Advice for a future in FireFighting

[Farva89]

Hello All,

I know this may be a repetive thread that you proabably have read before from another aspiring firefighter but I just need a little advice concerning the Boston Fire Dept.

originally I planned on taking a 2 year live in fire science program offered here in my home state of Maine. Upon realizing that having military background is a huge part of becoming a Boston Firefighter though, I have started looking into the Coastgaurd. I beleive that there will be a testing in Boston in June 2012 if they stick to the 2 year routine they have now. I would only be out of the coastgaurd for about 6 to 8 months then meaning i would not be able to get my full year of residency in before the test. Does any one know if there is a way to get residency somewhere whilst enlisted??? Or if anyone has any helpful info or advice, it would be incredibly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch,

Justin

[ffmvfd7]

Farva,

I believe that your HOR (home of record) would be your state of residency while in the military.

So basically, the address that you put on your papers when you join before you go off to BCT and AIT is considered your state of residency for the time you are in the military.

I'm pretty sure thats how it works, the only time I've been on active duty is for BCT/AIT, deployment and annual training (yea yea I'm in the Nasty Guard ;) ) So the residency thing never was a issue for me.

The best thing you can do is call their HR department and ask. That way you are a 100% sure and you can make a better decision on what you want to do.

[FLA1786]

Are you joining in order to get to the top of the list with Boston? If so I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure you have to be a veteran to get those benefits(in most places you do, some just do "military" pref). I'm pretty sure the chances of meeting the qualifications for veteran in the coast guard are slim...I may be wrong here, but I'd just hate to see you join and be stuck at the bottom of the list, so you should probably look in to it, talk to some CG guys and things like that.

[Farva89]

Thanks guys,

Im in the process of finding out exactly what qualifies as "Veteran" status, and if I will be able to gain residency in Boston while in the Coast Guard.

Thanks again,

Farva

PS: any other helplul hints or info are very much appreciated.