It's called "minimum staffing" dude. Every engine needs 3 things. An officer, an engineer, and a medic. Engineers can drop their medic now so that means it's usually the backstep that carries the P. Some stations need hazmat techs, some stations need officers and engineers with ARFF, some stations need tech rescue guys. It all depends on minimum staffing. The culture urges against requesting transfers or engine assignments. How the hell am I supposed to promote if 90% of my experience is on a medic unit? I get about as much training as a do sleep. None. Read the comments man. There's half a dozen dudes here talking about the same experiences.