As a firefighter I can agree with your sentiment a bit, but not completely. I have seen a ton of oldtimers do some really stoopid $hit because they believe that adding intelligence to firefighting gets people killed. But, if you look at some of the greatest losses of life in firefighting it was always the cock-sure aggressive attitude in the absence of thinking that got people killed. Ive seen quite a few dumb mistakes on a fireground due to lack of cerebral activity, and sadly even seen some seriously hurt firefighter too. There has to be a balance of training and real life experience/exercises and the expectation that not everything goes by the book (which can trip people up when they get into the real world). Training agencies everywhere forget that whether in firefighting or in SCUBA.
I agree with what your saying, I also have seen my share of stupid. I took a class in Emmitsburg with a chief from the DC fire dept. His biggest lament was that specialty training had supplanted basic skills to the point that a ladder man no longer knew how to hook a hydrant properly. I'm not saying that continued training should not be pursued. More to the point, the basics should be trained on until they are instinctive.