USNA Fire Department

[Maertyn]

I was wondering if there are volunteer firefighter opportunities to be had at USNA. I joined my local company last year and I love the atmosphere and people I have found there. I am hoping to be at USNA next year, and while I know that the workload and extracurriculars do not leave a lot of free time, but is there time or opportunity to do something like this? Thank you!

 

[Capt MJ]

I was wondering if there are volunteer firefighter opportunities to be had at USNA. I joined my local company last year and I love the atmosphere and people I have found there. I am hoping to be at USNA next year, and while I know that the workload and extracurriculars do not leave a lot of free time, but is there time or opportunity to do something like this? Thank you!

To the best of my knowledge, the fire stations at the USNA complex are staffed by full-time DoD civil service firefighters.

As you learn more about USNA during your application journey, perhaps get in an official or unofficial visit, you will begin to learn about the full-immersion, high-intensity approach to academics, professional training, physical fitness, sports participation, mandatory events and the relentless focus on being “sat” in all graded areas. There are plenty of ECAs to get involved in, depending on how much time you have available.

I’ll defer to our resident Current or Recent Mids to comment.

 

[Newport2Annapolis]

There are some volunteer fire dept's in the area that would allow for you to train with and work toward quals - Anne Arundel County has a decent page w/ info : https://www.aacounty.org/services-and-programs/volunteer-as-a-fire-fighter

The issue that comes up are required hours, time is limited at school, especially your first couple of years. I began the training late in my 2d class year, but fell behind after multiple conflicts / competing priorities. It is possible though... A classmate was on a rotation schedule as his pre-USNA certs carried over into their department.

 

[Usnavy2019]

Fed Fire is a group of fine Americans! You'll most likely see them at Worden Parade Field tending to the pass outs and handling random emergencies or fire alarms on the Yard. If you stand Midshipman Officer of the Watch as a Firstie, you might have the opportunity to become quite acquainted with them. I thing I had of streak of four watches where I had to call Fed Fire (nothing super bad luckily).

My advice is to first get established during plebe year. You have a lot of competing priorities and it is hard to manage them even with no distractions. County Fire might be a bit of a tough sell since you'd be leaving the Yard a fair amount at odd hours. Fed Fire might be more workable if they let you volunteer. All you have to do is ask and the worst they can say is no. Even with Fed Fire, it could be a tough sell for liability reasons.

Fed Fire most likely has medical covered by the DoD since their work is dangerous and they have a real potential to get hurt. So if they get hurt, they recover and go back to work. If you get hurt on the other hand, you'll get treated by military medicine, but the Navy won't be too happy if you render yourself non-commissionable due to an injury sustained while being a firefighter. So if you go through the approval process (probably a paperwork drill for your military chain of command and the Fed Fire chain of command), then you can maybe get cleared to do it. Again, gaining approval is the hard part. While you know the inner workings of what being a firefighter is and how a lot of calls are benign, your military superiors are probably looking at it as you running into a burning building or using the jaws of life to save someone right before the car explodes.

My advice is to maybe start an extra-curricular centered around First Responders. Plenty of people are either EMTs/firefighters prior to entering the Brigade and mids also earn their EMT certs through National Outdoor Leadership School (summer training opportunity). You can definitely plan events to go visit first responder units around the area and probably get some good training in.

Starting an ECA isn't too difficult. You just need to find interested people, an officer who will support it, and route the paperwork.

 

[Capt MJ]

Fed Fire is a group of fine Americans! You'll most likely see them at Worden Parade Field tending to the pass outs and handling random emergencies or fire alarms on the Yard. If you stand Midshipman Officer of the Watch as a Firstie, you might have the opportunity to become quite acquainted with them. I thing I had of streak of four watches where I had to call Fed Fire (nothing super bad luckily).

My advice is to first get established during plebe year. You have a lot of competing priorities and it is hard to manage them even with no distractions. County Fire might be a bit of a tough sell since you'd be leaving the Yard a fair amount at odd hours. Fed Fire might be more workable if they let you volunteer. All you have to do is ask and the worst they can say is no. Even with Fed Fire, it could be a tough sell for liability reasons.

Fed Fire most likely has medical covered by the DoD since their work is dangerous and they have a real potential to get hurt. So if they get hurt, they recover and go back to work. If you get hurt on the other hand, you'll get treated by military medicine, but the Navy won't be too happy if you render yourself non-commissionable due to an injury sustained while being a firefighter. So if you go through the approval process (probably a paperwork drill for your military chain of command and the Fed Fire chain of command), then you can maybe get cleared to do it. Again, gaining approval is the hard part. While you know the inner workings of what being a firefighter is and how a lot of calls are benign, your military superiors are probably looking at it as you running into a burning building or using the jaws of life to save someone right before the car explodes.

My advice is to maybe start an extra-curricular centered around First Responders. Plenty of people are either EMTs/firefighters prior to entering the Brigade and mids also earn their EMT certs through National Outdoor Leadership School (summer training opportunity). You can definitely plan events to go visit first responder units around the area and probably get some good training in.

Starting an ECA isn't too difficult. You just need to find interested people, an officer who will support it, and route the paperwork.

Great post from the deck plates.

 

[LT360]

First welcome to the FF Brotherhood and good luck on gaining an appointment. FF's rock especially Volunteers and once you get a taste (or smell) of your fire you are hooked! Nothing like the tones dropping at 2am and rushing out the door to catch the truck to get the blood flowing. The East Coast is a hotbed for Volunteer FF companies all with their own unique characteristics.

I have direct connections to PGCFD (next door to AAC) if you are truly motivated. If you gain appointment and want to pursue further, PM me and I can connect you as I am sure they can help point you in right direction.

More importantly, is time. See prior responses.

My advice is to first get established during plebe year. You have a lot of competing priorities and it is hard to manage them even with no distractions. County Fire might be a bit of a tough sell since you'd be leaving the Yard a fair amount at odd hours. Fed Fire might be more workable if they let you volunteer. All you have to do is ask and the worst they can say is no. Even with Fed Fire, it could be a tough sell for liability reasons.

As you learn more about USNA during your application journey, perhaps get in an official or unofficial visit, you will begin to learn about the full-immersion, high-intensity approach to academics, professional training, physical fitness, sports participation, mandatory events and the relentless focus on being “sat” in all graded areas. There are plenty of ECAs to get involved in, depending on how much time you have available.

The issue that comes up are required hours, time is limited at school, especially your first couple of years. I began the training late in my 2d class year, but fell behind after multiple conflicts / competing priorities. It is possible though... A classmate was on a rotation schedule as his pre-USNA certs carried over into their department.

DS is a current Plebe and time is a premium for him. Of course if truly motivated you can find a way.

Are you already certified and looking for a way to maintain certifications? Or just wanting to continue to serve? If already certified, you may be keep certified via online classes. When (if) you get leave to go home (Christmas, Spring break, Summer block) you can use that time to stay connected to your hometown FD. Just remember that leave is not guaranteed once at USNA. Many factors impact leave---conduct, grades, sports, brigade support activities, summer school, COVID, etc.