Crosstraining into Fire Protection lol..

I cant believe its been 3 years since I joined the Air force, my crosstraining window just opened up and just chuckled at seeing the slots that weren't open for Fire Protection. I originally wanted to enlist as a Fire Fighter but at the time I didn't know how things worked, my recruiter said I'd be able to crosstrain into Fire Protection with no problem. So I ended up coming in as a maintainer. Crosstraining into Fire Protection, yea, right. I'm a bit confused of what I want to do. I like the Military, I like the Air force, I wish I deployed more, I've only deployed once. I'm not the type of man thats happy with a steady pay check and secure job, I'm the type of man that wants to do what he likes for a living; I've wanted to be a Fire Fighter for the longest time and to find out that crosstraining into it near impossible saddens me a bit..

My other option was to either go Guard or Reserve as a Fire Fighter, I'd like to then somehow come back Active as a Fire Fighter later down the road but the way things are, we all know thats probably not going to happen. I figure with my GI Bill I could go to school full time to get my degree in Fire Science while still being a Fire Fighter part time in the Reserve or Guard. I would hope with being prior Active Air force, a Fire Fighter as a Guardsman or Reservist, and having my Fire Science Degree, I'm hoping all that would help with getting a job as a civilian.

Are there any Reservists or Guardsman out there that are Fire Fighters? It really bums me out thinking about leaving the Active Air force.. I've been looking every single month just to see whats available as far as jobs go and nothing really interests me..

You left out one thing that will help you become a Firefighter ? You need to score high on your Civil Service Firefighter exam! Then that other stuff you mentioned will help.

Here is a question for all the currently active-duty guys and vets: At the end of the OP's (or anyone else's for that matter) you will get approached and ask about re-enlisting.

Could you say "Sure. I'll re-enlist. If you move me to the Firefighting MOS."

????? Could this happen ?????

you can tell them that, but it wont make a difference unless you know certain people and even that probably wont work, except that itll take longer to find out. theyll make you think that theyll work it out, but they know its not gonna happen and then at the last minute, they pull 'oh, we almost had it, but there so many other options. what else do you want to do?' dont get me wrong, it does happen, but rarely. every year they put out a listing of what jobs are needed... never saw 3E7X1 on it.

in af, fire protection is probably the hardest to get into, rarely are slots open and when they are, they close very fast. no joke, i was given 5 minutes to decide when i first enlisted.

I just wanted to go overseas, and I would have reenlisted, but they said reenlist first and then we will thik about it!!!


Yea right,

signed

ex air force



maybe if you bug and keep bugging people till you find some one that will listen to you and help you, maybe all the way up to the base commander and beyond..

Thanks for the feedback guys. Well heres the thing, right now their actually downsizing, or Force Shaping or whatever you want to call it.. alot of people in my afsc actually managed to either get out, go Guard, or Reserve because of it. I talked to a Air force Reserve recruiter a while ago and he said that six months before my enlistment ends I can put in for Palace Front and that within those six months he would try to land me a Fire Figher job in the Reserves. I was gona to go Reserve now but the recruiter said that if I did, I'd only have a 30 day window where he would try to find me a slot for Fire Fighter so.. I guess I'll have to wait six more months. Its sad really, I really wanted to stay Active.

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Originally Posted by legos.8ty7

you can tell them that, but it wont make a difference unless you know certain people and even that probably wont work, except that itll take longer to find out. theyll make you think that theyll work it out, but they know its not gonna happen and then at the last minute, they pull 'oh, we almost had it, but there so many other options. what else do you want to do?' dont get me wrong, it does happen, but rarely. every year they put out a listing of what jobs are needed... never saw 3E7X1 on it.

in af, fire protection is probably the hardest to get into, rarely are slots open and when they are, they close very fast. no joke, i was given 5 minutes to decide when i first enlisted.

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Could you ask for something in writing and get it, like when you are at the recruiters?????

you can, but its not a sealed deal. i got a guaranteed contract for firefighter, but they made me switch jobs while i was in FF training, 5 days before i was done. of course, there is a long story to it, but if i wouldve known at the time, i couldve fought it harder and probably still had the job.

your contract guarantees your job unless the air force "decides" that they want you somewhere else. doesnt happen alot, but it does... it happen to me. it was either firefighting or discharge, as soon as i said discharge.... "well, you scored too high on the ASVAP for us to let you go. go pick another job".

the military is gonna do what they what, no matter what.