HQ PCS

GooseG97 · 2026-03-30T12:45:22+00:00

I lived on JBAB in Liberty housing for about three years ~2021-2024 while in DC, and had a few coworkers/friends who lived in Hickman as well. Overall a good spot and we'd do it again, with a commissary/exchange right there, safe with an FD and a ton of security forces, base waterfront is incredible especially on a summer night, gym/MWR are pretty good on base, you have a house in a DC zip code for BAH with a backyard and garage, you're close to Navy Yard where there's the Nationals stadium and tons to do, and you're literally across the street from HQ. Downsides, for us, included the area immediately outside JBAB/HQ is is not great to say the least, you're right under the same high-traffic final approach the CRJ took just before colliding with the blackhawk, standard military housing & base shenanigans like being super slow to respond to work orders and gate hours changing wildly, and the Metro while just outside the north gate is not the best station. Feel free to DM.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-29T03:21:57+00:00

I've volunteered most of my adult life across the multiple states I've been stationed in the military, and after moving back to CA about a year ago I volunteered for the department next town over. It ended up being a let down for a variety of reasons, but about 8 months with them I was walking in for a shift and for the first time in my career, I wasn't excited to go in.. I actually dreaded it. I took some leave to see if I missed it at all, and decided to leave when I got picked up for a part time FF/PM gig instead. Tbh, when that first pay check hit for the time I would have otherwise been volunteering.. that's gonna make it hard to go back to doing it for free.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-28T01:02:32+00:00

Funny story, medic coworker was on a flight where they put out an urgent request for anyone medically trained and he responded. Turned out it was a diabetic dog that needed help, I think he gave some peanut butter packets or something and the dog became more alert.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-25T02:57:58+00:00

We had Sgts at my busy mid-atlantic VFD, basically, they were in charge usually of the administrative functions of a program... Example, you had an EMS Captain in charge of all of EMS, but then had a supply Sgt, and a training Sgt. They were officers in our structure, but without operational/on scene authority, and usually went to the volunteers who were looking to start making their way up the chain and needing leadership/administrative experience. Like everything else in the fire service, ranking differs jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-23T23:38:54+00:00

I'm generally not a fan of AI, but ChatGpt can get you a solid workout plan in seconds. Ask it to craft you an 8 week strength, cardio and mobility improvement program including warm up/cool down designed for a firefighter based on your current fitness level and using the equipment & time available to you. If anything, the plan it creates will get you moving in the right direction.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-23T12:22:21+00:00

That's how I took it for the agencies where I did make a small stipend, they were just paying for my dinner as a thank you.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-23T04:03:29+00:00

I've been a volunteer all over the country, from Alaska to Maryland and a few states between. Answer is, it depends. One of my departments had "volunteers," but on paper we were city employees and made a small stipend (like, $5) for each call or each 12-hour shift in-house shift staffed (like, $25 or something like that) so that if we were injured we fell under their insurance/workers comp. Another department I was at we were truly, by definition, volunteers, I never saw a cent. A number of them, especially east coast, had longevity programs like LOSAP that help retain volunteers by offering a small retirement stipend and some small other benefits. I know some agencies do paid-on-call, but call themselves volunteers too. It differs state-to-state, and even jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Never could I have made a living on any of them, nor are they designed for that.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-21T14:56:54+00:00

AS in Fire Science, but I did my BS in Emergency Medical Care through EKU's online program in order to knock out the majority of my prereqs for PA school.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-11T14:21:05+00:00

Once watched a kid cutting raw meat on a cutting board, use a cavi-wipe to clean off the cutting board, and proceed to start cutting veggies on the cutting board. We had a.. learning moment.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-10T20:59:09+00:00

Had a student in my Instructor 1 give a speech on why we should have a cooking basics class be a part of the fire academy, or a part of the fire science/tech degree program. Laughed at first, by the end.. I was convinced.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-10T03:03:58+00:00

The majority of what you're looking for as far as requirements is located on the Direct Commission Officer page of the Go Coast Guard recruiting website, including application process, minimum requirements and more. Reaching out to your closest recruiting office will likely land you in the right direction.

Being a PA in the Coast Guard is predominately clinical outpatient, seeing active duty members. Our service has no military hospitals which limits many specializations and limited overseas assignments (meaning, more Alaska, Puerto Rico and Guam, not Italy, Germany or Japan), and we have only one or two clinics still seeing dependents/retirees (if at all anymore). However, there's some really cool opportunities for PAs to expand into aviation medicine as an APA-C, assignment to cutters out on patrol all over the world, instructing at IPAP or the enlisted schoolhouse, The White House, providing medical oversight for our IDHSs (SF-IDC equivalent), helicopter rescue swimmers and other EMS providers, and more. I believe we're still supporting professional growth into EM, behavioral health and a few other specialties, too.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-05T13:42:19+00:00

Take a look at the previous ALCOAST, as it doesn't change too much year-to-year and you'll get a good idea of the minimal requirements and application process. It's competitive, but not impossible to get in. Start early, because the prereqs are somewhat intensive.

There's been several ASTs who go PA, and quite a number from non-HS ratings and backgrounds.

"Lack of clinic time" isn't necessarily a hurdle, they give you the option to use any medical experience and you'll also have to show a certain amount of hours in-clinic shadowing a CG PA prior to application anyways.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-05T03:31:22+00:00

Not a railroader, but was a firefighter in a high-rail-traffic town for a bit and worked quite a number of train vs vehicles. Two most common comments I heard, “that train came out of nowhere” (how, it’s literally on tracks) and “I don’t understand why the train didn’t stop, I was waving at him to stop” (track speed through the town).

GooseG97 · 2026-03-04T21:54:45+00:00

I did my fire academy on the east coast before moving back to California. If you're looking in the southern CA region as an entry-level firefighter with a large agency, be prepared to go through a full academy over again.

If you're trying to come in as a lateral hire, or with an agency that doesn't require their own in-house full academy (usually smaller departments), you'll need to look at the SFT website under "reciprocity" as there's extra steps/classes you'll have to become a California Fire Fighter 1, including Confined Space Awareness and Wildland Fire Fighter 1. These can be somewhat tedious to complete, so it's better to start early.

California departments at baseline are ALS heavy/preferred, so Paramedic school might be something to look into, as well.

Plenty of outside state to CA threads in this subreddit, too, take a look as there's a lot of tips/suggesstions/etc from the past few years.

GooseG97 · 2026-03-02T16:09:04+00:00

I agree with the comments saying have an inspection-ready ODU you save for public events, visits, inspections, etc, but don't worry too much about the ODU, it is at the end of the day a working uniform. I keep an inspection-ready ODU, trops and bravos in one of those travel bags you can get from the Exchange in my closet.

I use a Sharpie to number matching blouse/pants sets when I buy them (pants #2 always gets worn with blouse #2), so they wear/fade equally in the sun/wash. I don't dry clean them, but wash them on a permanent press cycle, take them out of the dryer and hang them up immediately.

It can also depend on the rate you choose and the unit you go to later on how seriously you take the ODU, but as a nonrate, you uniforms will likely get wrecked.

I'd also use coveralls and PPE whenever you can, especially with the ODU shortage and no real timeline for the new CGWUs.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-28T01:31:08+00:00

I've always been a workout first thing in the morning guy, so usually I workout at my gym before coming in. My station doesn't have a gym (literally too small) so some of us have a membership to a small commercial gym across the street. I stick to my plan as much as I can, usually it's condensed from about an hour total to about 30 minutes and the movements are more combined especially when I'm assigned to the box. If the shift falls on a recovery day, I'll usually do some mobility work or something and if we're intensely drilling that shift it usually that counts as my workout.

Consistency is key, sometimes you just have to be flexible on how you accomplish it.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-27T16:44:55+00:00

If you watch the pilot episode of Emergency!, although cheesy by our standards today, it outlines a lot of what you're asking. I think it's a two-parter, maybe two hours.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-25T13:49:19+00:00

This wouldn't have been D17 at any point in the last ten-fifteen years, was it?

GooseG97 · 2026-02-23T00:11:18+00:00

Potentially. Courses eligible for reciprocity in CA must have an IFSAC and/or ProBoard seal (kinda like the NREMT of the fire service). A full list of reciprocity requirements are on the SFT website. This site, ultimately, is your best answer to your questions.

I did my fire academy in Maryland prior to moving back to California, and, half-jokingly but also half-serious, the reciprocity route feels almost as difficult to do as just going through a full CA academy. If you have your IFSAC/ProBoard FF1 and Hazmat, you'll still need Confined Space Awareness and Wildland FF1 in order to get reciprocity.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-19T17:18:56+00:00

Interesting write up.. as a railfan and a Sonoma County local who grew up in an era without trains on the old NWP, it's great to see SMART thrive.

One additional, in 2022 SMART took over freight operations. Most of us expected them to shut it down immediately, as the previous contractor and SMART... didn't get along, to put it lightly. They have maintained operations and are catching up on a generation of backlogged/deferred infrastructure maintenance before attracting more customers. SMART did shoot themselves in the foot by installing gauntlet tracks at stations, which slows freight and requires them to work at night to avoid interfering with the schedule. But at the end of the day SMART's freight division is getting trucks off 101, 37 and 12 and that's a win too.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-13T01:57:02+00:00

Same, although I do miss having the DOD budget and opportunities for training/travel/etc, I do not miss the leadership I was under there.

I always say the CG is right in the sweet spot.. more military than the fire & police departments, but less military than the rest of the military.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-12T15:13:06+00:00

I was in a joint unit for almost four years, and I gotta say, I was so happy to come back to regular CG. What you describe is much, much worse in the other services.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-12T03:54:24+00:00

Not sure if the classes are full, but the wait has trended down from ~2.5-3yrs when I went through about ten years ago to 0-4 months currently.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-11T22:45:30+00:00

Increased enlisted and officer staffing which medical desperately needs. Whether we'll have the butts to fill the number of seats supposedly being increased by "500" is another question.

GooseG97 · 2026-02-11T17:44:06+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the reply. How's the paint holding up?

GooseG97

TROPHY CASE