(May 25, 2015 at 10:25 pm)LostLocke Wrote: OK, not to sound naive, but I have to ask what the context of 'firefighter' is in the military? I'm assuming it's not the same thing we think of in the civilian sector?
Well, we were tasked with civilian firefighting duties, such as protecting buildings and other government property from fire, rescuing folks needing help, and such, but we also had some twists that were specific to the Air Force: we had to know crash fire-fighting, which is very different than structural firefighting -- you have to know stuff like how to shut down an airplane and safety the ejection seat, how to identify weapons so you understand the firefighting needs of the moment, that sort of thing. And if you were on a mobility team, as I was, you had to be proficient in small arms, and know the basics of tactical base defense (the thought being that if the base came under attack we would be supplementary troops.)
The jobs are mostly the same, though.
