quote:

Originally posted by Foley6543:

quote:

USMC ARFF school

Hey Stretch,

Would the 16 weeks that you have to go to this school be cut short if you have already taken fire 1 & 2? I also plan on taking the EMT class next summer. I would take it now but it's a month course and it's 8 hours every day. With school and work, it wouldnt work out.

but this crash crew, is it hard to get in to?

Thanks Stretch,

-Foley

quote:

Originally posted by Stretch67:

quote:

Originally posted by Foley6543:

quote:

USMC ARFF school

Hey Stretch,

Would the 16 weeks that you have to go to this school be cut short if you have already taken fire 1 & 2? I also plan on taking the EMT class next summer. I would take it now but it's a month course and it's 8 hours every day. With school and work, it wouldnt work out.

but this crash crew, is it hard to get in to?

Thanks Stretch,

-Foley

The school is sixteen weeks for everyone, and every student has the same courses, regardless of what certifications you may already hold. That's just the way they do business.

You'll find the same is true on the outside. Having those certifications may help you get hired, but you're still going to have to go through the full gambit of classes at our training academy.

7051 is pretty hard to get into for some reason. The Corps will guarantee you a spot in the 70xx field (which also includes 7011 and 7041), but not for one of those MOS's specifically.

quote:

Originally posted by Foley6543:
The thing is that I dont understand is. Are they taking just anyone with no experiance what so ever and putting them at 7051 out of blind luck? Wouldnt it help to have some experiance at all in the Fire Fighting buisness?

quote:

Originally posted by Stretch67:

quote:

Originally posted by Foley6543:
The thing is that I dont understand is. Are they taking just anyone with no experiance what so ever and putting them at 7051 out of blind luck? Wouldnt it help to have some experiance at all in the Fire Fighting buisness?

It may help, it may hinder. In my AFFR class (back before electricity), one of my classmates had been a volunteer firefighter somewhere, and he "knew" so much, he was arguing with the instructors, berating other students's performance, etc etc.

I had never extinguished anything more than a campfire, but I graduated with the highest acedemic average and was meritoriously promoted to Lance Corporal and got to pick my duty station. Aloha.

Echoing another post of mine, you'll find the same is true in civilian departments. Guys with zero experience make just as good of students and firefighters.

Occasionally, we get some guy fresh out of rookie school with experience at another department. In no way, shape, or form do I (as a Company Officer) regard his alleged experience as a license for me to keep less of an eye on him. I have to keep him just as close (if not closer) as a rookie with no experience.

Once I am satisfied that he knows enough to safely work independently, I may assign him to some task working with less experienced men. But until that point, he has standing orders to stay in my hip pocket and not do a friggin' thing unless I tell him to.

quote:

Originally posted by Stretch67:
Sorry for the delay.

Here's a canned response about Crash Crew I wrote recently. If this doesn't answer your questions, don't hesitate to ask.

--------------

We have had many names over the years: Crash Crew, Crash Fire and
Rescue, and Aircraft Fire Fighting and Rescue. Several years ago, the
name was changed to reflect the priority of Rescue over Firefighting:
Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting. I call it Crash Crew, because I'm a
dinosaur. (But I'm a meat-eating dinosaur.)

Your Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) career starts once you
graduate Boot Camp and MCT, and attend the USMC ARFF school. It is
located at the Garland Fire Academy at Goodfellow Air Force base in
San Angelo, Texas. www.goodfellow.af.mil The school lasts 16 weeks (or
so) and once completed, graduates have National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) Certifications in Firefighter 1 and 2, Airport
Firefighter, Hazardous Materials Responder (Operations Level), and
(Emergency Medical Service) First Responder. The graduate with the
highest academic average may receive a meritorious promotion up to
LCpl.

Once you've arrived at your permanent duty station, it is possible to
attend the classes and obtain EMT certification, but that is at the
discretion of your Officer and Non-Commissioned Officers-In-Charge.
Very few Crash Crew Marines are actually sent to EMT school, so the
slots are very competitive.

Active Duty Marines may be sent to California, Arizona, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Hawaii, Virginia, Japan, Okinawa, or other
overseas bases as international conditions dictate.

Many of these Marine Corps Air Stations sponsor Reserve ARFF units,
and there are some USMC Reserve ARFF units at other bases across the
nation, but I don't know where they all are.

Your training will continue at your duty station, as you become
familiar with the crash trucks, aircraft and airfield. Warplanes can
be terribly dangerous. They can be loaded with thousands of gallons of
jet fuel, thousands of rounds of ammunition, bombs, rockets, chaff,
and flares. A moment's inattention to business can kill you and your
crew.

ARFF crews (four Marines to a truck) are sent out to the airfield for
two-hour shifts, waiting for some poor schmuck to auger his plane into
the ground. The alert crew, called 'Hotspot', will save a couple of
minutes off the response time, as they're already in the truck and
next to the runway. Airfields generally open at 0600, and close at
2100. That makes for a long day. While the other Marines on base work
a regular 8-hour shift, you'll still be working.

Hotspot crews rotate, as a rule, every two hours. Inboard crews spend
their time in classes, maintaining equipment and the grounds, and
other chores. Sometimes the work is merely 'busy work', chores
assigned to keep everyone busy, instead of simply sitting around.
Beware.

You'll be allowed to go to the base chow hall in shifts, so you'll
still get three squares a day.

Whatever you're doing, you drop it when the Crash Crew receives an
emergency call. A radio call and a siren or air horn alerts the crews,
who then rush to their trucks, dress in their turnout gear, and drive
out to the edge of the runway to meet the Emergency Aircraft.

If the Emergency was declared after the aircraft landed, the control
tower usually gives Crash Crew clearance onto the runway, and we
render whatever assistance is required.

Usually, the Emergency is a mechanical failure in the aircraft, and
the pilot(s) are able to get the aircraft back to the airfield and
land without incident.

Sometimes, however, the aircraft crashes and good men violently die.
Mentally prepare yourself for this possibility.

Crash Crews can run their work schedules pretty much any way they
please, but most work a 24 hour on, 24 hour off work rotation, using
two shifts, or sections. I did work at one Crash Crew that had a Day
section, Night Section rotation, but that was during the first Iraq
war, and is unusual.

I had many friends who made a career of USMC Crash Crew, one even
becoming a Chief Warrant Officer, in charge of his own Crash Crew at
Cherry Point, NC. Others of us did one enlistment, and went on our
merry way. I know several (including myself) who have used their
experience in Crash Crew and the Marine Corps to get good jobs as
civilian Firefighters.

Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it. Moping
around with your hands in your pockets because you don't like your
NCOs, your job, or duty station is a quick way to let yourself slide
into a ****y attitude.

Stay positive and remember that what we do is REAL. While the Infantry
guys are the backbone of the Corps, they do what they're trained for
only in times of war. Crash Crew is on the job in peacetime AND in
war, putting our butts on the line to save the lives of our fellow
Marines.



Online articles about USMC Crash Crews in Iraq:

http://dogtrack.proboards26.com/index.cgi?board=general...ay&thread=1117837418

http://dogtrack.proboards26.com/index.cgi?board=general...ay&thread=1113529136