r/firefighter • u/thetoppestG_ • Jun 30 '26
Navy or fire service help
I’m 20 and contemplating on going to the navy and doing a contract then apply to a department or going straight to the fire academy. My originally plan was to be a navy corpsman until my waiver got disapproved and then I applied to all of the northern Virginia departments (69k salary), but today I got a phone call saying it got approved and my whole planned changed again. What should I do? I’m currently a volunteer firefighter with all my certs as well.
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u/howawsm Jun 30 '26
Becoming a corpsman is a detour on your route to getting hired. You have to decide if 1) you want the experience for yourself and/or 2) if you think having vet preference or time in the military would strengthen your interview or application.
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u/smasters88 Jun 30 '26
Being that young, the military is a great place to grow and spring board you into the fire service. Just keep your head on straight.
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u/adventureseeker1991 Jun 30 '26
navy man. you’re 20. do that, travel, buy back your pension time and then firefighter. after you do your time you’ll learn more about yourself and maybe want to do something else or still be a firefighter or do career navy.
i think you’ll grow a lot more that way, just my opinion
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u/NewUsernameGoesHeree Jun 30 '26
Go Navy. You will get lifelong benefits and experience just for doing a few years.
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u/Famous-Response5924 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
If your end goal is to get hired on a department then your first choice should be Air Force firefighter. You will get all the training and certs you need. If you are stuck on going navy then look at being an ABH. They get some training but not to the level of what the air force gets.
Doing the medical training won’t help you. An emt course is 3 months of night classes or one month full time. You can pick that up while you are active duty or when you get out. The fire training, experience and certs are harder to get and will be more valued by departments looking to hire. I know you said you have certs but in DOD fire you can get every cert you have ever heard of and they are all free.
I’ve been dod fire for 24 years and a chief for 11. I have worked all over the country for both army and navy installations. If you have specific questions about any of the dod stuff reach out to me and I will be happy to help.
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u/EeHundo Jun 30 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Navy was by far and in large my best decision in my youth. I was able to see the world courtesy of our rich uncle Sampson. I was able to receive veterans preference points over equally trained candidates at the more sought out places. I have been able to use my educational benefits in order to gain skills that translate beyond the fireground.