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Calgunners in Service This forum is a place for our active duty and deployed members to share, request and have a bit of home where ever they are. |
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#2
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When I began my journey to enlist in the military I called a USCG recruiter and was told for enlisted that the wait was about a year to a year and a half before going to their boot camp. You also needed to score a min. 75 on the ASVAB.
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Future Soldier of the U.S. Army 20100614 Shipdate Ft. Benning, GA 11x |
#3
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I just finished my 6 year enlistment in the Coast Guard. It was awsome, fun, I got to travel, and they have a federal law enforcement program which I HIGHLY reccomend. If you can get into a deployable unit, or JTF you'll have an awsome time. I scored 79 on the ASVAB and qualified for every rating except Marine Science Technician(Duck Washers) I ended up becomming a PS, which is now ME (Maritime Enforcement)
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#5
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Officers are such an outdated notion.
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Support your local Gun-store: Ammunition Supply Point Vacaville, CA 707-448-8662 Great Owners, nice selection of firearms! OLL AR |
#6
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Im a guardian. Enlisted a little over a year ago. Im about to get deployed to Bahrain in July. Joining the CG was the best thing I ever did! Since times are hard and employment is down, military recruiting quotas have been at a stand-still. I'm not sure about officer routes, but i know bootcamp has at least a year+ wait. Talk to a recruiter and ask about OCS and other commisioning options. The CG is challenging, espcially underway. Its a good time. Not everybody can say they chase pirates in the Carribean for a living. ; )
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UNITED STATES COAST GUARD. Will surf for money. |
#8
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I know that member cgseanp1 is in the coast guard, he may have some helpful insight for you.
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God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; The courage to change the things I can; And the wisdom to know the difference. |
#9
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My daughter is in the USCG, She was graduated from New Mexico State before she enlisted. They are taking very few OCS applications from non prior service people. They want you to have a year in service as an enlisted and have your commanders recommendation to get into OCS. She is headed to OCS and flight school this year. One of my other son's is leaving for USCG basic in a couple of weeks (he is also a grad) and will be applying to the rescue swimmers school. It is a great service, My daughter says the only way she will be an officer is if she can fly, otherwise, Officers are only paper pushers and never really get close to real operations. She is on the boarding team right now and loves her work..........and the Sig 40 cal. It is not easy to get in......and is taking a year or so.
Last edited by Argonaut; 06-10-2010 at 10:18 AM.. |
#10
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Officers' are pretty much a useless notions in today's Military.
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Support your local Gun-store: Ammunition Supply Point Vacaville, CA 707-448-8662 Great Owners, nice selection of firearms! OLL AR |
#11
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Quote:
Ok, we get it, you don't like officers. Move along, go crap on someone else's thread. .
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Sent from Free America |
#13
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Officers harken back to a time when the average enlisted person was an under-educated backwoods farmer who had a 4th grade education. Officer's were needed then to conduct planning, preparation, and basic math skills. Today's enlisted corps not only maintain's a technical expertise, but the majority of them are working to the same or greater level of higher learning than their traditional "betters". Non commisioned Officers, middle to higher ranking enlisted, are the back bone of the military. You could wipe out every commisioned officer from O-1 and up and the military would still run. The word of the day, in any branch of service, is when something that is completely redundant, asanine, or way over-budgeted comes down the pipe and needs to get done, some officer with nothing better to do, is trying to make him or herself look good. Usually at the expense of their enlisted. Hence, Officers are a useless and outdated notion.
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Support your local Gun-store: Ammunition Supply Point Vacaville, CA 707-448-8662 Great Owners, nice selection of firearms! OLL AR |
#14
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Quote:
The NG platoon was comprised of 15 or so soldiers headed by a SFC. This in turn was being trained by a CSMR platoon of about the same number of soldiers headed by a 1SG. Interestingly, two days of training were undertaken by these two groups. Towards the end of day 2, a lone Major walks up, shakes the 1SG's hand, presents him with a plaque of appreciation, and rapidly departs. I ask an SPC - who was that? "That's the guard unit's commander" I was floored. He was there for five minutes. Didn't care to even observe the training, learn it himself, or even supervise. I was then made aware of the frequent scarcity of officers in these situations. I would've at least thought the NG platoon would've had a 2LT observing the whole time at least for edification purposes. |
#15
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Since you're interested in law enforcement, there is a new rating for that. Maritime Enforcement specialist. aka: ME. Ask your recruiter about it. I can tell you this: If you choose to enlist without a guarenteed A-school, be prepared to be a non-rate for a while. Most of the A-school waiting lists are over 8 months in length. Ask your recruiter about a guarenteed A-school upon completion of bootcamp. The ME a-school wait is over 18 months! And you have to attend an A-school to make petty officer.
There is always the striker program to consider, which is "on the job training." And you can only strike certain rates. The bad thing about striking that I have seen is, you can wait up to a year or more for a promotion. People who attend A-school have priority over the ones who strike their rates. Advancement has become very slow in the CG, due to the number of people and billets. I was stationed on the USCGC Dallas. She's a high endurance cuter out of Charleston, SC. Now im getting deployed to Bahrain for a year. If you chose to enlist, go out to sea. When you fill out your dream sheet in bootcamp, go for a Cutter. Granted, i spent my first 6 months in dry dock wondering what the hell i got myself into, but once we got underway and caught 3 tons of cocaine in the Caribbean, a Cutter what the CG is all about.
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UNITED STATES COAST GUARD. Will surf for money. Last edited by CWUSCG; 06-10-2010 at 5:00 PM.. |
#16
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drider,
I retired after 24 years in the CG. It was one of the best decisions that I ever made. No organization is perfect, but the CG is definately worth your time and commitment. It will provide you with experiences that few other organizations can match. That comes at a price. The living conditions are not always the best, but the people are the best, and the missions that you undertake have great value. I would caution you about entering as an officer. The living conditions, and pay, of an officer are far superior to those of enlisted members. The services are driven by tradition and the officer-enlisted disparity is really a throwback to the last century. The missions of the Coast Guard are primarily performed by its enlisted members and that's where the majority of our operational skill is. Officers pretty much administer the organization. The only real skill areas for officers are ship driving and aviation. There's pretty universal opinion that the best officers are those that spent several years as enlisted members and then went to OCS ("Mustangs"). They mastered a skill before commissioning and they gain a lot of leadership experience before putting on the bars. That really makes a difference. If you're looking for a career, that's really important. |
#17
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I'm currently in the Coast Guard -19-years. The best advice I can give you is go visit a Coast Guard Unit. They will be more than happy to show you around, call first, tell them what's up and go from there. Our missions are vast and wide; Search Rescue (SAR), Home Land Security (LE), Environmental Regulation (Gulf Coast Clean-up) and my favorite Counter Drugs Operations (CDO). You can find yourself easily performing all four mission in one year. You never know whats coming down the road. It has it's good points and bad points, more good than bad. Me-I served 4 years in the Army (DS- vet) then transferred to the CG (aviation side of the house-AET(65's, HC130's, Desk) and have loved it. Please understand it's not the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines. We are a little bit of each and work with allot of other government agency's,NOAA, CBP, FEMA, FBI etc...You are about to give up 4+ years of you're life, research the Coast Guard and take your time. If going Officer, contact and Officer and ask him about his job, going enlisted find a rate and contact somebody in that rate. You may have to call around, but it's worth every penny (trust me). A good resource is www.fredsplace.org, it's the primary website for CG members to talk-offline. Take your time with the decision.
Good Luck. To CWUSCG- Stay Safe and have good trip! edit: Forgot about this..If you get stationed in Kodiak AK, and you can own any darn gun you want...plus ccw, (but it's Kodiak, AK)..... Back to my gun research, S&W MP 40/45 or Springfield XD 40/45 , 4 different guns and I can't make up my mind......Later. Last edited by MIL-MH65; 06-12-2010 at 3:20 PM.. |
#19
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I just noticed you messaged me a few days ago, sorry I didn't respond sooner. Anyways, regarding my experiences in the CG.. This November I'll hit 8 years. I'm a First Class Petty Officer (E-6). After bootcamp, I went to the CGC Sherman out of Alameda. I was there for about 6-7 months, then I went to Operations Specialist "A" school. After I graduated, I went to the CGC Hamilton out of San Diego. I did a full tour there, and then I transferred to CG Sector San Diego, and have been there since 2006. I am transferring next month to the CG Training Center in Petaluma to be an instructor. So, the first 12 years (assuming I do 4 at my next unit) of my career will have been in CA.
I'm not sure about the whole officer vs enlisted thing. I know a few prior enlisted officers who are not fond of there jobs as officers, but they do like the extra pay. I'm curious, did the recruiter mention anything about wait times for boot camp? Our budget was cut, at least the proposed budget was cut, so they are calling for a downsizing of around 1100 members. It doesn't sound like a lot, but the CG is the smallest service with only around 40k members. I noticed somebody above mentioned you can "strike", which is on the job training instead of going to school. They recently did away with most (maybe all) of the striking programs. I'm sure this is do to the budget and downsizing. Let me know if you have any specific questions. |
#21
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Okay I apologize for my short responses, the past couple of days I have spoken with my family members and friends and they seem neutral about my choice if/ when I join the coast guard upon graduation. Since my plan was to join a police reserves, the coast guard caught my attention since there is pay etc. But I'll have to call the recruiter again to ask more detail questions and possible turn in my application. Lastly, about the reserves is there any Law Enforcement related positions for reserves?
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#22
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I always hated hearing coastie, but guardian that's the gayest term yet. I just say, "I am in the Coast Guard". if youre graduating college go into an officer program you'll kick yourself in the *** after 7 years every couple weeks when you get your LES
Last edited by RANDO; 06-27-2010 at 8:33 PM.. |
#23
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Quote:
To VictorFranko: Weather we're called Coasties, Guardian....Whatever. We're all Shipmates.
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UNITED STATES COAST GUARD. Will surf for money. |
#24
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[QUOTE=CWUSCG;4526326]There was PS. Port Security specialist. The CG did away with that rate when they implemented M.E back in febuary. QUOTE]
CWUSCG: They may have gotten rid of the PS rating, but it was a reserve only rate if I remember correctly. |
#27
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Welcome aboard! Enjoy your stay at Cape May and the famous Cape May Crud. Embrace the suck.
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UNITED STATES COAST GUARD. Will surf for money. |
#29
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Anyone have anything negative to say about their officer program? I already did 5 years enlisted in the Marine Corps. I have about two more years left of school, maybe more. I would love to get into a flight program if i get my eye surgery done, or into a law enforcement type gig(not sure what there is for officers).
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#30
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Ankyle62,
I posted earlier in this thread. I did 24 years in the Coast Guard. I enlisted, and then went straight to OCS and was commissioned. For me, it was an excellent choice, but if I were doing things over I would have spent more time enlisted, or have gone to the academy instead of OCS. The Coast Guard is an outstanding service. The missions are real-world and are very fulfilling. The people are the best. No organization is perfect and you’ll have your share of challenges, but compared to most other outfits, the CG stands up real well. Things have changed a bit for the better since I joined in 1979, but a fact of life is that OCS graduates tend to get the short end of the stick compared to the academy graduates and “mustangs” (those that have considerable enlisted service before attending OCS). When I came in, every academy grad went to a seagoing billet. Very few ships remained for OCS graduates. Most went to staff billets. That’s a big distinction when you realize that seagoing experience is (or was) vital to career longevity. I was lucky and got one of the few ships available to my OCS class. Had I not had that opportunity, I don’t think that I would have made it to retirement. The mustangs had a lot more experience than their OCS counterparts, and quite frankly, this gave them a competitive edge. The CG is a multi-mission outfit. You can’t specialize as an officer. I was a police officer before joining, and I got to spend a fair amount of time doing the LE mission, but I also had to do a lot of other jobs as well. The really cool thing, is that I really enjoyed some of the jobs that I hadn’t been interested in at first. If you’re a “one-trick pony” you won’t promote beyond O-3 and that won’t earn you a retirement. My real advice to you is to study the system right from the beginning. You need to chart to a career path that is realistic and then try to stay with it. If you try to do what you want to do, when you want to do it, you’re not going to be successful. Your enlisted time will serve you well as an officer. It’s real important to have an understanding of military life before you assume a leadership role. For myself, it was quite a challenge to adapt and I didn’t really reach a comfort point for about two years. I still think that the officer-enlisted dichotomy is a hold-over from past centuries. There’s a lot to be said for a system where everyone moves up through the ranks. The aviation programs are pretty well dialed in. I never did aviation, but the officers that I know who chose that career path have all been very satisfied with it. I would caution you to carefully select your eye surgery to ensure that it is compatible with CG aviation standards. I hope this helps. Best of luck to you. |
#31
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My uncle spent his life in the CG. He loved it. From what I understand, no better service.
As for getting rid of all officers, no. If you got rid of O-1's and O-2's and went from E-7 to O-3, I agree.
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RKBA Clock: Free Vespuchia! |
#32
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I concur. That is why, generally, Mustang's are the best type of O's.
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