Your years as a public servant.

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

Very nice! Toys for you or are you going to sell them?


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[dirtcowboy]

I think I'll keep the BII's I have now for me. About 3 years ago I bought some equipment from a hot rod shop going out of business. I picked up a Tube Shark tubing bender as well as a Miller TIG and a Miller plasma cutter. I have a shell of an '86 BII parts rig sitting in my yard. I got a Bend Pak Pro software program for Xmas. I'm going to see if I can produce BII roll cages, rock sliders, tube doors, bumpers, etc., etc.. I'll use the shell for developement then install reproducible kits to test on my personal BIIs. Who knows, maybe a cottage industry in the making.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

That sounds like a damn fine plan!


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[bmerr98]

I've got almost 20 years with the local Gas & Water Dept. Started out on a sewer camera crew, dump truck driver/water ditch dog, equipment operator (loved it, wrecked my back), crew chief, and for the last five years water treatment plant operator.

I was a soldier for 9 years before that (heavy wheel mechanic, but not a great one), so getting close to 30 years of public service. Sure goes by fast.

 

[IRKB]

Thank you!

How many years do you have with your dept?, how long have you been in your profession?, etc, etc. tell us a lil about your self.


I'm 28, I work for the second largest fire dept in the nation, CalFire. I'm a full time, but seasonal Fire Fighter I. We're a all risk dept. a Meaning I can be dispatched to a MVA, a medical call, a commercial fire, a chem spill, a wildland fire, etc. this is the beginning of my 7th season fire season. I usually get laid off in October or November then hired back on in May or June because our fire season usually runs June-the end of October. This year has been weird due to the drought and we've had fires all winter long. We got hired back early this year.
Our hiring process is extremely competitive and to promote takes a refi cupolas amount of certifications to be even acnowledged. Also a AS degree and a class B driver license is just about a must to promote above the FF level. I'm in the process of trying to get all the certs and licènses I need to become a full time perminant engineer.

I am 41 years old and I served for 10 years as a Combat Medic in the US Army. I was a full time firefighter/medic until 2012 when I was overcome by smoke trying to protect an occupied dwelling from a wild fire that turned on us. As a result, my lungs can no longer be exposed to any airborne particulates, (smoke, heavy perfumes, chemicals, etc.). I now work for the ambulance service at the same department where i was hurt.
I would not change a thing! “No greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”
Thank you to all my brothers and sisters every where!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[IRKB]

Last thought

I've got almost 20 years with the local Gas & Water Dept. Started out on a sewer camera crew, dump truck driver/water ditch dog, equipment operator (loved it, wrecked my back), crew chief, and for the last five years water treatment plant operator.

I was a soldier for 9 years before that (heavy wheel mechanic, but not a great one), so getting close to 30 years of public service. Sure goes by fast.

AMEN, Brother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Firefighter Flareon]

Firefighter/Emergency medical responder. I'm still considered a rookie, 2 years under my belt. But through out high school and up until 22 I was in Law enforcement explorers and Civil Air Patrol. Firefighting Law Enforcement run deep in my family so there was no decision where I would end up.

 

[mnfirefighter]

Rookie here as well in the field. I have three years as a volunteer firefighter and EMS in my town. I wouldn't change it for anything.

 

[Will]

I was never a police or firefighter. I was a Marine Security Guard. I was in Sierra Leone and in Paris, France. We wore black gear, as we called it, during normal hours. We were the police. In Paris 3,000 people worked in the embassy and we had 7 buildings throughout the city and 31 Marines to deal with them--maybe 5 on duty at a time during peak hours.. The consulate was the worst. People being denied permission to visit their loved ones in the USA and American citizens having been robbed--plus US servicemen stationed in Europe and having gotten into trouble in Paris--lots of conflict. Lots of angry people. We wore police gear during the day but after hours it was back to the Marine Corps look. Either way, we carried the S&W Model 19 357 and a Remington 870. We also had Ruger AC556--which is a full-auto version of the Mini-14. We used PR24s and pepper spray, but I never used the pepper spray because cleaning people up sucks too much. If you spray them, you have to clean them up. Just hit them a few more times.

The building's fire alarm system was in our office. We had lots of alarms, but all were false. In every case it would be a Frenchman smoking where he shouldn't have been. We weren't allowed to shoot them.

In Sierra Leone the job was all different. Very different. Middle of a civil war. Child soldiers chopping people to shreds with machetes. Total horror show. It's where I met my wife back in '93 and we've been married ever since.

 

[bobbywalter]

interesting old thread.

 

[2002edgeplussupercab]

4.5 years USAF. Cold war Europe issues.
12 years Deputy Sheriff. It sucked.
19 years Healthcare Security. Very interesting.

 

[Bustedup]

Retired after 26 years as a Peace Officer in Alabama. Did 8 years as a sheriff's deputy and 18 as a police officer. Did it all: Riot Platoon, Polygraph Examiner, FTO, SWAT(member, leader, commander), Special Operations Sergeant, Firearms Instructor, RADAR Instructor, Use of Force Instructor, Patrol Sergeant, Explorer Advisor, Investigator, etc. Took early retirement after getting run over by an old man in a RANGER while on my motorcycle(off duty). Lost 18 units of blood and 16 months of my life and eventually a leg because of it. I recovered, did enough years to get my basic pension and retired out.

 

[BryanG]

Working on my 23rd year as a Paramedic with 2 more years as a volunteer EMT before taking a full time position. Have worked for the same 911 service throughout. Did 5 years as a PRN flight paramedic on a BK117 as well. Loved the flying. Would love to call it a career and try something else but at 43 I'm not excited about starting over and really don't know what else I could do. Can't complain though it's let me raise a family and live pretty decent.

 

[guntemar]

OK...I'm necro-posting here. I did 7 years in the USN, the last 2 with NIS. Medical discharge due to a leg injury, joined the local PD immediately. Worked there just shy of 2 years when a DV call ended my desire to remain in law enforcement...husband barricaded in with wife as hostage. I roll in as first unit, open the door, first leg out the door and two 30-06 rounds hit my fender and penetrate into my engine block...back out the other side with my 9mm and riot gun, screaming for backup. Turned in my badge that night after deciding that my life was worth more than the $18k they were paying me as a patrol officer (this was in 1993).

Started my FF career while I was in the Navy, worked as a volunteer for 13 years until my daughter was about 6 months old and my wife asked me to stop fighting fires after I came home from a working structure fire with soot all over and a good portion of my hair singed (did I mention that I never put my own well-being ahead of a rescue, even if I didn't have my gear with me?)

My last 6 years with the FD overlapped with my first 6 years as an EMT, which I did for a total of 12 years. Also spent 10 years as a First Response, CPR/AED, and Industrial Response instructor for the American Red Cross.

All of this, with the exception of LE, was volunteer. During that time, I've worked as an industrial mechanic who morphed into an occupational safety specialist, which is what I still do in order to pay the bills.

 

[RD]

23 years as a police officer all with the Chattanooga Police Department.

Currently a Captain in Neighborhood Policing.