Anyone serve / served in the Coast Guard?

[Blue Crabber]

Justing wondering how many members here currently serve in the U.S. Coast Guard or have in the past.

I am feeling like it is time to do something different for a career and I started thinking about serving our country in the Coast Guard. I feel like serving in the Coast Guard would be a really good fit for me and that I could excel there. So I started doing some research and found out if I enlist full time I will serve where they deem most needed / best fit. This creates a problem for us (my wife and I) as we are both close to family and don't want to move to far away. So now I am tossing around joining and serving in the Coast Guard Reserve. 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year. I haven't made any decisions or talked to anyone about it yet, just trying to determine if I should pursue this more or not.

So, if anyone has any experience serving in the Coast Guard, especially the Reserve, I would love to hear about your experience as it may help me in deciding what my next step is.

Thanks everyone!

(Sorry for the long post)

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Anyone serve / served in the Coast Guard?

I served in the USCG, but it was a long time ago. For current information, you should do some web surfing and speak to a recruiter. The recruiter, of course, will give you nothing but the good parts, but you might get him/her to put you into contact with one of the "troops." Nothing like hearing it from "the horses mourh." If there are any Stations near where you boat, you might stop in to see the Officer of the Day to chit chat for awhile.

As far as mixing family life with being in the military, I'm afraid you are just going to have to accept the military for what it is. They are not in the business of keeping service members in their hometowns. That said, if you and your wife can deal with the idea of being moved about every four years, it can be a good career. Being able to retire after 20 years with a full pension and lifetime healthcare benefits isn't a bad deal, either!

I know there are a couple of other guys here, who served in the USCG. If they see this thread, they may be able to give you more current info on what the service is about.



???

 

[TahoeQ4Pilot]

Re: Anyone serve / served in the Coast Guard?

Though I never served in the USCG (26-years active duty US Army and recent retiree), but I do come from a USCG family and my daughter is in her third year at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. The reason I respond is to speak a moment about military service and your concern about "being close to family."

Both my wife and I were/are also close to our families and unfortuatley never served close to home, for us, the benefits of military service outweighed the negatives. We are extremely independant and now have a lifetime of benefits to rely on because of our earlier hardships. You can be close to family and not live close by, but I do understand your sentiment.

I suggest you do lots of research and talk with a variety of people. When I went in I was young, dumb, and full of gum, no obligations or family. Your case is different so make sure you are going in for the right reasons and you will be so much more better off.

 

[Blue Crabber]

Re: Anyone serve / served in the Coast Guard?

Gentelman, thank you for your responses. I appreciate hearing your side.

Tahoe - I understand exactly what you mean by being close to family and not living close by, however, my wife does not feel the same way. I wouldn't mind as I feel with todays technology one can stay very "close" and connected with others.

Since I don't believe that my wife will agree to this, (enlisting and serving full time) I am seriously considering joining as a reservist instead. I feel that this would be a good compromise in being able serve our country and work alongside of the men and women that do so full time and still be close to home for my wifes sake.

Anybody have any experience in the Coast Guard working in the reserve or perhaps serving full time with those that are in the reserve?

I was looking for some first hand experience from others before talking to a recruiter about it.

Jay - I like your idea about stopping by a station to talk to someone that serves and find out exactly what it is like. Might be a little bit harder to find some in the reserve to talk to though.

Thanks again for the comments and keep them coming if you think of anything else!

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: Anyone serve / served in the Coast Guard?

Hi there Blue Crabber. I was in the Coast Guard '87 to '94. The stations where I was assigned had many reservists. They all really enjoyed their work and were a dedicated bunch of folks. The problem I saw with the reservists is that very few of them ever reached a level of proficiency where they could perform the missions all by themselves, which was always the goal. I would think your level of satisfaction doing a job like that part time would be very dependent on your duty station or cutter. The Coast Guard has many missions, many of which you may have no interest whatsoever. The good part about going into the reserve is you can almost write your own billet, assuming there are openings where you want to go.

Regarding the regular Coast Guard. Times have changed dramatically over the past 10 years and more specifically since Sept. 11th. Part of those changes is keeping the troops happy and helping them to balance their personal lives with that of the military. When I was in, there was a fairly strict 3 year billet cycle, 2 or even 1 year for some duty locations. Nowadays, they allow you to remain in one place or one geographical area for many years, presumably for a whole career, although the program is only about 10 years old so time will tell. The bad part is you could end up anywhere directly out of boot camp, but once you made it back home, you could likely stay there or near there for however long you wish.

It's a great service and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Good luck.