MADISON, Wis. — The Madison Fire Department on Tuesday hosted a job fair aimed at recruiting military veterans to fill the department’s vacancies.
Assimilating into civilian life can be a challenge for veterans, but working for the fire department allows them to continue serving their community. Becoming firefighters is not just a seamless transition, but veterans are often the best candidates the department can find, Fire Chief Chris Carbon said.
“There’s really no bigger group out there that knows more about service than the military, so it’s such a natural transition to go from that aspect to serving the city of Madison… in the military, it’s already a selfless aspect of service, and so when you take that and combine it with people that are already dedicated to being selfless, serving the country over so many years it’s just such an easy transition,” Carbon said.
Oftentimes after serving in the military, going to a nine-to-five job simply doesn’t fit veterans’ lifestyles, but firefighting is not an average job. In fact, many fire departments are rooted in military connections.
“A lot of fire departments were brought on right after World War II, that’s kind of when they all came about, and it’s just an easy natural transition to go from that type of job in the military into the fire service,” firefighter Chad Workman said.
For MFD and veterans, it’s a match made in heaven.
“Welcoming our service members home as they transition out of active duty service, it’s one of our obligations to help with that transition process and try to take care of the service members that’ve protected us so well,” Carbon said. “For us, it’s really a win-win.”
To learn more about jobs with the department, click here.
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