A National New Employee Orientation hosted by the Pacific Southwest Region was held May 8–12 at the Wildland Fire Training Center in McClellan, California. More than 350 new Forest Service employees from across the country, including more than 275 new permanent fire apprentices, participated in this week-long introduction to the Forest Service.

Chief Tidwell and other senior leaders engaged with new employees as they learned more about the Forest Service, including our history, mission, culture, values and organization. They heard presentations on key issues such as safety, diversity and inclusion, leadership stance and habits, and employee wellness and resiliency.

In addition, new employees participated in training sessions on pay, thrift savings plans, benefits and retirements, AgLearn, labor relations with union representatives, anti-harassment, career development and employee relations, and engaged in small group discussions on “Improving Lives” and “New Conversations.”

Building upon the Pacific Southwest’s successful fire apprentice on-boarding program, both fire apprentices and other new employees from various fields benefited from this collaborative, new national orientation model where they were introduced to the many different and exciting opportunities in today’s Forest Service. The next orientation will be hosted by the Eastern Region the week of July 10.

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