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Permalink Reply by Rachel on February 10, 2011 at 9:51pm

I am planning on enlisting in the US Navy as a Damage Controlman. Basically, a firefighter/EMT. I have talked to a recruiter with the Navy and he told me that-when enlisting the Navy is pretty good if not great at getting an enlistee into the field in which they want to work.

Experience- He said it really did not make much of a difference, unless you have a degree or some type of certification in what ever field you want to go into.

My parents are Navy veterans, my grandpa is a Navy veteran, and my uncle is an Air Force veteran.

I was considering the Air Force for a while...but I plan on going with the Navy.


By the way...

On Land Bases, especially in the US, the Navy hires civilian firefighters/EMTs.

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Permalink Reply by ricky on February 10, 2011 at 11:09pm

now im going off what i was told when i tried to go for 21 mike dont waste your time. only two people are picked from every branch to go for firefighting and its hard to get pick and the certs. dont carry over to the civilian side. also i was told go for 68 wisky and be a medic so that way when you are all done u can take the test and become a paramedic and then go to school for your fire certs.

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 10, 2011 at 11:39pm

I am planning on enlisting in the US Navy as a Damage Controlman. Basically, a firefighter/EMT.

Damage Control has nothing to do with being an EMT, you do no medical stuff at all. That is the job of the Corpsman.

DC does do firefighting, but they really are considered the experts in firefighting and damage control so the primary job boils down to training other crew members. They take care of firefighting equipment and systems and respond to emergencies, but overall there is not enough DC to handle an emergency and thus it is the responsibility of every crewmember to be a firefighter/DCman.

For actual emergencies there is a fire party which is comprised with predominantly DC (at sea....in port differs a bit) and they will try to mitigate the emergency, if they can't control it quickly, the ship goes to General Quarters (GQ). A DC's role for a GQ will tend to be a leadership role like On Scene Leader (IC) or fire party team leader (company officer)....newer DC tend to get a role on a hose team, etc until more qualified.

In the end I found DC to be very beneficial in helping on the civilian side of things. The leadership skills and training duties are priceless to have. Even a more junior DC can be in a significant leadership role. Many systems and equipment working with is seen in the civilian side and I found bringing my familiarity about systems back to my dept with building inspections....most civilian training doesn't cover systems.



My experience is that too much focus goes into such jobs with people thinking they can walk out of the military and onto a fire dept without any other education or certs. I hear the talk about the Air Force and how it is so much better, blah, blah, because they do IFSAC certs......yeah, so? Bottom line is just because one has all these fire certs doesn't mean their chances of getting hired are any better than the next vet. In today's fire service EDUCATION and PARAMEDIC are standing out.

My advice to anyone looking to enlist and then wants to become a civilian career FF is enlist in a job YOU are interested in, even if it doesn't pertain to firefighting. You like mechanics, do it, like electronics, do it, like to cook, do it and so forth. Don't believe for one minute you have to do a firefighting or medic job in the military in order to become a career firefighter.

When serving take advantage of college courses offered by the military, take advantage of DANTES and CLEP tests, because all this amounts to college credits you can transfer. Look into colleges offering fire protection and look to enroll prior to getting out. Take advantage of GI Bill and education benefits and get the degree. You may find that the skills you learned while serving will help you in this job despite what you did in the service.

Bottom line, military firefighting training will not land you a career job, one doesn't have to be a firefighter in the military to become a career FF, the military is a great place to start, but do what you want to do, not believe the idea that doing a certain job in the military betters your chances. The core values instilled in any and every vet stands out moreso than your certs, or what job you did in the service.

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Permalink Reply by Korrey on February 11, 2011 at 2:30am

That MOS is being faded out of the military service because of how much it takes to keep it up. Your best bet is to find a national guard unit that still have that MOS. Maybe then you can get in that way but going active duty is very slim to null. Good luck and stay on task.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on February 11, 2011 at 8:22am

it seems that 21 mike is a really a dream job for the military
so even though firefighting is my passion crabbe made a great
point that it is not necessary for me to go under something
under the specifics of firefighting or even medical i think
once i will be done with the ROTC program and go in to the
army as a commissioned officer i want to be up in where the heart
of the problem is and become an infantry officer and try my best
to lead in to good decisions. Which leads in to my next question
what are the Fire Departments these days looking in an fire officer
on the department. Such as what degrees would you suggest for college for
me.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Clark on February 11, 2011 at 11:26am

I agree with john go in to the army doing somthing you wont to do thats what i did im a 11b (Infantry) and i love it. the best thing i could tell ya is to follow your heart due to when your locked in its hard to out lol. its not like you can just say i hate this i wont a new job. make sure you look in to what ever you choose.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel on February 11, 2011 at 3:54pm

"Providing medical assistance. Extinguishing fires upon ships and submarines. Rescuing fellow Sailors from danger. Whatever the nature of the situation, the Sailors who make up the Emergency, Fire and Rescue community of America’s Navy are always prepared to respond – and ready to act fast to ensure that help promptly reaches those in need."

http://www.navy.com/careers/service-safety/emergency-fire-rescue.html

The Navy website(and the recruiter I spoke with) both say that there ARE Firefighter/EMT positions in the US Navy.
Maybe they are no longer called "damage controlmen"?

John,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. You opened my mind about the role of a DC. Good point on the fact that: military firefighting training will not land you a career job.

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Permalink Reply by Fireman Larry on February 11, 2011 at 4:30pm

Haf'ta agree with John, I was DC3 and we were then and are still called DC (Damage Control) or FC (Fire Control), I still receive correspondence from the NAVY. Now, the only thing that the EMT (Corpsman) have in common, all personnel in the NAVY, are required to go through and pass Damage Control, as a part of their recruit training, If you choose your MOS in the medical field, that's exactly what you'll do, but on board a vessel, if there's a fire, "All Hands" will assist with the fire. If you haven't decided on which service, the Air Force, also has ARFF Fire Fighting training. The difference is, it's mainly in a house, difference is, NAVY travels more... Oh, we have cooler uni's, "the Cracker Jacks..."

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 11, 2011 at 5:23pm

Larry, FC is actually an entire different rating and has nothing to do with firefighting, but instead deals with weapon systems.

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on February 11, 2011 at 5:36pm

The Navy website(and the recruiter I spoke with) both say that there ARE Firefighter/EMT positions in the US Navy.
Maybe they are no longer called "damage controlmen"?

Damage Control is still the term and still the rating, the info you are seeing is incorrect. You must remember that the site is a recruiter site and the recruiter is a recruiter.....my bet is the recruiter is not even a DC nor really aware of the job of DC. Point being is that you have people, like yourself, who wants to do firefighting and emergency work in the service. Since the Navy differs from the other branches, it is difficult to put the terminology and job description as the same as a civilian FF.

Bottom line is that the role of DC in the Navy is going to be different than any other branch as well as civilian FF. DC is everyone's job, crewmembers can not afford not to know DC. Firefighting is much more aggressive in the Navy than any other place, even FDNY....there is no defensive operations. This is all for one simple reason......if the ship sinks, it is a long swim to the shallow end.

As for the EMT aspect, like I said, the info is incorrect. There is already a job specialty for emergency medicine and that is the role of the Corpsman. In the civilian world it is common to send a fire dept for an EMS call, on a ship they call a medical emergency and the Corpsman respond. Sure you may get some basic medical training as a DC, just as any rating, but you will NOT be trained as an EMT, nor will you be responding as an EMT.

I not trying to deter here, but stating the facts, it is easier to recruit people interested in firefighting by talking the similarities of the Navy, there are differences. I have no quota to fill and have no reason to lie about anything. Not calling the recruiter a liar either, but I'm guessing the recruiter doesn't really know the job of DC. BTW...DC are NOT on submarines, they do not operate on the flight deck of aircraft carriers or helo carriers, and shore duties are limited to teaching or filling a general billit, meaning those who don't really serve on surface ships may not really understand the role.

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Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on February 11, 2011 at 5:44pm

thank you Robert great reply and i definitely agree with you and John here
this is a hard decision since if i make one it is a pretty permanent one and
i am glad i posted this discussion since now i can really get some great advice
and know that it is coming from experience and not from papers thanks again

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Permalink Reply by Fireman Larry on February 11, 2011 at 5:46pm

nope, looks like we're gonna have to agree to disagree, I just called the recruiters, in the center down the street. I verified, it's still called FC (Fire Controlman) or DC (Damage Controlman), I verified with a, Petty Officer in the US Naval Recruiting, Thornton, Co. Center, as for the #, if you want...

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