A friend of mine is thinking about joining the US Coast Guard. Any advice?

September 26, 2011 8:39 PM

A friend of mine is thinking about joining the US Coast Guard. Any advice?

My friend, a 22 year old American male, just graduated college with a major in political science. He tells me that he's thinking about joining the US Coast Guard. I'm not too sure how much thought or research he put into this decision (that's not to say that he didn't I just don't know about it). I always got the feeling like he wanted to join the military, but didn't really want to kill anyone.

Any advice people here would give him? Anything he should know about the Coast Guard before he proceeds? Can anyone paint a picture of what serving in the Coast Guard is actually like?

Thanks in advance!

posted by AZNsupermarket to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Only that 6 years is a very serious commitment indeed. I have a good friend who is a Coast Guard vet. She wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
posted by bz at 8:51 PM on September 26, 2011

I dated a guy in the Coast Guard for a very short time. He had just joined a couple weeks before we started dating. It sounded like a really cool job from what he described, but after the first time they went to sea for 6 weeks, he said that being on the boat for all that time drove him insane. The lack of space and privacy would bother me personally, but I don't think that was the issue for him--they work INSANE hours. We're talking almost round the clock for days at a time. I think they alternate between going out to sea for 6 weeks at a time, then staying in port for 6-ish weeks. Still sounds like such a cool job to me, but not everyone (including me) could handle the schedule and living conditions.
posted by mhm407 at 9:34 PM on September 26, 2011

I've got a nephew in the CG, and have worked with CG NCOs before. They were hands down some of the best NCOs I have ever seen, and my nephew seems to have really blossomed. All anecdotal, but I'd also say with reference to the crazy working hours mentioned above, that I think that is a good thing for a young persons first job out of college.
posted by atchafalaya at 12:56 AM on September 27, 2011

Since he's got the degree, he should check out the Officer Candidate School. I was in the Coast Guard yearrrrs ago, and from what I remember, those entering with degrees can go on to become officers quickly.

I was at a small boat search and rescue station on Long Island Sound the whole time I was in, so, no long seagoing tours for me (unfortunately, kind of, would have liked the experience).

But, when I was there, the better you perform overall in bootcamp (physical and classroom tests), then the more "posh" the billet you can pick (meaning, you can be part of those who pick the best billets that are available at time of graduation).

Also, an Hawaiian billett sounds nice, oviously, but he might be dirt poor with his E-2 salary living in an expensive place, even though housing and such are provided, still something to keep in mind. If he decides to go the Officer Candidate route, I'm not sure how that works, so, what he'd need to do is think about what he'd like to do in terms of going out to sea. There are some of the 210s or others that go out for (can't remember exactly) 6 weeks or more for drug interdictions, then come back home. There are the Search and Rescue stations (like where I was) that sort of act like water fire department and law enforcement and come home every night. There are the icebreakers out of Alaska that stay out for 6 months or more at a time. And if he really wants the hard, dirty work, he'd get on a bouy tender (oy!); a black hull. There are the self-bailers (I think they still have those); we called them the "weeble wobbles", the rescue boats that go out in the high surf and if they tip over, they pop right back up - I think most of those are in the coastal Northwest and Northeast regions. And then the Aviation Survivalmen, those that are lowered from the helicopters to rescue people in water.

He needs to take into account the location of where he'd like, but mostly, if he decides on a certain career field, that also might dictate where he HAS to go. Again, in early '90s, most of the hard science career paths got sent to the icebreakers. But, obviously, he'd have to find all that out before he signs.

FWIW, the Long Island Sound station that I was at was verrrrry active and a lot of fun, a lot of interesting cases, primo, beautiful beach front property.

One last thing, regardless of where he's at, he needs to be prepared for a lot of boat scrubbing and painting, landscaping, and general "house" cleaning in downtimes.

This info is from all the early '90s, like I said, so I'm sure there have been a LOT of changes in how they do things, etc. USCG was under Dept of Transportation then and now they are Dept of Homeland Security.

HOpe this helps!
posted by foxhat10 at 6:49 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, and FWIW, I never regretted going into the USCG. It was an awesome experience!

I honestly would recommend it (the USCG, not just any service branch! ;) for those right out of high school; sounds very cliche, yes, but they can see the world, experience some things before settling on a career, discover some things about themselves, get some college $$$...
posted by foxhat10 at 6:53 AM on September 27, 2011

I'm on the outside, but the college I went to was across from the CG Academy and some of the cadets attended classes with us, and then when I worked at Mystic Seaport we did some training exercises on the Eagle with the Coast Guard. These were officer candidates, of course, not enlisted. But I loved them all and the atmosphere they create in this branch of service. It looks as though you need serious passion and dedication and stamina, but if you have it, you are surrounded by a very ethical, generally smart bunch of servicepeople and can be posted to some of the world's most interesting locations (I also heard stories about some of the world's most boring locations, so that is a hazard, too). And maritime experience and skills come in handy the rest of life, too, even for recreational activities but also potentially careerwise (tugs and piloting, SeaTow, ferry driving etc). I always said that if I'd ever joined a service it would be the CG (I'm too old now but it was always a possible idea...)
posted by Miko at 7:40 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

There are a ton of Coasties in Juneau, and in Alaska. Very few of them I know dislike their careers, most enjoy them. The only seriously unhappy Coastie I know was an accountant. Officers certainly seem to have a better time of it. You get moved around a lot but that's no different than any other branch of the military. In Alaska, you mostly hear about their search and rescue efforts, some of which are pretty dramatic and, every time I've watched their helicopter rescue demonstrations, it seems like pretty cool shit. Also, the buoy tender roundup happens every year in Juneau and the crews always strike me as really cool, mellow people. One major difference about the Coast Guard is you are more likely to be on your home turf, helping out American citizens. I think it tends to feel more rewarding.

If I were ever to join the military, Coast Guard would be my choice.
posted by Foam Pants at 12:19 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]