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Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive June 2006: ARGH!!!!!!!
Ok, a little background. DH went through fire academy and EMT school in TX in 2003. He passed, became certified in the state of TX, then went back into the Army after working as an EMT for about 18 months. Well, he's considering OCS, and the nearly 800 hours of school he has from EMT and fire academy can be transferred into college credits toward his AA, which he needs to get into OCS. We have been trying for over a year to get the transcripts from the fire department where he went to acedemy, and have been getting the run around. Yesterday he tried again, and was told they've been destroyed because TX only requires them to keep them for 2 years. They can't even give us a course syllabus, because they "destroyed" it, and no longer conduct academies. Well, I called a couple other academies in the region, and found out that TX requires them to keep records for FIVE years, not two. The people at the dept he went to school at have been rude, lazy, and uncooperative, and the best part is it's a smaller town, and the training officer is married to a big wig in the department, so my complaints are going unheard. Basically, they're telling him he's screwed, and the people at the Texas Commission on Fire Protection and Texas Department of Health (licensing bodies) are not much better. I am so ready to scream!!! The direction of his Army career is hanging in the balance, and these idiots can't even pull there heads out of their rears.
Crystal, that would make me furious! And only keeping records for 2 years is preposterous. Don't they have anything on microfiche? I think they are being lazy and just don't want to dig around. Does the Army have a copy of his certification? Also, call them back and ask them if there is anywhere they send copies of certifications to, like public records. Good luck!
I hope this is ok. I did some digging around and found this look-up.
Funny, Sandy... Nate said the same thing, they just don't want to bother digging them up. We have copies of his certifications, so does the National Registry of EMTs, TDH, and TCFP, but what we need is the breakdown of classes he took to GET the certification, so they can be transferred into college credits. His job in the Army is Infantry, but that education puts him close to an AA in Emergency Medicine, and his plan was to finish a nursing program through OCS, become an officer, and retire with nursing experience, since he wants to work in trauma after the military. Believe me, I'm not getting anywhere with these knuckle heads, and if I were in state you can bet I'd be marching my angry behind in there until I got some action, but I'm in KS.
Where is dh registered to vote? If he is still registered in Texas, try writing to his state representative and asking for help. And, is there anyone in the military system that can help?
We're still TX residents, registered to vote there, but I'm not sure this is something our representative would be able to help with. As for the military, IF the department illegally destroyed his transcripts we can ask JAG to step in, otherwise the Education Center (mediocre help at best) is the only route. They are the ones who transfer the credits over, so they are the ones who NEED the transcripts, but aren't much help in getting them. *sigh*
Sounds ludicrous and not like something that should be a big deal for them to do! I hope you get it straightened out soon.
I'd have a lawyer call them...that ought to get them off their couches. JMHO
We will have JAG (the military's lawyers) calling if this isn't resolved very soon.
What your representative's office "should" do is call the responsible people, tell them they've been asked to help, and try to get them off their duffs. Whether that will work, I don't know, but it's worth a try.
UPDATE: I finally spoke with the Deputy Chief of the department. I had called him to make a formal complaint, and once I explained what was going on and what we were being told he clarified a few things, and assured me he would take care of them, and get back to me tomorrow. Nate's EMT school transcripts are required by the state to be kept for 5 years, so they DO have those, and our guess was right, the training officer was just too lazy to bother. He also told me that the fire academy transcripts are kept for THREE years (Nate graduated in July 2003), but they were destroyed in March. He did say he could still dig up the curriculum, to show what courses were given, and since we have N's certificate of completion, Salutatorian award, and licence from TX, it's easy to prove he did in fact take and pass the courses. I explained to him that the most important part was the EMT transcripts, because Nate is planning on becoming a RN, and those are the classes that will transfer. We should have no problem getting those!!! So, I'll know more tomorrow afternoon, and I must say that this man has been absolutely wonderful. N knows him, of course, and did say he is a genuinely great guy, so I'm confident he's not just blowing smoke when he tells me he'll take care of this for us. He also promised to address the lies and rudeness from the training officer and receptionist. Once all of this is finished, and we have the transcripts, I intend to write a letter to the Chief and the city manager praising the Deputy Chief... this is NOT his job in the department, and it's unfortunate that he has to take time away from his duties to handle someone else's mistake, but he has (so far) been excellent.
Oh, and the best part is this means one step closer to LT. A rather than Sgt. A!!
So glad you found the right person to talk to. And absolutely, Crystal, write the letter of praise, and send a copy of it to the Deputy Chief. All too often people will happily make complaints, and I try to make it a practice to give praise when someone goes out of their way for me. It goes into a permanent record, usually, and makes the person feel double good - good for helping you and good for being praised.
Glad to hear that someone finally was able to help. I'm a little shocked that they keep records like that for such a short time.
Ginny, I think the same way, so many are quick to complain (myself included!), but often forget to praise when it is due. I figured sending it to the Deputy Chief and Chief was enough, but N made the point that the dept is run by the city manager, so it would be good to send him or her a copy, too.
I'm glad you finally got someone to listen to you! It really can't be that hard to dig up those transcripts!
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