seeking advice

[nsboarder12]

I am 20 with 3 1/2 yrs left in the navy and plan to get out and become full time firefighter. i was hoping that someone could point me in the right direction with online courses or certs to go towards so i could be prepared when the time comes to get out. any information would be greatly appreciated.

thanks .

[ctrlaltdelete]

I'm no expert but I think certs ect will depend on the state your looking to get on. For example here in Fl you need to attend an academy here due to from what I heard out side certs are extremely hard to transfer, so online courses ect will not work. Do you know where your going to live? If so I would contact a local fire house or even the county/city hr for info.

You could also again if you know where you going to be is post the question "your local firehouse" for that state

Emt - Paramedic certs are huge and can greatly increase chances of getting hired, does the navy offer those?.

Best of luck and thank you for serving your country!

[ffmedcbk1]

Hey, I know that is a long time but it can be very rewarding in the military. Once you have your DD214 that will get you additional percentage points on examination in most cities. Attempt to get your Emt and Paramedic if possible. National Registry of EMT's and National Association of EMT's certs are a little different and you will need to investigate the differences and who and which states accept which ones.

Keep a clean driving record!!!! and a clean criminal record!!!! (was that stressed enough)

Maintain a list of good references from your commanding officers. This is good for the resume.

In a year to two years you should take test that are local to the base so that you may learn how to take them and to get familiar with how they are worded. Even of you are not able to leave the military to be hired on. Lots of the eligibility lists last two years. so you may transition right into a fire job if that would work out. This is especially true in a place that has their own academy and send you through it while you are hired and getting paid by the department.

If you want to use some of the education $$$ while enlisted , get the basic core classes out of the way for a associates and/or a bachelors in Fire Science/Administration/Technologies. This is not a requirement but a good thing to have, a "feather in the cap". Then once out and you've established where you are looking to go, you could use the GI Bill for you level 2 ff certification and or wildland ff cards.

Where are you looking to reside, what region or state? What kind of fire activity vs. EMS do you want? These are important thing to consider also, because nyc is much different that rural Nebraska and they will look for different things.

[FWDbuff]

Where are you looking to reside, what region or state? What kind of fire activity vs. EMS do you want? These are important thing to consider also, because nyc is much different that rural Nebraska and they will look for different things.

Precisely. You need to determine where it is you want to live or get hired, and then custom-tailor your education to their requirements. Many Departments (The Philadelphia Fire Department, for example) could care less that you were a volunteer firefighter with every IFSAC credential under the sun plus a degree in fire science- they simply don't care, you aint sh*t until you go through the Philadelphia Fire Academy, period.

[Doug7899]

FDWbuff is correct inthe aspect of big city fire depts... Thre academy or nothing... But while inthe navy, depending onyour rate, try to hook up with your corpsman and see if you can cross train with them. Being a former HM3, i can't stress enough how my training helped me out...

You will need the following anywhere you go...

1. FF1 and 2
2. EMT Basic as a minimum
3. DD214
4. If going federal you will need...
5. ARFF cert
6. HazMat awareness (Minimum) to operations level

and if you are trying to stay federal when you get out, make sure you have your IFSAC and or PRO Board Certs inline and current. Also you will need some kind of Physical Agility test again depending onthe state of agency you are trying for.

Any questions feel free to ask... GO NAVY

[ffmedcbk1]

Any questions feel free to ask... GO NAVY

yeah, serve better food for us before we hit the beach!!!

signed affectionately, Corporal "ffmedcbk1" USMC 93-97
Semper Fidelis

thanks for the ride swabby

[Doug7899]

ffmedcbk1,

Not a problem "jarhead" hahaha ... I was a DOC so i had nothing to do with the food...just gave the shots to make youstop throwing up on the ship...

USS Saipan LHA 2 '95-'97

Stay safe out there....

[nsboarder12]

thanks for all the information. im an IT in the navy and dont really like it, too boring. so yeah i will have talk with my HM's and get some good training. Is EMT-basic transferable usually? would it matter where i got it? I will have to contact some firehouses back home (CT) for futhering information on state requirements, but thanks again for all the info.

[mnfirecapt09]

Damn Jarheads, passengers, eating machines............. Ya you guys had your place on board out ships......... Funny how I NEVER saw any Marines in the Mainspaces where the real work took place.........

Ok, I just had to put in my nickels worth.

Be safe everyone!!!!!!!

[ffmedcbk1]

Damn Jarheads, passengers, eating machines............. Ya you guys had your place on board out ships......... Funny how I NEVER saw any Marines in the Mainspaces where the real work took place.........

Ok, I just had to put in my nickels worth.

Be safe everyone!!!!!!!

The real question is MRE's vs Navy Chow...... Basically it comes down to having porcelin breaking poop or "the runs".






I vote for MRE's


I actually was a ship's crew Marine assigned to the admiral detail on CVN-70. Love it, it was an awesome 2 year detail. We had a great spot on the ship and had a good group of Marines with me. Also had quite a few navy buddies (Doc's, Chaplins, and other crew). I do miss it.

Time at sea was good, and yes we even had to do maintainance in the captain's Blue tile area at 0430 every morning. (It always looked good till the chain monkeys screwed it up during the first flight ops.)