Title: Staff Crew Leader – Veterans Fire Corps
Type: Full-time
Location: Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area- Oneida, TN
Salary: $1,050/week, paid biweekly
Position summary
Southeast Conservation Corps’ Crew Leaders perform many roles and are the key to our program’s success. The position is multi-faceted and demanding, but with opportunity for enormous rewards. Successful candidates will demonstrate resourcefulness, effective communication skills, excellent judgement, maturity, initiative, professionalism, and the desire to devote themselves to a crew experience where the needs of others are placed above oneself. The Crew Leader position requires, mentorship, patience, technical aptitude, focus on efficiency, and a high level of comfort in the outdoors. Crew Leaders are ultimately responsible for successes and shortcomings of the crew.
Service Project
This Veteran Fire Crew will typically be stationed at Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area in Onieda, TN but can also be deployed to other National Park Service sites within the Southeast region. During their time in the field, crew members camp overnight and perform their service projects outdoors in all types of weather conditions, performing heavy manual labor related to wildland fire and natural resource projects. Members should expect projects and schedule to vary depending on region, season, and weather conditions. In addition to fire, the crew should be prepared to assist on a variety of projects including trail maintenance, invasive species removal, habitat management, and other emergency response needs.
Comfort with ambiguity and being apart of a fast-paced team is a must with this position as schedules and projects change often. When on projects locally, the schedule is typically 4 days on, followed by 3 days off. Camping “hitches” requires members to camp and live on project locations for 8 – 14 days at a time, followed by a pre-determined number of days off.
The home base for this crew is Big South Fork River & Recreation Area. It is paramount that members understand they can be a roving throughout the Southeastern United States depending on partner and project needs.
Note: When camping on a project location is required, members will camp, travel, serve, and eat as a crew. No drug or alcohol consumption is allowed during project-related travel at any time.
Members will earn the following training and certifications:
S130: Firefighter Training
S190: Intro to Wildland Fire Behavior
S212: Wildland Fire Chainsaws
ICS100: Introduction to Incident Command System
IS700: Introduction to the National Incident Management System
L180: Human Factors in Wildland Fire Service
Wilderness First Aid Certification
Public Land Corps Hiring Authority Certificate (upon successful completion of hours)
Members must pass the Arduous Work Capacity (Pack) Test within the season's beginning weeks to participate in prescribed fire operations.
Fuels management projects demand a high fitness level in challenging environmental conditions, including steep terrain, extreme temperatures, altitude, and smoke. Crews are generally comprised of individuals 21-35 years of age with minimal financial and/or personal commitments.
This program will provide practical, hands-on training and certifications related to natural resource management and wildland firefighting. The program is comprehensive and intentionally structured to prepare Veterans to transition into civilian careers focused on wildland firefighting. Additional opportunities, such as repeated networking with Federal employees and training on the federal land management application process, are also included in this program.
