027. If You Buy In, You're Good: Katy Garroway's Journey Into the Military and the Fire Service [Part 1]

Get ready for an extraordinary journey as Keep the Promise kicks off a special three-part series with Katy Garroway. In  Part 1, we dive into Katy's remarkable story of enlisting in the Marine Corps, a decision that set her on an incredible path of adventure and discipline.

🌟 Join host TJ as he takes you back to the moment Katy made the life-changing choice to become a Marine. Hear her share the driving forces and the powerful motivations that led her to embark on this extraordinary adventure.

💪 Katy's boot camp experience, known for its intensity, becomes the stage for unforgettable tales of determination, growth, and transformation. Discover how the crucible of military training forged not only a Marine but a future firefighter.

🔥 Dive into the heart of Marine Corps culture as Katy reveals the values and traditions that continue to inspire her in her firefighting career. Explore the unique lessons she learned in teamwork, leadership, and dedication to service.

🛡️ Katy's stories of facing challenges head-on and finding the strength to overcome them are a testament to the human spirit. Her experiences provide invaluable insights for anyone striving to navigate life's obstacles with courage and conviction.

🔜 This is just the beginning of an epic journey. Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3, where we'll uncover more of Katy's incredible adventures, from military service to firefighting, and the lessons she carries with her along the way.

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Transcript

TJ: Welcome everybody to today's episode of the keep the promise podcast.

TJ: Today I have the honor of interviewing somebody who's been part of my circle of friends, and even though she's been part of that circle for a long time, we only recently met and talked in person. And once I started digging into her story... 

Katy: Creepy. 

TJ: Listen, social media, you put everything out there. Once I started digging into, into her story, I realized like, oh my god, I have to get her on the podcast because...

TJ: Between multiple stints and different fire departments, military service, a couple of humanitarian missions thrown here and there, and just life in general, she has anecdotes and stories and insights that will for sure resonate and I'm sure will help a few of you. Without further ado.

TJ: Katie Garraway,

Katy: Hi,

TJ: it's a pleasure having you.

Katy: thanks for coming out.

TJ: I know you were very ecstatic

Katy: I'm just so comfortable.

TJ: Everyone who's like, hey, I don't have an interesting story ends up being some of the best stories.

Katy: Oh, that's, you know, that doesn't help, sir.

TJ: You're on the same level as Dave Angelo from a couple episodes

Katy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm, I, I'm up to the task.

TJ: I believe that 100%.

TJ: Well, thanks for doing this today. 

Katy: Thanks for coming out, coming over, driving up. 

TJ: Driving up, yeah. 70 was a mess. 29, not so much. And then 100,

TJ: shocking no one.

TJ: also a mess. So, let's just start at the beginning. 

Katy: Tell me about... It was a cold day in January during the Carter administration.

TJ: Oddly specific, how often have you rehearsed that line?

Katy: Not. People, when people ask me how old I am, I'm like, well, I was born at the end of the Carter administration. So you figure it out.

TJ: Yeah, that's asking people to remember American history and

Katy: Hey, it's twofold. You want something from me you got to give me a little 

TJ: This is true, this is true. Alright, we don't have to get into numbers so, Cold day January, Carter administration.

Katy: No, how far what let's what guide me 

TJ: you grow up?

Katy: I'm actually from Maryland. I was born in New Jersey, but Moved to Aberdeen when I was one lived there through My 21st year of life, uh, when I joined the Marine Corps.

TJ: Military brat.

Katy: Yes, my father, uh, was in the Navy for 38 years. Well, he was in the military for 38 years. He was in the Army during Vietnam.

Katy: Went to the Naval Academy. Uh, became a Naval officer and retired. Phew. At the ripe old age of who knows what, but he, uh, he did 38 years of service. He's got a glory wall and a fruit salad, which, if you don't know what that is, it's all the pretty pins on your uniform that would put peoples to shame, so. Uh, ironically enough, I grew up thinking I would never join the military.

Katy: Not in a million years. Uh, but that very quickly changed.

TJ: Very

Katy: Very quickly.

TJ: Very quickly, that was pretty much right after 9 11 that you went into the Marine Corps, right?

Katy: I signed my letter of intent September 12th, 2001. So, directly after. I get asked fairly often if it was, if 9 11 was the main catalyst. And I would say, yes. Uh, it was mainly that. It was the other, I was a shitty kid. I had just gotten out of... Being in jail and, uh, was not going down the best path, and I'll save you all the time going on case search.

Katy: It was for assault that was dropped. Never came to charges, but, um, so it had already been in the back of my mind earlier that week, like, hey, buddy, what are we doing here? And then 9 11 happened. And, uh, when I told my parents, my mother could not get me in the car to get me to the recruiter to sign me fast enough.

Katy: She looked at my father and said, take her now. Oh, this is, uh, This is how wonderful I was as a, as a child, not even a child, because I mean, at that point I was 21, 

TJ: know 

Katy: still, no, it was a best decision I've ever made in my life though. I wouldn't, I don't know where I would be as, as stereotypical as that sounds.

Katy: I don't know where I would be if I hadn't, I don't, I honestly don't. Did you ever have the cake?

TJ: Going to the military, go to jail type thing?

Katy: No, um, it wasn't so much that, because like I said, that specific charge got dropped and it never even, uh, came to like a court date. Um, it was a, it was a me thing. I was sitting on a couch. Some days at work, do you have to wake up four or 

TJ: at the Cheesecake Factory and get arrested for the rest of your life. And honestly, had I... Had it not 

Katy: Had it not been for 9 11, or not been for something that made the decision so easy to make quickly, because I am a, I am a person of rash decisions. I make them quickly because if I sit and look at the menu for too long, I'll change my mind. So, it, you know, it was, everything kind of, um, fell into place. The stars aligned, if you will.

TJ: I mean, it sucks that it happened right after 9 11, but it's a good thing that they aligned when they did. Tell me about boot camp at that point in time, because

TJ: It must have been unique knowing that the

TJ: U. S. was pretty much 

Katy: heading to war. Yeah. 

TJ: Yeah. Yeah, you know, if you think back on

Katy: headed 

TJ: that was so hard. 

Katy: Yeah, you know, you think back on that time, and it's been 22 years. It'll be 22 years on the 10th of this month ago that I went. And I remember it, how I remembered it then. You know, it was so hard.

Katy: It was so challenging. And it's just because up until that point in my life, that was probably the hardest thing I had done. Since then, I have done much harder things, but I still remember it as one of the harder things. Um, I will say from what I've heard, it's much different than it is now. I, I was still, I still had the pleasure of going through a boot camp that was very quote unquote old school in there.

Katy: Uh, disciplinary tactics and, um, yeah, it sucked. It was, you know, it's, I, I equate it to my college years. It, you know, you, there, there's, there's nothing else in my life that I will ever do

TJ: that

Katy: is comparable to living in a giant room with 30 other girls for three months and just getting the shit kicked out of us every day by four women who, if I saw right now.

Katy: I would cower.

TJ: Even still.

Katy: Dude, these chicks.

TJ: Yeah,

TJ: badasses. 

Katy: and even if they weren't, even if it was all for show, it's, it's still, they forever in my mind will be four of the wildest and badass examples of women that I could conjure in my mind. And I mean, they were all like five foot nothing. 120 pounds, just terrifying bull bulldogs, just pure terrifying bulldogs of women.

Katy: Um, but yeah, it was, it wasn't what I expected, but I don't know that I had any expectations. Um, and it's exactly, you know, it's exactly what you saw, you saw in movies, you're getting yelled at. You don't know your head from your ass. You don't, you don't know left from right, you know, at that time, you know, looking back on it, I know how.

Katy: Uh, how, what's the word I'm looking for? You know, everything has a purpose. They, they do the, there's a schedule. You know, today is the day that they're gonna toss your footlocker. Today is the day that you're gonna get sent to the sandpit and stand there for an hour and, and get IT'd. Like, even, even knowing that now, I look back and I was like, man.

Katy: It was cool. It was. You'd never, you're never gonna do anything like that again. Until, and then you go to two other fucking academies and...

TJ: what? You're

Katy: Uh, there's, it's... It's not, you can't 

TJ: Yeah, you can't, there's, 

Katy: There's no, there's no comp, there's no comparison there.

TJ: So you made it through training

Katy: I, um,

TJ: where'd you head to,

TJ: where'd you head afterwards? 

Katy: after, after you go to bootcamp, you go to something called MCT, which I think just stands for Marine Corps training. I don't, uh,

TJ: simple. That is not as complicated as I expected the military to make it.

Katy: Um, it's essentially two weeks of, if you're going into a field, which at that time, women couldn't be grunts. It's, it's like the two weeks of field training that you go to. So you do that for two weeks. It's, I mean, it's awful. It's, you're just camping for two weeks. It's whatever. And then, um, I was flown out to Monterey, California,

TJ: for

Katy: um, for two years where I learned to speak Russian.

TJ: My

Katy: Um, that was my primary MOS. I was a Russian cryptologic linguist. Uh, it turns out we weren't at war with Russia, so that was fairly, a fairly useless skill. 

TJ: But you learned Russian. 

Katy: I did, I did learn Russian.

TJ: can probably watch all the Instagram and like Telegram videos of everything going on right now in Ukraine and understand what they're saying.

Katy: Ah, I can understand it better than I can speak it. I actually, there's another member of our department who is a Russian linguist who I've worked with. 

TJ: Ah, I can understand 

Katy: Small, tiny world. Wow. I know. Um,

TJ: Tiny World. Wow.

Katy: and I read with him on the engine at 11 not too long ago, and we were govereading Poruski and I was like, oh wow, man, my Russian sucks now, because he still does it, so it's uh,

TJ: know. Um,

TJ: and I know who it 

Katy: yeah.

TJ: Absolute brainiac. Yeah. Love him to

Katy: Yeah. Good guy. Um, so, yeah, I could, I was like, yeah, I know what you're saying, I don't remember the word for cat, so let's move on. Um, but yeah,

TJ: Isn't that like one of the first things you should learn? Cat. Come on.

Katy: yeah, I think it's, I think it's. I don't remember. I'll look it up. I'll get back to it.

TJ: You could have said something completely different, bro. You said shed. You said the past tense of shit. And now I just know you're messing with me.

Katy: Well, dog is so baka, so it's something, you know, close. Anyway, I digress. Um, left there, went to Camp Lejeune, where they realized my skills were useless, so they had to teach me new skills. Uh, which is where I became a tactical singles intelligence operator, and that is what I did for the Marine Corps for the next five years, six years.

Katy: Oh, it's a cool job. Sounds 

TJ: fancy, sounds nerdy. Uh, 

Katy: Uh, it's nerdy. It's like, 

TJ: Like what, what cool badass stories do you have from doing that? Because it's got the word tactical in it, so it's automatically.

TJ: 100% Cool.

Katy: So essentially what our job was, um, we were a tactical unit. So when we weren't deployed, you know, life was, life was fairly boring.

Katy: Uh, we were just training. Um, but when forward deployed, we essentially would... How do I explain it without getting in any kind of trouble? Um,

TJ: I would explain it down for our firefighter audience. Dumb it down for me.

TJ: so 

Katy: we would keep an eye on people. And follow them around based on the signals they would emit. Like,

TJ: Oh right, right. Because there's that difference between

TJ: what is it like signals intelligence and human 

Katy: SIGINT are two completely 

TJ: Right, like 

Katy: Human intelligence is you're speaking to people, is you're, you, you have people to, that are getting information directly from you. Signals intelligence is we're using the signals you emit from 

TJ: your, footprint. 

Katy: your digital footprint, uh, creating a pattern of life, checking up on what you're doing.

Katy: And then if you are Doing things you shouldn't be doing, sending a QRF team in to knock on your door and

TJ: in

TJ: to knock it

TJ: off. Yeah, can you please

TJ: stop doing 

Katy: you please 

TJ: I feel that back then it was probably a lot more exciting

Katy: It was, man, and I was there in a very interesting transition. I was deployed in Ramadi for Way too long. Um, Ramadi, for any reference, which it's probably not going to help, is slightly southwest of Fallujah.

Katy: Um,

TJ: it was a hotspot

Katy: oh yeah. That movie, um, what's the, what's that movie with the American sniper? That was, that was my time. I was, I was there for that.

TJ: an American Sniper.

Katy: Um, I was in Ramadi when all of that happened. I mean, I didn't, we didn't hear about it. But, whatever, it was there. Um, so yeah, it was a very big hotspot, and then we were there through that big push through Fallujah, the first televised battle ever, which, such a good idea guys, way to think it through.

TJ: And look at how far we've come. Now all the drones, you can watch the suicide drones flying to tanks

TJ: and everything real time.

Katy: Yeah. It, it was an interesting... It was an interesting time to, to do things and what our transition there was, you know, when we first got there, we had, I mean, as, as, however, it sounds kind of free reign

Katy: and it was up to us to tell the QRF team or the QRF commander, whoever, Hey, that house, that guy, go get them.

Katy: And they'd be like, okay.

TJ: the QRF team or the QRF

Katy: Um, but once they realized that that was probably not. The, the most bestest way to do things. We, we then had to kind of reel it in and really present these very intricate, very researched target packages and span of events and we had to be able to prove that. Yes, it was actually you speaking on your phone.

Katy: It was so, 

TJ: That's wild. that's pretty high stakes. 

Katy: Yeah, it was. It was a good time though. 

TJ: I feel that we always look at any sort of war conflict and. The first thing that comes to mind is people with guns knocking down doors shooting. and so 

Katy: worse, not the, I mean it is, but it's, 

TJ: There were so much behind the scenes.

Katy: much, yeah. There are layers. True. 

TJ: if you 

Katy: Yeah. It, I always tell people that I really do believe, and everyone says that, that I had the coolest job in the military and I got out and I did contracting for it for like 12 years after that. So that, I mean, I really enjoyed it. It was very interesting. Um, but you know, everyone, you get burned outta everything eventually.

Katy: So, so you did, and then you 

TJ: I went into contract work? 

Katy: Yep. Well, I went into contract work after I really had no intention of being a career military person, seeing as I really had never intention, no intention of ever joining the Marine or the military in the first place. Um, I got out. And got into the contracting world and was able and given the opportunity to kind of run the gambit of things you could do within my job field.

Katy: Uh, I did testing and evaluation of equipment. I did training. I did, uh, analysis. So, you know, I worked for these companies that would go out to Marsoc and go out to SOCOM and we would train groups on how to do, uh, network discovery and infiltration and. All the way down to target acquisition, you know, every step of that, uh, process.

Katy: And then I worked doing like creating and helping develop the tools that we use to do all of those things. And then once I did that for a while, cause I was traveling a ton, I had no roots. I think I was. Out away from my home at the time for at least six months out of the year. Um, and then I came up here and worked for NSA, which is where your soul goes to die.

Katy: Um, if you like doing anything 

TJ: They're listening, okay? Don't get a drone sent to my

Katy: they know, they know my feelings, ladies and gentlemen. Uh, unless you really enjoy sitting in front of a computer in a building with no walls. Or windows, or no walls, what a stupid statement. No 

TJ: know my face. 

Katy: Yeah, you already opened it, that's why. Right? Yeah, it was, oh, oh god.

Katy: I kicked the microphone.

Katy: I, it's just very much close to my face.

TJ: That's what it's supposed to be.

Katy: Um, but yeah, so I left there very shortly after the Edward Snowden incident.

TJ: Okay.

Katy: He and I worked on the same contract, the same country. 

TJ: What? 

Katy: Yeah, yeah. Uh, so when he turned over, All of the information that he turned over. Um, there were lists that went out to every department of the names of people that were given.

Katy: And my, mine was on that. My, uh, SID was on that list. So I was like, yeah, you know what? I'm going to head I'm good. And you know, at that time I was just looking for a reason. I unfortunately have a very bad habit of when I have lost interest in doing something. I.

TJ: become

Katy: a very bad employee. So I, I was burnt out. I just didn't, I was coming to work, like not even the bare minimum.

Katy: I just didn't want to be there anymore. And it was very obvious. So when that happened, I was like, yeah, you know what? I'm good. I'm out.

TJ: what, I'm good. I'm out. And

Katy: All right. And then trying to figure out what I was going to be when I grew up again, 

TJ: I was, 

Katy: I was sitting on the couch and I heard an ambulance drive by. On, uh, Little Patuxent Parkway, and I was like, I'm gonna do that.

Katy: And that's... You said, 

TJ: I 

Katy: want to ride an ambulance. Uh huh. 

TJ: heard an ambulance 

Katy: I put myself, I went...

TJ: out there.

Katy: I'm

Katy: about to just stop this podcast. We haven't done it. Goodbye. And I'm gonna get you a transfer tonight because we have plenty of ambulances to go around. I've been there. It's fine. Um, yeah. No, I mean, I heard, I heard the sirens and I was like, I'm gonna do that when I grow up. 

TJ: Literally,

TJ: that was it. You just heard a siren. You said, I'm going to go become a firefighter.

Katy: that I make decisions. 

TJ: I'm terrified of What decision you're going 

Katy: gonna make,

TJ: sitting on this couch right now.

Katy: Yeah. I, uh, got up the next day and went to Howard and, and enlisted, what's the word when you go to school? Enrolled. 

TJ: Totally different. 

Katy: It's, but is it, 

TJ: I mean, there were people in schools back during Vietnam who were protesting.

TJ: the draft and enlistment. Totally, totally kind of different. I mean, it kind of,

TJ: I love the, it's kind of funny. 

Katy: semantics TJ, but yeah, uh, went, got my EMT, had no idea what I thought, I was, I just thought I could show up to a firehouse and be like, Hey, I work here now, what's up? I had no idea of the 

TJ: I feel that some of the people we work with are kind of like that, and you're like, how did you get

Katy: Yeah. Um, I applied to Howard in 2016. 

Katy: I did not get in. Um, I had no, I, you know, I didn't have any, I know the exact moment I didn't get hired to.

TJ: Oh yeah? Are you comfortable sharing

Katy: Oh yeah? Are it's hilarious to me. so I, you know, I'm going in blind. I clearly, cause I heard a siren and I was like,

TJ: I'm in it.

Katy: um, so I got to the interview. I did the CPAP, got to the interview and you know, that first question that they're kind of. They just want to see how vested you are in the County. They were like, so what do you know about Howard County?

Katy: I said, nothing. Next question.

TJ: Oh my, I think I was doing interviews at that point in time. I don't, I would have remembered

Katy: And, uh, who was,

TJ: of guys that I, that I remembered like Donnie from, from Tennessee came up to me and was like, Hey, you and Fahili hired me. I'm like, damn it. I did

Katy: this was, there was, they did it differently than, than this process that I went through. Cause there was like a panel. Whereas this time I 

TJ: time I just

Katy: you'd sit there and it was very daunting.

TJ: people. And you sit there and it's very

TJ: daunting. This time I knew it was trees, and... We 

Katy: I knew all the deciduous trees and the cubic feet of water in the county. Like, I'm good now. We, we, we researched. Yep, so, you all didn't want me, so I went to Baltimore County.

Katy: And they'll take anyone. Just kidding. 

TJ: I might have to edit that part out. 

Katy: 18?

TJ: And he

TJ: got hired what, in 17? 18?

Katy: 18. Um, zero, I had no, I did, you know, no experience. No frame of reference. Other than, I've been through a boot camp before. This should be fine.

TJ: So how was the academy, having been through boot camp? I think that's an, that's an easy question.

Katy: it's not the same. I, I will say what was different from me was I had a three month old baby. Through that 

TJ: It's, it's not the 

Katy: It changed everything. Yeah, I ran their CPAT six weeks. Postpartum. Yeah. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. Ha, ha, ha. So that, that created its own challenge. Um, but being used to, even as watered down as, as

TJ: paramilitary.

Katy: a paramilitary.

Katy: Academy can be just, just, you know, knowing my role, like I'm, I'm going to yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, and do all that stuff just makes it easier. It's a very, people are always like, how do you do it? It's so easy to just do what you're told. It's so easy to do what you're told. Take zero thought, you know, all, all, all of the people that had the most problems just couldn't, you it's the military, the fire service, all of those things, if you just buy in.

Katy: Like if you just buy into the program, you're good. It's fine. It's easy. Um, but that's hard for people to do. In this day and age of individualism and I'm the most important person in my life and what I say and think matters like we're not doing that today. Like just sit down, stand up. Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am.

Katy: And show up in the right clothes and you're fine.

TJ: And in a sense enjoy that ride because

Katy: It's the easiest, it's the easiest time you there's, you don't have to do anything. Like, it seems like a lot, but you just. Somebody else is making your schedule. God, I would love that. I would love that in my day to day life if I could just be a toddler and just tell me, and which is honestly one of the things I like so much about being On probation.

Katy: Mm-hmm. , y'all. Y'all just tell me where to sit. I'm good. . You tell me where you want me to go. We, we, I got it. I don't have, I don't have to think about anything. Love it. I keep hitting this with my head. You got, you gotta enjoy 

TJ: On probation because pretty soon. in the blink of an eye. 

Katy: I know 

TJ: there's gonna be people 5, 6, 7.

TJ: 8 classes younger than you looking at it, and be like, Hey, what do I do? And you'll be like, I would like an adult. Yeah, 

Katy: an adultier adult.

TJ: adultier adult. Yeah.

Katy: I had that, I had that moment, not here yet, because I am still on probation, which makes this awfully, even more uncomfortable, but I had that moment in Baltimore County.

Katy: Going into a fire with someone in a class and she was like, I'm following you. I was like you're doing what now?

TJ: Uh,

Katy: Okay, well here goes nothing I was like I'm not I've been doing this for 20 seconds why are you following me?

TJ: It's one

Katy: It all works out. It's one of those things. It's like it's nobody knows what they're doing for the most part

TJ: knows what they're doing. For

TJ: the most part.

TJ: I mean, I'm a big, big proponent of, you can't learn 

Katy: Sure I 

TJ: learn, you learn

Katy: Yeah, that's, I mean, I'm a big, big proponent of, you can't learn anything without some, without, you learn, you learn the best and the, the.

Katy: The most cemented lessons you learn from the mistakes you've made, right? I can distinctly remember, um, the first call I ever went on. Again, zero, zero experience. The first call I ever went on was a box. And, uh, it's always interesting the things that they don't teach you and stuff like that. So they, I had never been inside a fire engine before.

Katy: When I came out of the academy in Baltimore County, we never actually sat inside a fire engine. I had no experience. Um, showed up, I had two left handed gloves, I was a mess. I walked in the door and the warbles went off, so I was like, what are we doing? I had my tie on, like what? Get on the engine that I've never been inside before.

Katy: I have two left-handed gloves. I forgot my face piece. And it was an old LA France, which has the release, the S C B A RELA release under the seat. Didn't know about that. So I'm in the back of the end trying to get out, 

TJ: trying to, fight

Katy: trying to, didn't know how to get out, didn't know where, how to open the door. It was, it was, it was a time to be alive.

Katy: That's awesome.

TJ: Talk about getting thrown to the wolves.

Katy: Yeah. Uh, you know what? I've never forgotten my face piece again though. 

TJ: I mean, I thought you were going to tell,

TJ: me you got hung up on the seat belt because that is one

TJ: of the most, 

Katy: worse though. . 

TJ: I don't 

Katy: It just looked ridiculous.

TJ: of like

TJ: my boy, George, has one of his first boxes that we ran when, when he was young. And back then

TJ: we used to run with three on, on the end of the 10. So it was cool because we had four. 'cause he didn't count towards staffing.

TJ: And I remember it was a box of Monarch mills and. i got out of the engine i was coming around the other side to check on him and i just hear him meekly going Teej! and i look over and i don't know how he did that but he like wrapped 3 pole 2 with the seatbelt on his

TJ: BA,

TJ: And he's just dangling all four extremities mid air, kind of like trying to swim his way back onto the engine. I'm like, Oh my Lord, Let's get you back on and unbuckled. before anybody sees this, because they think we're a bunch of goons.

Katy: Oh, good times. 

TJ: Alright, So you spent some time in Baltimore County. Where'd you, um, where'd you get assigned to? 

Katy: Hoodlawn, station three.

TJ: Station three. Good place to be.

Katy: I loved it. 

TJ: I think I took a class

TJ: up there. Yeah,

TJ: what's, What's two? Yeah, that was definitely a Woodlawn. There was some like side, side class.

Katy: class. There was a horrible Fire Officer 

TJ: It's a horrible Fire Officer 1 class where you have to do the scenarios like

TJ: you're supposed to be on the, uh,

Katy: you're supposed to be doing. 

TJ: so it was after wood scape so it

TJ: must have been Like 2018. Late 2018 or something? 

Katy: was 

TJ: Like, you guys had some

TJ: retired chief that I... I didn't like him, so I snapped a picture and I sent it to, um, to Dave Angelo who had very candid things to say about him. And when 

Katy: He has very candid things to say about a lot of 

TJ: but Like when Dave, when Dave says somebody's character is not up to par, did I believe him.

TJ: And it became really evident because when we had to do one of the scenarios where you talk on the radio and... You're kind of, you're managing an incident, which makes no sense for an officer one class, for a company officer. Like you're acting like a full blown incident commander. This dude just kept throwing more and more outrageous things.

TJ: Like, hey, your LDH is over a train track and there's a train coming full of... anhydrous Ammonia. And passengers.

TJ: I'm like, I don't think that's

Katy: I don't think those things would be on the same train, 

TJ: and there's an aircraft above you declaring an emergency.

TJ: I'm like, okay, like,

TJ: What do you want me to do, bro? Like, like, keep throwing things at me. What, Like, what are we doing? Alright, so,

TJ: I'm sorry, we got distracted. I was, I was, That's my vent session.

TJ: That guy was,

TJ: I mean, I made a third class and I did nothing with it because I hate my free classes.

Katy: So,

Katy: move on. I had a great shift. Great, great group of people. Great group of people. Um,

Katy: It's different there, for sure. And when I say different, I mean that department felt a lot different than Howard, but, um, You know, like, it, I feel like it was a good, good place to cut your teeth. Going from zero experience to getting thrown to woodlawn. Um,

TJ: It,

Katy: it, it was a good time. You know, you certainly had to learn quickly.

TJ: You certainly, they didn't

Katy: How do I say it? Um,

TJ: mean, if you don't use names, you can say whatever you want. It's a

Katy: It's a very, you know, one of the first questions people usually ask me when they find out prior experience, which I don't even like saying. I don't think, you know, four or five years is all that much experience, but they're like, what do you do? Do you like it here? What's different? I'm like, it feels different.

Katy: It was a tough crowd out there. It's a tough crowd.

TJ: Very,

Katy: Very good old boys club. I didn't go in with, you know, coming into this department, having already been through a two year probationary period. Like I kind of knew what I was doing, but showing up to that probation. I didn't know, I didn't know what I was doing.

Katy: I come from a culture in the military where you don't speak unless you're spoken to nobody ever said the, Hey, go in and introduce yourself to everyone. So I didn't, I didn't do that. Nobody told me to do that. So I, that translated, I'm sure into like. Oh, nice check.

TJ: Yeah, she's a bitch.

Katy: Ouch. Um, but that's just how I, again, in the military, you, to me, and I, you know, everyone's military experience is different, but we were a very, you know, you don't talk to people unless they talk to you, especially people in charge of you.

Katy: So I don't know. It, it was tough to navigate. Um. it was a tough area with a, with a tough crowd to get acclimated to. And nobody, nobody really spoke to me for a year on a fire ground, 

TJ: what it was, 

Katy: was, and I, I later asked them about it and they were like, yeah, we just had to make sure you didn't stick around. I was like, that's safe guys.

Katy: Cool.

TJ: That is.

Katy: But I, not my shift, my shift was great. I, you know, I still, my medic is still one of my favorite people. Uh, Around so I love her and I had a great lieutenant great captain great specialist all of it great. Oh my god My driver forget it. Um legend, but it was a good time out there. Um,

TJ: that leads me to

Katy: Why did you leave