Seth Parsley, a 19-year-old Southwest Greensburg Fire Department volunteer firefighter, is currently active duty in the U.S. Army.
When Seth Parsley, 19, isn’t fighting fires as a Southwest Greensburg Fire Department volunteer firefighter, he’s training to serve his country in the U.S. Army.
“Ever since I was little, I wanted to join the military,” Parsley said. “I had camo sheets, pictures, and multiple family members in the military that I looked up to when I was little.”
Parsley joined Southwest Greensburg Fire Department when he was 16 years old. While he knew from a young age that he wanted to join the military, Parsley needed some familial encouragement to consider becoming a volunteer firefighter.
“Then I met some of the guys, and they were like, ‘Why don’t you join?’ And I said, ‘I might as well.’ Then I started hanging out around here a lot and made a lot of friends.”
As a volunteer firefighter, Parsley enjoys the camaraderie and the people he works, trains, and responds to calls with.
“I like helping people, and it’s pretty fun riding the fire trucks,” he said. “As a kid growing up in the neighborhood, I remember seeing the fire trucks drive by and looking out the window. It’s like every kid’s dream.”
Parsley said the training and skills he learned at Southwest Greensburg Fire Department helped him complete basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., including the U.S. Army Combat Lifesaver Course — an official medical training course conducted by the U.S. Army.
“It definitely helped me going down there,” Parsley said. “The stuff I have seen with Southwest Greensburg really helped me with some of the training I had to do there, such as the medical side. We have to learn combat lifesaving, which is the medical side of what I do. I was the guy that my peers would go to for help.”
Parsley explained that he has matured throughout his experiences as a volunteer firefighter, which puts him at an advantage over some of his peers in the military.
“They never had the experience of seeing some of the stuff I’ve seen and the experiences I’ve had as a firefighter,” Parsley said. “We see people on their worst day. It made me grow up a lot faster than most kids.”
Parsley is currently active duty in Fort Irwin National Training Center in California. His ultimate goal is to enter the U.S. Army Special Forces.
Home fires can start with just a tiny spark, and the community counts on the volunteers of Southwest Greensburg Fire Department to keep them safe. To learn more about ways you can help your community as a volunteer, visit: www.SWGreensburgFirefighter.org.