Anyone in Fire & Emergency Services able to answer some questions?
I am a civilian firefighter of seven years and a recruiter approached me at work a few weeks ago making the pitch for me to join a F&ES unit in Norfolk, a few hours away from me.
At first it seemed a bit foolish for me to enlist this far into my life, but after a bit of thinking the financial advantages it might bring have me reconsidering.
Housing costs are astronomical around here and despite us making quite decent money, short of moving hours away home ownership seems to be further and further away. An eventual VA loan would be a big game changer and my department offers 6 weeks of paid military leave so short of deploying I would be double dipping all year.
But my main questions which the recruiter couldn’t seem to answer is what being reserve F&ES is actually like besides the fact that the role is a instillation firefighter. How much of drill is actually firefighter related and how much of non-unit specific drill could be done at the local reserve center in DC? I don’t really mind a monthly commute but the more I can avoid it the better.
What are the deployments like and what is the likelihood of deployments?
Would I have to go to fire school again or would I forgo A school as I have all credentials aside from ARFF pro boarded.
Thanks in advance.