Any reccommendations for shore commands in the Jacksonville area for a DC3/DC2?

Mr. Ferguson

I did my Active Duty tour during the end of the Vietnam War, I began college classes while on Active Duty. Eventually ended up with 3 Degrees, an AAS in Fire Science and Building Inspection and a Double Bachelors in Training & Development (Adult Education and Fire Administration). I'm not sure exactly why, but I've worked for 7 different Fire Service organizations and Fire Departments over a period of 46 years and none of them seemed particularly impressed with my Educational Credentials.

I have a significant accumulation of Certificated Learning in addition to the College coursework. I will say that it seemed the Fire Departments and other Employers I've worked for, seemed to place more credence on my 35 years of Experience in Military Service, than they ever did on my College Education. Maybe because they felt that actually working in the Field as a Firefighter/EMT, Fire Inspector & Investigator was a better education, than sitting in a classroom learning the stuff from a book!

If you do give up on your Service in the Regular Navy, you may want to consider affiliating with either the Coast Guard or Navy Reserve or your Local Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve as a Crash/Rescue Firefighter/EMT and get as much free education from the Services as you possibly can.

That type of training and experience really carries a lot of weight with Employers, especially if you gather Certifications in Crash Rescue, Shipboard and Structural Firefighting, Emergency Medical Technician, and anything else related to the Field(s) you'd like to find yourself working in in your Civilian employment.

If you have a particular Employer in mind that you'd like to end up working for, you may want to talk to them and find out in detail, what they're looking for in a perspective candidate for employment in their Company or Department. Many Employers like People that take the time to do long range planning and exploration to prepare themselves for future employment.

You also might also want to seriously consider at least another tour or two on Active Duty & see if you can get DC-1 & maybe even DCC on your sleeve & continue working on your Bachelors Degree while still in the Navy & let the Navy pay for it... I guarantee you'll thank yourself for it in the long run. You won't get out of College with a huge pile of Student Loan Debt to worry about. There's a lot to be said for that.

I served over 35 years between Active duty and Reserves and thus far have served 46 years in the Fire Service. I don't regret a minute of the time I invested in My Military Service Experience, in fact My Time is Service helped me land Every Civilian Fire Service Job I've ever had... just sayin'!

In fact My U.S. Coast Guard DC "A" School alone, has given me the training to do every job I've ever had. and then some, but then being raised as the Son of one of the Original Navy Sea Bees, probably didn't hurt, Dad started my training early!

Anyway, Good Luck to you Young Fella, with whatever you decide to do.
Sincerely,
C. Wayne Boss
Dep. Ch, Fire Prevention /Technical/Support Services/Fire Marshal, RFRD (Retired)
Sr. Fire Inspector II, EMT, Phoenix Fire Dept., Fire Prevention Div. (Retired)
Sr. Ch, Fire/Port Safety/Security Specialist, DHS/U.S. Coast Guard (Retired)

Just make sure you finish that Bachelors degree. Look into Navy cool/US MAP certification, and start networking. Good luck! DCC

SERMC. Nice easy shore duty, good twilight tour.