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Permalink Reply by Jimmy on September 17, 2008 at 5:52am

Jamie,
I love my country and support all troops, but....in 1993 i joined the navy as a fireman also, was told that i was to be a firefighter on board ships etc., i did enjoy my time serving but the job description wasn't at all what i expected. Let me explain, on board all enlisted are firefighters, your job is damage controllman, you will be responsible for the upkeep and maitnance of all shipboard firefighting equiptment, ie. afff stations, gear, air packs/oba, also you will be considered the expert, and asked to show/teach other shipmates the how to. Last year i actually spoke with an army recruiter about the firefighter m.o.s. and to other people like how you are doing and found that army, airforce are the only 2 branches that actually are what we do today, land based firefighters. Please don't be swayed by my opinions but i don't want you to be dissapointed with the outcome of the Navy, i don't regret the choice i made, but if i knew then what i do now, the other two probably would have been in the top running. Good luck and keep me posted, God speed......Jimmy

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Permalink Reply by Nick Devries on September 17, 2008 at 6:19am

i second that. in naval firefighting, you won't see much action because of your time at sea. the army too. they're going with civilian (federal) firefighters on their posts. if you want to do THAT, go to usajobs.com, and poke around. i don't know how much experience they want you to have though. in MD (where i'm stationed), if you get hired federal, they'll send you to whatever county's fire academy that base is in (hope that makes sense).
if military firefighting's what you want, your best bet is probably air force. call me biased, but i've been in the USAF for 6 years, and gotten to see that they see more structural burns than anyone else. USMC crash rescue see's some too, but i'm pretty sure the AF see's the most.
good luck, and stay safe!

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Permalink Reply by Damon Dyer on September 17, 2008 at 6:39am

Go for it brother , we will be proud of you .

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Permalink Reply by anne potter on September 17, 2008 at 8:45am

My brother spent 20 years in the navy loved it..My son wants to go in as a firefighter and was told the same that it was not a good thing to go in. But The navy was a great thing to go in..Tom my brother retired out as a chief... Airforce is another good one Sister who is a master sargent... What ever you choose you are still serving your country and koodoo's to you

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Permalink Reply by Jay Nicholson on September 17, 2008 at 10:39am

My info is probably dated so i would check it out before signing your papers. If what you want is an actual specialty FIREFIGHTER then I do not believe the Navy can help you. You will receive FF courses there, but not the title nor straight duties as a FF. My belief also is that USMC FF are crash only and not structural. I was an USAF FF and got to work both sides of the station. Towards the end with the advent of mutual aid, even picked up a couple of good workers.
One other piece of advice. Don't take everything a recruiter says to you at face value.

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Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on September 17, 2008 at 11:57am

Here's a little more "dated" information if needed. Everything I've read so far is true. EVERY member of a ship's crew is a FF. You'll receive(if lucky) somewhere between 2 and 4 days of training and whatever training evolutions the Damage Control team on your ship decides to hold. A majority of your training will be on patching holes and shoring to keep your "floating home" from sinking.

But as messed up as it sounds, my experience in the Navy is one of the main reasons I am here as a volly. Back in the olden times(late '70's) I was stationed aboard the USS Belknap when she "bumped into" the USS Kennedy. So we spent about 8 hours fighting fuel oil fires in the engineering spaces.

So, in conclusion, if you like adventure and travel and an occasional chance to "wet the hot", the Navy ain't half bad. If your looking to be a FF who just happens to be aboard a ship. Probably not the best choice. If you do decide to join up, I would recommend carrier duty as they man a FF team during all flight ops, and there are at least as many small fires aboard a carrier as you would find in any small town of comparable size. And the coolest thing is, you NEVER run out of water!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jamie on September 21, 2008 at 2:16am

I appreciate all the information from everyone. I had heard about the damage controllman job descriptions. I am not sure what to think right now because i do like to travel and i like being out at sea, but not exactly sure if thats the best way. Thanks again for all the advice, I will use it wisely. Stay safe everyone.

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Permalink Reply by James Copas on September 22, 2008 at 7:15pm

Everyone here pretty well answered your question correctly. I have been out of the Navy for about 5 years now and I was a Hull Technician on a Cruiser, which is a smaller combat vessel. (the word smaller is relative). Anyway, as a Hull Tech my primary job was welding, plumbing and general maintainance. On a small ship though, I was in Repair Division with other Hull Techs and Damage Controlmen. Primarily, you will be doing maintainance on the ships FF equipment, training the rest of the crew, and running damage control drills. However, there is the occasional shipboard fire and you can bet your ass that the Damage Controlmen are gonna be first in. The way we figured it, if we were gonna be considered the "experts" then we were gonna get to have fun first. And let me tell ya, nothing I have experienced in my time as a civilian firefighter has ever equalled what we went through when we had a major Engineering space fire early in 2002.
The decision to join is entirely yours my friend. And the way I see it, it's a noble decision. My time in the Navy is something that I look back on with fondness. To be honest there were times I hated it, just like there are times I hate the civilian fire service. But those times were few. I believe that my time serving with R-Division on the Normandy better prepared me for the things that I have encountered here at home. I promise you this, if you do decide to join, you will make memories that will be with you for a lifetime. I am looking forward to my class reunion next year so when folks are talking about the trip they took to Disney World 5 years ago, I can tell my stories about seeing the world.
Keep us posted brother and let us know what you decide to do. Just remember the decision is YOURS.

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Permalink Reply by BillySFCVFD on September 22, 2008 at 8:04pm

Jamie,

Being in the Army for 36 years I'm going to give you my unbiased opinion. I agree with everyone else that the Navy is predominantly sea based and not much like your everyday FD. The Army and Air Force has large sprawling installations both with airfields so you can get aircraft crash training, a big plus for larger city FDs. Keep in mind that the fire fighter occupational specialty does exist in all the service branches but most use DOD civilian firefighters augmented by military ones. You might want to have a recruiter (be careful) take you to a nearby military installation and tour their fire stations and ask questions there. Back to my unbiased opinion, the Air Force seems to spend more money on training recruits and you can serve your country in relative comfort compared to the Army. Remember don't sign a contract without reading it very carefully.

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