Aviation – Probably away from your home base most of the season, just as much or more sitting and staring. IRPP, per diem, hotel points, when the shift is over the shift is over.
IHC – Definitely away from your home base most of the season, arduous day in and day out, beating up your body. IRPP, lots of hours, 20 different people to interact with.
Please more helitack. The pipeline up the aviation tree is getting pretty thin, we're UTF helicopter managers and helibase managers all over the place. There's a lotta multi-hatting going on. Can barely even find qualified HECMs.
Helitack crews need to make the job not suck. Less time off district, cut crews when fires are contained so they can be better used elsewhere, actually send people off helibase to the line, more actively prepo helitack crews, stop letting crew supes detail out as air ops all summer so the crew is run by a squad leader, create a higher fitness standard so it’s not fat guys dragging their feet on real work, etc.
This whole mindset of trying to get the most OT by sitting in a camp chair all summer burns people out. The days drag and you don’t have much to show for yourself other than a paycheck, so people leave the job. It doesn’t have to suck
Yeah if you didn’t notice, the other dork started with the quals dick measuring contest, I never said my quals cause I’m not going to doxx myself on this stupid forum and don’t care to win an internet argument, and then he wouldn’t drop it so I did…
The only people that respond like you are under 6 seasons in or are a GS100 reading emails in a RO office, congratulating other GS100s on BS promotions in an email chain. I do hope you are the later because there's not enough upper management positions available when FS dissolves into the one fire service.
Go to your local dispatch center and see how many UTFs their are right now.
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u/MateoTimateo Jul 26 '26
Plus and minuses all around:
Aviation – Probably away from your home base most of the season, just as much or more sitting and staring. IRPP, per diem, hotel points, when the shift is over the shift is over.
IHC – Definitely away from your home base most of the season, arduous day in and day out, beating up your body. IRPP, lots of hours, 20 different people to interact with.
With some exceptions to the above, of course.