SHENANDOAH COUNTY, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Shenandoah County Deputy Chief of Training, Courtney Cave, has been selected as the 2026 Virginia Chief Officer Academy (VCOA) Incident Commander, the first woman to hold the position.

The Virginia Chief Officer Academy (VCOA) is a statewide leadership development program designed to prepare current and future fire service leaders for executive-level roles.

Cave has served as a career employee with Shenandoah County Department of Fire and Rescue since January of 2008. She was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in September of 2012. She served 5 years as a company officer before being promoted to the Deputy Chief of Training Division in 2019. As Chief of the Shenandoah County’s Training Division, she conducted vocational fire and EMS courses and led routine training classes for 90 career staff and 150+ volunteer providers in the county’s fire rescue system.