Start Date: September 9th, 2024

End Date: December 2024 (actual end date TBD)

Combined Stipend: $900/week

Location: Tucson, AZ

Benefits:

· S-212 Chainsaw Certification

· Certifications: S-130 & S-190

· Firefighter Training and Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior.

· IS100b, Intro to Incident Command System.

· IS700, National Incident Management System (NIMS);

· AmeriCorps Education Award

· Paid training

· Food budget while on camping hitch

· Employee Assistance Program

Program Summary

Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC):

Arizona Conservation Corps, a program of Conservation Legacy, aims to continue the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s. Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) seeks qualified candidates for Veteran Fire Corps Crewmember positions based out of Tucson, AZ for the 2024 Fall season. AZCC offers opportunities for individuals to work in a crew environment on national lands throughout the southwestern United States and elsewhere.

Veterans Fire Corps Crews:

The crew is multi-faceted and demanding, but with opportunity for enormous rewards. Successful candidates will demonstrate high standards, compassion, excellent judgment, effective communication skills, initiative, and the desire to devote themselves (at least seasonally) to working alongside other military veterans, ages 21-35 years old, in an environmental setting. The crew will work together and maintain a flexible, positive, and professional attitude. The program engages participants in a cohort environment in which a team of recent-era military veterans work together to train and complete natural resource management projects, specifically related to fire fuels management and fuels reduction using chainsaws. This crew assists recent-era veterans in their transition from military to civilian careers. Participants must be a military veterans, provide a copy of a valid DD-214, or relevant discharge paperwork, and be able to pass a USFS Pack Test at the “arduous” level (3-mile hike with 45-pound pack in 45 minutes).

Training:

Most AmeriCorps terms will begin with an orientation: crewmembers who attend the full orientation will receive training on First Aid (typically Wilderness First Aid), Leave No Trace, outdoor living, crew culture and diversity, leadership development, and goal setting. There is also potential need to pass a USFS Arduous Pack Test depending on proximity to fire related project work. Informal hands-on training will continue throughout the term with on-the-ground skills training. Depending on the project needs, crews may receive specialized training in herbicide handling, crosscut saw, chainsaw, dry stone masonry or rigging.

Schedule:

Generally, crews work an 8-day, 10-hours/day ‘hitch’ schedule, while camping in front and backcountry settings. Typically, members will have 6 days off in the town of the home base office. Drive time to and from the work site from the home base office is typically included in the hitch schedule. Applicants should expect the project schedule and type of work to vary. Workdays will start with a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) safety meeting followed by a 15-minute warm-up exercise and a 15-minute stretch. Days will include two 15-minute breaks and one 30-minute lunch.

Responsibilities of an AZCC Crewmember:

Members can expect to work long days and must successfully adapt to various climates and working conditions. Workdays will contain strenuous labor in remote settings and in all weather conditions.

While serving a term of National Service, AZCC crews are expected to work in diverse team settings. Respect for all members of the program, our partners, the public and the land they are visiting is expected. AZCC expects all members to represent the program in a professional manner at all times. Crew life will include our corps values of challenge, stewardship, dedication, community, integrity and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Members are expected to be timely, hardworking, flexible, and complete all functions of the tasks assigned, including tough physical labor, and hiking several miles to remote locations under adverse weather conditions.

Members will be responsible for working under our Environmental Ethics:

· Learn and practice ‘Leave no Trace’ techniques at all times.

· Outdoor Skills and Fitness.

· Learn and safely perform fundamental outdoor living, travel, and work skills as appropriate to the project. Additionally, practice self-care by staying adequately hydrated, fed, and properly dressed, to remain healthy and safe, avoiding environmental injuries.

· Live in a physically demanding, possibly remote environment for an uninterrupted period of up to several weeks. Conditions of this environment may vary significantly and may include severe and challenging weather conditions. These remote locations may require up to 12 hours to reach the nearest advanced medical care.

What We Provide:

· Tools and Personal Protective Equipment

· Transportation from office to projects

· Budget for meals is provided while in the field

· Field uniform shirts & First aid kits

You Provide:

· Transportation from home to the office

· Personal camping gear, such as a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping pad

· Work pants and leather boots (6 inch upper, Vibram soles)

· Day pack and multiday pack

· Rain gear

AZCC is an independent, non-residential program. All members and staff are responsible for finding housing while not on project.

Required Skills

Crewmember Qualifications:

Crewmember Required Qualifications:

· Be a military veteran

· Be between the ages of 21 and 35

· Have US Citizenship or Legal Permanent Residency status

· Have a high school diploma/GED

· All offers of positions are conditional upon completion of:

· A nationwide check of the National Sex Offender Public website.

· A fingerprint-based check of FBI criminal history record.

· A check of the State criminal history record repository for the individual’s State of residence AND State of service.

· Must be eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award

Physical, Emotional, and Mental Safety:

Proper safety procedures must be observed in all tasks, including the repair and use of hand and power tools used on projects.

· Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. You must be able to do so at a distance up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high winds.

· Effectively perceive, understand, and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute appropriate and perhaps unfamiliar techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during exposure to the hazard.

· Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions.

· Perceive and comprehend significant and apparent hazards, including those hazards previously identified by others.

· Respond appropriately to stress or crises.

· If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self-medicating without assistance from others.

Participant Essential Eligibility Requirements:

Essential eligibility requirements for the program must be met. If you are unable to meet certain requirements, we may be able to provide some Accommodations, excepting that which alters the fundamental nature of the program, compromises the health and safety of participants or staff, or places an undue financial or administrative burden on the organization. These requirements are written the same for all positions and therefore may not apply directly to your particular position.

Participation and Expedition Behavior:

· Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to Accept differences.

· Contribute to a safe learning environment: no harassment of others for any reason.

· Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program including conservation projects, education, training, and National Service. Members must commit to participating in all crew/team activities, including service days in local communities where applicable.

· Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues and organization staff.

· Have the cognitive ability to learn necessary skills and apply them to effectively carry out the service work requirements.

· Appropriately represent the program and AmeriCorps to the public and project partners at all times.

Substance Free:

In accordance with a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and program activities and while on organization property. AZCC is a drug-free organization; alcohol and illegal substances are prohibited.

Equal Employment Opportunity

This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages.

Required Experience