Here's a tip fellas coming from a CP of a large operator. 
15 years in military on resume. Left with 1100 hrs. Resume is 4 pages long of stuff that is irrelevant to us operating in the fire world. 
called fella in for interview cause he was local and persistent, so thought I'd give him a go.

1) leave all your military crap at the door, and don't speak of it unless asked

2) 5 hours of hauling cargo in a 25 ft line doesn't count as VR / LL time

3) Yes, the helicopter has limits

4) please go out the way you came in

out of 35+ military resumes I've gotten over past 3 years I think only 2 made it past the interview and only 1 could hack it.

Civ operations are not military, get that in your head.

place to work 

1100 hours in 15 years is the same as just out of flight school although hopefully with a lot more maturity.

Look at what the past chair of HAI, the lady, has to say about transitioning to civil ops.  Emphasis CIVIL.  As significant as mil experience is, at this point, it's history, be thankful and proud, and move on, there are a lot of cool experiences ahead.  It is an adventure.

Primarily you get to be who you are, a helicopter pilot, not a soldier in the realm.

Another Fire & Utility CP here. 100% agree, and will add:

1. We don't care that you were in charge of $x million of equipment or x amount of people. We only care about the aircraft we put you in to fly, and your mechanics/drivers/firefighters.
2. We do not care how many war zones you were in.
3. It is NOT a mission, you do NOT have to do what the customer wants if it is unsafe or may put extra stress on our aircraft. I want you to learn to say no.
4. Yes sometimes our customers tactics may seem stupid, but they are paying, and as long as you abide by #2, just do it without causing a scene, smile and wave as they say in Madagascar. 
5. There are pilots on fires who have been doing this a LONG time. When you first get out there, watch,  listen, keep your head on a swivel, keep your mounth shut, and learn.
6. Many of our firefighting "brothers" on the ground are highly educated hippies/alt lifestyle/anti-war/liberals.... learn to accept them for who they are. You might learn something.

If you can make it through the interview, training, and actually get to work in utility, it can be extrememly rewarding both personally and financially. Good luck.

Gee the OP forgot to say thank you for living through a war of any kind flying.  I guess the question is, what did you do in the war?

civ-mil-civ

The subject is thinking as a mil pilot in a civil environment.  They're chalk and cheese.  Take it for granted and mov forward.  As a mil pilot the payment is having had the chance to look yourself in a mirror and realize you did good.  So, have a look then do the mil-civ transition and get on with it.

If you require others to accord you any recognition you're kidding yourself.  Just ask a Vietnam vet.

over yourself.  No need to develop mental problems with stagnating on the past.

Bottom line is that is doesn't matter what you did in the "war". Nobody cares. 

Geez, flying a fire is not that difficult, a CP worth his weight woudn't be on this rookie website.  Trolls abound.

Big operator. BS

bullseye womp rats in my t-16 back home

If you become a HEMS pilot, all the Med Crew cares about is how often you wash the helicopter and your landings. They need a clean bird for facebook pics and one too many kangaroo landings and you will be out of there. Be humble.

LOL!!

Here is a the way I have tried to explain to transitioning military pilots. 

If I were to show up in your world and be asked to perform the missions you do I would be completely lost. I have no idea how to fly formation, air assault landings, NVG ops (as you may have noticed I don't even know the correct terminology you use to describe what you do). However I have a basic understanding of how to fly a helicopter and if I listen closely, work hard, and am willing to learn it is very likely that at some point I will be able to fly the mission at least at the median performance level required to "get the job done". 

All I ask in return when you come to the world I'm familiar with is give me the same courtesy and I guarantee you will be able to perform at the median performance level. Unfortunately in my experience that is difficult for a majority ot military pilots to actually do that.  Not making a judgement just passing along my observations. 

As the guys that does the hiring here, its really simple. On page one, list your time broken out in the same catagories as in the job description/posting. TT, RW time, Night, Aid, Actual, etc.. whatever they are requring. List what sort of mission you did and how recently you were in a flying capacity (Medevac, SAR, IP, etc) That's what we are looking for to get you in the door. We love hiring vets. 

Here's a tip. 1 out of 35 might indicate you have a chip on your shoulder against military pilots, like many others in the industry have. 

Very true. The restaurant industry in particular is very hostile to military pilots. What are you talking about.

It's not our fault so many civ pilots can't qualify for military aviation.  It's just not right for those guys dis us.

Go bust a TFR and you can so you can explain this to them in person.