Urgent Help RAF Firefighter

madnlooney

Cat695 wrote: »

Make sure you go see the RAF guy in the AFCO because you'll be snapped up by the Army if you're not careful!!

Thats what i did 9 years ago :rotfl: went to find out about RAF then signed up in the army. Although i dont regret it

ktuludays

you wont see that much of the world as a raf firefighter or many fires for that matter.

if you like take aways and volleyball though, you'll be alright.

if you want to see the world, become a supplier or chef, they are always away.

if you want to earn lots of cash for doing very little with no responsibility then become an admin clerk. you get top pay level for doing nowt.

if you want a good job (but tiring) - become a techie.

be wary of the afco though. the staff have quotas for certain trades to meet so don't let them push you into something you don't want to do. wait until your chosen trade has a joining slot.

gt568

ktuludays wrote: »

you wont see that much of the world as a raf firefighter.

Wrong. Fireman are one of the trades that spend the most time away these days...

ktuludays

gt568 wrote: »

Wrong. Fireman are one of the trades that spend the most time away these days...

i stand corrected then.

Ivrytwr3

WhiteThierry wrote: »

im currently in the raf, but not a fireman, if you're wanting a job with weekends off, then id suggest someothing other than fireman, as they tend to work shifts, im guessing 4 on 4 off so you'll work roughly half of the weekends whereas other trades you'll work virtually none, unless you're on detatchment.

also raf fireman looks quite a boring job compared to their civilian counterparts, as theres not many fires on a raf station, but plenty of trees for cats to get stuck up

Dear God! What Air Force are some of you in? It can't be the Royal Air Force as some of these comments are complete bollox (or have you only been in the job no more that 5 minutes?

A lot of trades work shift systems, Police, medics, techies (especially at Strike Units, who do you think covers the Quick Reaction Forces???!!)

you wont see that much of the world as a raf firefighter or many fires for that matter. - the Uk is MOSTLY covered by Civilian employed Firefighters who don't go out of area, so the RAF Firefighters are doing a hell of a lot of detachements (i have a mate who is a Cpl Firefighter and has been to Telic 3 x in 3 years.

if you like take aways and volleyball though, you'll be alright - agreed!

if you want to see the world, become a supplier or chef, they are always away - as are most if the trades these days!

if you want to earn lots of cash for doing very little with no responsibility then become an admin clerk. you get top pay level for doing nowt - top pay? they are on the lower pay band.

if you want a good job (but tiring) - become a techie - agreed techie is the way to go, but most trades are 'tired' at the minute!

be wary of the afco though. the staff have quotas for certain trades to meet so don't let them push you into something you don't want to do. wait until your chosen trade has a joining slot - agreed. I have a friend who has many GCSE's and A Levels and wanted to join as a techie, because the RAF Regiment need more troops he was pushed towards this and is now becoming a gunner; grrrrr!!

And yes, there aren't many fires, thank God! The RAF Firecrews are there for aircraft emergencies, if they do get called to an aircraft fire then it is a lot more dangerous than your average house fire (highly explosive fuel, damage spread across a large distance etc)

However, when on duty you are housed in a fire station ready to react to the alarm and most stations have gyms you can use, cooking/vending machines, you give safety briefs to the station/air cadets and of course lots of training!!

alanco15

hi,

I think if you wanted to join as a firefighter you would be snapped up as they are very under manned at present.
I work as a civilian firefighter and sometimes work alongside the RAF ff's and the opinion seems to be varied about the job,
Many of the young guys seems to enjoy it , they do spend a lot of time away fromt the uk and when in the uk work shift patterns , so weekends will be expected.

If your young and single it can be a great life, you can pick up some good qualifications such as NVQ's which can be used in the civvy world, I have known RAF firefighters to transfer to some civvy brigades.

But if you have commitments at home ( a girlfriend you dont want to upset) think long and hard ,as it is a big commitment and the RAF often comes first.

as for the hernia , it could be a problem as they will check for these due to the heavy lifting involved , you will need to talk to their occupational health advisor.

hope this has helped , I know if i had my time over i would rather have done something like that, than spend a few years doing boring factory jobs until i joined the fire service ,but thats just my opinion.

good luck with the decision :beer:

ktuludays

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

Dear God! What Air Force are some of you in? It can't be the Royal Air Force as some of these comments are complete bollox (or have you only been in the job no more that 5 minutes?

A lot of trades work shift systems, Police, medics, techies (especially at Strike Units, who do you think covers the Quick Reaction Forces???!!)



And yes, there aren't many fires, thank God! The RAF Firecrews are there for aircraft emergencies, if they do get called to an aircraft fire then it is a lot more dangerous than your average house fire (highly explosive fuel, damage spread across a large distance etc)

However, when on duty you are housed in a fire station ready to react to the alarm and most stations have gyms you can use, cooking/vending machines, you give safety briefs to the station/air cadets and of course lots of training!!

pers services are on higher pay band when they reach cpl.

you obviously arent a techie? if you were, you'd know that

Ivrytwr3

Ground trades ie Pers Admin go in as as an AC, LAC, then SAC ergo they will be lower pay band for many years until/if they gets Cpl.

And no i'm not a techie, although i am on the higher pay band

Alias_Omega

If your not TG1 or TG2, your not a techie.

A SAC techie on Level 9, can earn more than a Admin Cpl. Though it probably takes 4-6 years service to get to Admin Cpl, but about 7yrs (inc AIP) to get to Level 9 SAC.

Though, these days most of us TG2's have been x-trained to TG1. I guess all part of the lean system.

Surely the best trade to see the world would be either -

WSOp - Crewman
WSO
Pilot (VC10, Herc, Tristar, Sentry, Sentinel)
Air Steward (VC10, Tristar)

ktuludays

the best trade in the raf by far is............civilian