The National Incident Management System (NIMS), as well as the Incident Command System (ICS) a component of NIMS, were established in response the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Both NIMS and the National Response Plan (NRP) direct local agencies on how to work together and use ICS in their efforts to assist and interact with local agencies. NIMS consists of a series of components designed to address the various deficiencies documented by the 9-11 Commission Report. The ICS was established under the NIMS to manage all major incidents consisting of five functional areas: command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. In order to maintain eligibility for homeland security grants, States must ensure compliance by adopting strategies, such as adopting ICS. This article describes both the NIMS and ICS which includes: (1) NIMS requirements for compliance and compliance activities to be achieved in 2005; (2) the two levels at which actions to institutionalize the use of ICS take place--policy and organizational; (3) examples of required training classes; and (4) NIMCAST, a Web-based self-assessment system that helps users determine steps they need to take from where they are in the process to comply with NIMS requirements. The intent of this article is to provide agencies with a sense of the steps that need to be taken and the tools to help them along the way so that they can be in compliance with NIMS.