Used to describe functional areas of operations. The person in charge of each Group is
designated as a Supervisor.
Branches: Used when the number of Divisions or Groups extends the span of control. Can be
either geographical or functional. The person in charge of each Branch is designated as a Director.
Task Forces: A combination of mixed resources with common communications operating under
the direct supervision of a Task Force Leader.
Strike Teams: A set number of resources of the same kind and type with common
communications operating under the direct supervision of a Strike Team Leader.
Single Resources: May be individuals, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a
crew or team of individuals with an identified supervisor that can be used at an incident.
Roles and Responsibilities
You should now be familiar with the basic ICS organizational structure, the five major
management functions, and the principle of span of control.
In this section, you'll learn about the expansion of the ICS organization and the roles and
responsibilities of the Incident Commander and Command Staff.
Incident Commander’s Overall Role
The Incident Commander has overall responsibility for managing the incident. The Incident
Commander must be fully briefed and should have a written delegation of authority. Initially,
assigning tactical resources and overseeing operations will be under the direct supervision of the
Incident Commander.
Incident Commander
“My job is to provide the overall leadership for incident response. I am able to delegate my
authority to others to manage the ICS organization. Like any other organization, I have bosses
too. I take general direction and receive my delegation of authority from the responsible agency
or jurisdiction administrator or administrators, and I am accountable to them. It’s important to
note that these agency or jurisdiction administrators may or may not include my real-life boss.
For example, the jurisdiction administrators for an incident might include Department of
Agriculture agency heads as well as representatives from State and local government.
It’s also important that my staff knows that they have the authority of their positions, even if it’s
not the same authority that they have at home.”