VIDEO: A new class of men and women are training to join the ranks of the Seminole County Fire Department, and more and more of the recruits are coming from a military background.
For the first time, nearly a third of the new class of recruits are military veterans.
Robert Garcia says he’s building a brotherhood much like what he had in the military, a group that will help him launch a career as a first responder.
“Just knowing that I have these brothers behind me, and that I have this tight knit family makes being able to do a job that’s hectic and distraught as this one a lot easier, and it makes me that much more passionate about it,” said Garcia.
Garcia is one of 27 new recruits training to join the Seminole County Fire Department.
He’s one of 8 veterans in the class. Garcia says his drive to protect the safety of others was drilled into him in the military.