Army Firefighting

[AnthonyW]

Hey I'm 16 and a high school junior and I'm wondering how I can get a guaranteed firefighting job in the Army. I havent taken the ASVAB yet but I have good grades, all A's and B's but I'm thinking I should take it before I go to the recruiter. My dad's an army vet and a family friend was a lawyer in the Army back in the 90's so I imagine they can help me get the firefighting job if I go to the recruiter with them. Could I be able to do a delayed enlistment when I'm 17 and get a guaranteed firefighting job? I know alot of you guys say Air Force is the way to go for firefighting but isnt it alot harder to actually become a firefighter for the Air Force rather than the Army because of the recruiting environment? Also isnt everyone trained in the same school? I would rather join the Army since my dad and grandpa were both in it, but I'm open to joining any branch that would let me get a firefighting MOS.

[fire49]

Go air force or go home


Have you looked at working for a city???

[JayDudley]

I'd see a Recruiter to see your options.....Good Luck.

[ShredddinCali]

Even if you DO get firefighting MOS in the Army, don't count on being a firefighter. The reason everyone suggests Air Force is because you actually serve as a firefighter in the AF.

[FWDbuff]

I know alot of you guys say Air Force is the way to go for firefighting but isnt it alot harder to actually become a firefighter for the Air Force rather than the Army because of the recruiting environment? Also isnt everyone trained in the same school? I would rather join the Army since my dad and grandpa were both in it, but I'm open to joining any branch that would let me get a firefighting MOS.

The recruiting environment is what YOU make it. If you walk into the recruiter with a positive, firm, solid attitude with your homework done ahead of time (which you are doing by coming on here......) and you tell the recruiter exactly what you want and what you are NOT willing to do ("I want a signed guarantee that you and I both know you can give me) you will do fine. If you walk into the recruiter and let him/her walk all over you, you deserve whatever s h i t assignment you wind up with. You know how to tell when a recruiter is lying? Their lips are moving. Get the guarantee in writing, with his/her signature. Remember, in the beginning they will balk, and say "we cant (or dont) give guarantees. Tell them "Bull****. Cough it up or I walk."

As for Army vs. Navy, as a previous poster said, you will not be exclusively a firefighter. Not to mention it is no longer the United States Army......It's more like the Mexican or Peurto Rican Army.

If you want to be a military firefighter, go USAF. Period.

[AnthonyW]

The recruiting environment is what YOU make it. If you walk into the recruiter with a positive, firm, solid attitude with your homework done ahead of time (which you are doing by coming on here......) and you tell the recruiter exactly what you want and what you are NOT willing to do ("I want a signed guarantee that you and I both know you can give me) you will do fine. If you walk into the recruiter and let him/her walk all over you, you deserve whatever s h i t assignment you wind up with. You know how to tell when a recruiter is lying? Their lips are moving. Get the guarantee in writing, with his/her signature. Remember, in the beginning they will balk, and say "we cant (or dont) give guarantees. Tell them "Bull****. Cough it up or I walk."

It seems like from the looks of it Air Force recruiters would be fine with me walking, since the Air Force gets to be more selective with who they pick. Meanwhile in the Army they have to give you a guaranteed job so it would be easier to get a guaranteed firefighting job since the starting point is that you will have a guaranteed job when you go into boot camp. I think at the air force if I go in there and the first thing I demand is a guaranteed job I'll be rejected straight up because they have a lot of other people who are willing to join without one while in the army it's just part of the deal.

As for Army vs. Navy, as a previous poster said, you will not be exclusively a firefighter. Not to mention it is no longer the United States Army......It's more like the Mexican or Peurto Rican Army.

I imagine in any branch I join I wouldn't bve exclusively a firefighter, if I joined the Air Force I'd be both an airman and a firefighter as well. And I don't know what you're trying to say with that comment but I've got some Puerto Rican in me and if you're trying to get racial with it that's out of line.

[ShredddinCali]

You can choose what you want to do, it's your life. But if your looking to get in the service as a firefighter then Air Force is the way. You are assigned to a unit as a firefighter and thats the job you do. You go on calls, you train, you get firefighting training, and yes, you also are an Airman. When you get deployed, you are a firefighter (unless you are coded for a different job which is rare but does happen). In the Army you will go to the DoD Fire School, graduate, and then be assigned to a unit usually counting ammo or cleaning crap. Yeah you'll get the certs but lack the OJT.

You asked we answered. You can speculate all day long on what you "think" may happen but most all of us have been there, done that, and for the most part... still there doing that.

[AnthonyW]

[QUOTE=ShredddinCali;1221187]Im not saying its going to be easy but if your priority is to be a military firefighter, you are going to be miserable if you go through any other branch. i have nothing but respect for soliders, marines, and saliors, but the culture in the other branches in reagrds to "jobs" is completely different. Ask your grandfather, the Army organizes their units with several different specialties as to have a fully deployable, self-sustaining unit. The Air Force separates their units by career fields. Don't hesitate to ask questions, but search through the forum first to see if its already been answered. /QUOTE]

Well my priority is to serve my country but I also want to get as much firefighting training as possible. I dont know much about the units but I actually have a cousin who's a medic in the Air Force who's trying to transfer into the army because he doesn't like the unit structure. Regardless Air Force definitely seems like the way to go, but I'm not going to say "Air Force or nothing" because theres a good chance I'll get flat out rejected and join another branch.

And I may have to stand with FWDbuff on the comment. In Germany, there were several units that were inbestigated because of known Mexican Mafia and M12 activity. upwards of 15% of soliders have been found to be active in street gangs.

What does gang activity have anything to do with puerto ricans in the military? I'm sure there are also a good number of black and white gangs, in fact I just saw something on TV about white power gangs in the army, it's not a racial issue it's a military one. I think it's very racist to suggest the military is worse off because people who's family is from the same place mine is and have the same skin color as me are serving rather than just strictly white people.

[ShredddinCali]

[QUOTE=AnthonyW;1221189]

Im not saying its going to be easy but if your priority is to be a military firefighter, you are going to be miserable if you go through any other branch. i have nothing but respect for soliders, marines, and saliors, but the culture in the other branches in reagrds to "jobs" is completely different. Ask your grandfather, the Army organizes their units with several different specialties as to have a fully deployable, self-sustaining unit. The Air Force separates their units by career fields. Don't hesitate to ask questions, but search through the forum first to see if its already been answered. /QUOTE]

Well my priority is to serve my country but I also want to get as much firefighting training as possible. I dont know much about the units but I actually have a cousin who's a medic in the Air Force who's trying to transfer into the army because he doesn't like the unit structure. Regardless Air Force definitely seems like the way to go, but I'm not going to say "Air Force or nothing" because theres a good chance I'll get flat out rejected and join another branch.



What does gang activity have anything to do with puerto ricans in the military? I'm sure there are also a good number of black and white gangs, in fact I just saw something on TV about white power gangs in the army, it's not a racial issue it's a military one. I think it's very racist to suggest the military is worse off because people who's family is from the same place mine is and have the same skin color as me are serving rather than just strictly white people.

i never tied puerto ricans to gang activity and i dont believe anyone on this thread said anything about the military being worse off. FWDbuff made a comment suggesting that there has been a surge of mexican and puerto ricans in the army which is absoltuely true. every year the DoD sends out statistics on demographics for each of the services and the trend is that those who claim "hispanic" has risen significantly over the past decade. i'm not apologeizing for anyone and i don't know his motivation behind the comment, but to cry racism is absurd.

[AnthonyW]

FWDbuff's comment was that the Army isn't really the US Army but the Mexican or Puerto Rican Army. Now I'm not trying to jump to conclusions and I could be completely misreading this since I'm not really used to discussing like this but here's what I'm getting from it and why it seems racist to me:
-It looks to me like he assumed I was white or non-hispanic, and he brought up the demographics of the Army in a completely unrelated subject to dissuade me from joining the Army rather than the Air Force. Race has absolutely nothing to do with what we were originally talking about, and it seems to me that he's essentially saying "Oh the Army is full of scary Mexicans and Puerto Ricans so join the Air Force".
-He said that because of the demographics it was the "Mexican Army or Puerto Rican Army" rather than the American Army, suggesting that mexicans and puerto ricans aren't real Americans, which is extremely insulting to the thousands of people in the military of hispanic descent who serve this country with dignity and honor.
I could be way off, it was kind of a vague thing to say and when I first read it I thought he was either kidding or meant something completely different and as I said I'm not trying to jump to conclusions or accuse anyone of being racist for no reason but from what I've read it seems like the guy doesnt like hispanic people.

[AnthonyW]

do some more research and weigh in your options and what works best for you. dont make the mistake that alot of people do and take everything that somebody tells you for face value. research everything and find out for yourself. dont take my word for anything but use it as a starting point and find the information for yourself. ask other people who have actually done the stuff your asking about. its YOUR career and i could give two craps about it thats why you need to be proactive about it and know what your getting into before you get into it.

Yeah that's what I'm trying to do. I've got time so I'm just gonna do as much research as possible and focus on doing well on my ASVAB before even planning to talk to the recruiters. Also if you know of any good websites or books or anything about military firefighting it would be appreciated.

[JayDudley]

FWDbuff your way off base pal (no pun intended) and you need to get back on point. Race has no business being involved in a questions about guarantees from the Army to enlist. Either turn the page or tone it down......I for one am tired of your rants.

[fire49]

http://www.dodfire.com/

[ShredddinCali]

http://www.usmilitary.com/3660/air-f...hting-careers/
http://airforcelive.dodlive.mil/inde...t-thomas-ryan/
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airfo...afjob3e7x1.htm
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjobs/a/21M.htm
...and, as fire49 mentioned, DoDFire.com is a very good source as well. If you look around the forums you can get some answers. Most of the people on there are DoD civilian firefighters but there are some military firefighters as well.

[JayDudley]

FWDbuff..Take note with the last few responses......answered question and no personal attacks.

[SPFD7]

AnthonyW- Hey man I figured I'd put my 2 cents in as well. I was in your exact shoes about 3 months ago. I knew I wanted to join the military, just didn't know what branch. I started off by looking at all 5 and quickly narrowed it down to Air Force as a Firefighter, Navy as a Corpsman or Army as a Combat Medic or Firefighter. Whatever I chose my goal is to join for 4 years Active Duty, get out and become a full-time Firefighter for my dream department.
Air Force Firefighter was my #1 choice too. I visited a total of 7, yes 7, recruiting offices and walked in telling them I wanted Firefighter or nothing. It didn't work out like I thought it would. The recruiters in my area wont even waste their time with you if you are "job-locked." In no way am I saying dont try for the Air Force, go for it! But just be prepared that this same thing might happen to you.
So I narrowed it down between Navy Corpsman and Army Medic or Firefighter. I elminated Army Firefighter after reading on here and hearing first hand that they don't do what they're trained to do and its not a great MOS. So with my two remaining choices I weighed all my options, looked at the pros and cons of each, talked to people in both fields, researched everything about both and after about a month of thinking about it, in the end finally decided to enlist in the Army 68W - Combat Medic for multiple reasons. Should be enlisting within the next couple weeks!
So to sum it up, go for the Air Force if thats what you want! And if it doesn't work out, go with your second choice. Make sure you do everything necessary to make a well informed decision, listen to your recruiter but do your own research as well. Even though it may not not turn out the way you planned, go in with a positive attitude no matter what you decide. Your entire military enlistment is going to be what you make of it.

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out!
John

[AnthonyW]

AnthonyW- Hey man I figured I'd put my 2 cents in as well. I was in your exact shoes about 3 months ago. I knew I wanted to join the military, just didn't know what branch. I started off by looking at all 5 and quickly narrowed it down to Air Force as a Firefighter, Navy as a Corpsman or Army as a Combat Medic or Firefighter. Whatever I chose my goal is to join for 4 years Active Duty, get out and become a full-time Firefighter for my dream department.
Air Force Firefighter was my #1 choice too. I visited a total of 7, yes 7, recruiting offices and walked in telling them I wanted Firefighter or nothing. It didn't work out like I thought it would. The recruiters in my area wont even waste their time with you if you are "job-locked." In no way am I saying dont try for the Air Force, go for it! But just be prepared that this same thing might happen to you.
So I narrowed it down between Navy Corpsman and Army Medic or Firefighter. I elminated Army Firefighter after reading on here and hearing first hand that they don't do what they're trained to do and its not a great MOS. So with my two remaining choices I weighed all my options, looked at the pros and cons of each, talked to people in both fields, researched everything about both and after about a month of thinking about it, in the end finally decided to enlist in the Army 68W - Combat Medic for multiple reasons. Should be enlisting within the next couple weeks!
So to sum it up, go for the Air Force if thats what you want! And if it doesn't work out, go with your second choice. Make sure you do everything necessary to make a well informed decision, listen to your recruiter but do your own research as well. Even though it may not not turn out the way you planned, go in with a positive attitude no matter what you decide. Your entire military enlistment is going to be what you make of it.

Best of luck, let us know how it turns out!
John

Do you think doing a delayed enlistment program would help me get the firefighter MOS in the Air Force? I read that you do it with a guaranteed job so I think that would be my best shot. If not I guess I'll go Army Firefighter. Are there any Army Firefighters on here who can give me a general sense of what that's like? And thanks to everyone who gave a link, they were really informative, especially that DOD firefighter one.

[SPFD7]

Do you think doing a delayed enlistment program would help me get the firefighter MOS in the Air Force? I read that you do it with a guaranteed job so I think that would be my best shot.

Here's what I was told when I asked about how the process of enlisting in the Air Force worked, sorry this may be a bit long winded. I was told that I would go down to the MEPS, take the ASVAB, do all the medical evaluations, hearing, vision, etc. then I would meet with a Job Counselor. With him/her you would list 4-7 jobs and a career field you are interested in. Then you would swear in and sign into the USAF DEP. You leave MEPS that day not knowing your AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code, your job) or when you are shipping out.
Then sometime later while your in the DEP your recruiter will get a call from someone higher up in the Air Force and will tell your recruiter that you are going to be given the AFSC _____ and will be shipping out on ______. Then your recruiter will contact you and tell you what AFSC your doing and when your shipping out. From what I was told is that you are required to do your assigned AFSC and leave on your assigned ship out date. So even if its your last choice on the list and a ship out date you do not want, too bad thats what you got, you are now in the Air Force.
So to answer your question no, joining the DEP will not help you get your Firefighter job. This is what I was told, if I am mistaken or completely wrong someone please correct me.

Any other questions feel free to ask,
John

[AnthonyW]

Here's what I was told when I asked about how the process of enlisting in the Air Force worked, sorry this may be a bit long winded. I was told that I would go down to the MEPS, take the ASVAB, do all the medical evaluations, hearing, vision, etc. then I would meet with a Job Counselor. With him/her you would list 4-7 jobs and a career field you are interested in. Then you would swear in and sign into the USAF DEP. You leave MEPS that day not knowing your AFSC (Air Force Specialty Code, your job) or when you are shipping out.
Then sometime later while your in the DEP your recruiter will get a call from someone higher up in the Air Force and will tell your recruiter that you are going to be given the AFSC _____ and will be shipping out on ______. Then your recruiter will contact you and tell you what AFSC your doing and when your shipping out. From what I was told is that you are required to do your assigned AFSC and leave on your assigned ship out date. So even if its your last choice on the list and a ship out date you do not want, too bad thats what you got, you are now in the Air Force.
So to answer your question no, joining the DEP will not help you get your Firefighter job. This is what I was told, if I am mistaken or completely wrong someone please correct me.

Any other questions feel free to ask,
John

Do you think going to the recruiter with a guy who used to work for the Army as a lawyer in the pentagon would help? Also, if there are any army firefighters on here could you guys share your experiences in the Army.

[SPFD7]

Do you think going to the recruiter with a guy who used to work for the Army as a lawyer in the pentagon would help?

Yes bringing someone who is prior military or currently serving in the military always helps.

John