International Fire Service Training Association is an association of fire service personnel who are dedicated to upgrading fire fighting and other emergency response techniques and safety through training. The mission of IFSTA is to identify areas of need for training materials and to foster the development and validation of training materials for the fire service and related areas. IFSTA publishes such manuals as the Essentials of Fire Fighting, Fire and Emergency Services Instructor, Fire and Emergency Services Company Officer, Chief Officer, Building Construction Related to the Fire Service, Hazardous Materials for First Responders, and many others, in both print and eBook formats. Other training materials produced by IFSTA include curricula, study guides, videos, apps, and the ResourceOne course management system. IFSTA is governed by an executive board consisting of 12 elected members, 3 to 6 appointed members and an executive director. The officers of the board include the chair, vice chair, and executive director. IFSTA itself has no employees or funds of its own. IFSTA's operational expenses are funded solely by Fire Protection Publications (FPP). The FPP offices are considered to be the official IFSTA headquarters. Fire Protection Publications is an outreach program of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology (CEAT) a division in Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater. IFSTA's motto is "Written by firefighters, for firefighters." The IFSTA Validation Conference The IFSTA Validation Conference is held each July. Committees of technical experts meet and work at the conference addressing the current standards of the National Fire Protection Association and other standards-making groups as they apply to IFSTA-validated manuals. These technical experts review all manual drafts and verify that the contents are valid. Committee members do not receive payment for participating and usually fund their own travel expenses to attend the July meeting. Active committees also meet at the IFSTA Winter Meeting that is held each January. Fire Protection Publications does fund the members travel to attend this meeting. The IFSTA Executive Board The board has the sole policy-making authority for the association so long as such policies do not conflict with the procedures of Oklahoma State University. Duties of the board include establishing policies, establishing standing, ad hoc, manual validation committees, discontinuing projects, establishing new projects, approving scope and purpose statements, approving titles for new and revised training materials, advising Fire Protection Publications on pertinent matters, and maintaining external relations with other organizations. Twelve board members are