Can you still be a volunteer fire fighter while on active duty?

2016-09-06T18:06:17-04:00

Soldier wants to be a volunteer fire fighter in the local town, is there anything that says he is not allowed? I don't have a problem, just want to make sure all the Ts are crossed and I's are dotted.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2016 6:23 PM

2016-09-06T18:23:35-04:00

the best i recollect since its been 23 years since i moonlighted, theres a milege restriction, cant interfere with your duties, and is not an excuss for missing anything, and most important approved by command that was way back then dont know about now

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2016 6:35 PM

2016-09-06T18:35:38-04:00

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/second-job-while-on-active-duty Similar question. Answer is yes, as long as it does not interfere with your military duties.

Second Job while on Active Duty? | RallyPoint

I'm sure a lot of us have ways of supplementing our monthly income with some sort of work in addition to active duty. For a few years I've been toying with this idea- I have a large family and with our retirement benefits in the crosshairs, I'm seriously thinking about either looking for work that won't interfere in any way with my regular duties or starting up a small business myself. With 14 years IT experience and a degree in game design...

Response by SFC Pete Kain made Sep 6 at 2016 6:44 PM

2016-09-06T18:44:44-04:00

Just hope there are no fires while you are training or deployed. Once you volunteer others depend on you. Keep it in perspective.

Response by 1SG Mike Case made Sep 6 at 2016 6:52 PM

2016-09-06T18:52:34-04:00

Definitely want to get all your higher ups involved on this one. Not that there is anything wrong with being a volunteer firemen, but if something were to happen to that Soldier while at a call and caused him to miss work and it was just the Company Commander who was giving "thumbs up", then head would probably roll. The Army has invested quite a bit of money in our Soldiers so you definitely would probably want your BN and BDE echelons to be aware of this. Just my two cents.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 6 at 2016 7:02 PM

2016-09-06T19:02:26-04:00

No policy against it that I know of, I imagine so long as it doesn't interfere with military service.

Response by SSG Jeremy Sharp made Sep 6 at 2016 9:04 PM

2016-09-06T21:04:09-04:00

When I was on active duty the request for outside employment had to be approved by the commander and could not interfere with duty or deploy-ability to garner command approval/support.

Response by SGT Dave Tracy made Sep 7 at 2016 3:54 PM

2016-09-07T15:54:56-04:00

Yes.

Response by Cpl Justin Goolsby made Sep 7 at 2016 5:00 PM

2016-09-07T17:00:42-04:00

The only thing that I know of, is that typically if a Marine was going to seek outside employment, he'd have to route a package through his command basically explaining that he understands the military is his primary occupation and that his secondary position can't affect his primary. This could just be a local thing though.

But I knew a Marine who was bouncing between volunteer firefighter and paramedic on top of his duties as a Marine. Since he didn't take leave often, if he had to work during the day, he'd put in some leave so all his bases were covered.

Response by MSgt Steven Holt, NRP, CCEMT-P made Sep 8 at 2016 9:43 AM

2016-09-08T09:43:41-04:00

I was a reserve police officer while one active duty. I just had to get approval from my chain of command. Also, you need to be aware your duties as a volunteer FF, police officer, EMT, etc may NOT interfere with your military duties in any way. I had to utilize a couple days of leave because I was summoned to court over arrests/tickets/incidents I was involved with during my police work.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 21 at 2017 11:24 AM

2017-01-21T11:24:49-05:00

I was a volunteer firefighter while I was still full-time and it's very time consuming between the training, fire academy, and responding. It is authorized, but the soldier needs to understand the true commitment behind it. My department completely supported my military engagements, but there is a lot of dedication and time that goes into the department, especially when you are new and going through all the training.

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 25 at 2017 9:41 PM

2017-09-25T21:41:43-04:00

SFC,

What was the result of this?
I am looking to Voulnteer to get my firefighter certification so I was curious what the outcome was of this?