A whispy fart off the coast of Rhode Island

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > A whispy fart off the coast of Rhode Island

stackofflapjacks: Apr 7, 2009; Mmmmm

Hi Coast Guard thread! I'm considering enlisting and I wanted to ask people who are in about different jobs. I understand and have read about how it can vary broadly between stations and commands in how your job functions. However I am comfortable with some general nature and am looking for guidance from you salty folks.

About myself: Born and raised in Alaska, 27, male with no college degree. Went to a NG high school program and graduated valedictorian (hah) and when I took the ASVAB I scored high, 92 or something like that, it's been 10 years. I put up with all of the bullshit well and enjoyed the experience overall. Been working ever since, done a little of everything but I have gravitated towards more labor jobs after getting 'cushy' office jobs I get bored as hell and quit within 6 months.

This brings me to jobs, I have this idea in my head that enlisting and putting in for Boatswain Mate will give me a very quintessential CG experience, namely operating boats and commanding ships, doing boardings and being the active component of the CG. However I've caught some hint that it's looked down on as the dumb grunt rate? Nothing much, seems like light hearted ribbing but also haven't heard much besides that about this rate.

If I'm trying to get some skills to bring with me to civilian life does this hold any value in maritime jobs? Can I get a captains license from hours serving as a crew member? As a larger rate does this give more opportunities for advancement? Am I better off going for a different rate?

IT holds some interest but I'm wondering if I'm doing a one term enlistment if I could do better as a BM and use the GI Bill for an IT degree over getting questionable experience plugging in phones and generally doing basic things in the CG and hating life as a help desk cubicle. Is this a misconception in a small service like the Coast Guard? Also what is the difference between IT and Intelligence Specialist?

The last rate I've got interest in is ET or AET. I've seen lots and understand aviation has a better quality of life, home most days kind of thing and that interests me as I like the idea of having a job over having a cutter posting my whole enlistment where my girlfriend and dog are stuck waiting for me. However I feel that doing AET will be nice but I'll be a non rate for 18 months with the possibly of being on a cutter anyway waiting for A school to open then I'll only be enjoying aviation life for a year or two tops? Is this tradeoff worth it?

Also is ET more likely to end up on larger ships? Or can you get a small boat station?

Finally, I've heard that basic posting priority is based on class ranking? T/f? Then my plan from that follows with taking an OCONUS posting out of basic gets you higher priority along with class ranking when you are setting your dream sheet out of A school? Does OCONUS mean outside the contiguous US? How likely am I to get Hawaii, Guam, PR or Alaska out of basic if I plan on being top of my class? What districts or stations would be 'better' out of A schooling terms of my priorities, namely, high ops tempo, small boat station or cutters that deploy for weeks instead of months at a time?

I realize it's a lot of questions, and I'm sure more than a couple that can be answered by a recruiter but I trust people who are more seasoned and perhaps less optimistic about any and every job, area etc of the CG. Thanks for the your time.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2018 23:26

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:24

stackofflapjacks: Apr 7, 2009; Mmmmm

nwin posted:

From what I've heard about IT, a lot of the technology they do learn is outdated, so transferring those skills to the civilian side doesn't really work well. An Intelligence Specialist (IS) is completely different from IT...I'll let El Maligno weigh in on this, but IS is more intel specific, then IT support.
Aviation is cool, but advancement is generally slow...lots of people locked up in that field because they generally enjoy what they do and stick around.
lots of ET's on larger ships. You won't go to a small boat station. Only ratings at small boat stations are BM/MK/ and the occasional ME...there's a rare YN or SK at some of them, but that's getting phased out. For an ET, you could go to a land support unit (ESD-Electronics Support Detachment) where you go and work on the electronics for small boats at various stations, but you won't be stationed there.

I dunno how they do boot camp selection nowadays...mine was 12 years ago. I put in for 3 polar icebreakers and got one of them. /shrug. A school's do things differently depending which way the wind is blowing. Some will just take class rank in A school into account, others will give you a few extra points if you were OCONUS or on a ship for your first unit. I wouldn't put too much stock in that, honestly, unless someone else can give more updated info. Just keep your head down and do really well in A school, and you should rank high enough to get what you want.

OCONUS means not the 48 states. If you want alaska, you can usually get it. There's non-rates at all the other places you mention, it just matters how many places need them at a time.

High ops tempo? You probably want anywhere in D7 if you want to do drug chasing and migrant interdiction...it really all depends. Everywhere has ships of all sizes, so it depends which one you end up on, and that will show how long you are underway for at a time...generally:

Patrol boat (87 or 110) out for a week at a time, in for a week at a time, but you can get recalled a lot.

210'/270'-out for 60-75 days at a time, in for the same amount

378- up to 90 days at a time, in for the same amount.

This is all helpful info, thanks for chiming in! My lady didn't seem phased when I talked about Ice Breakers so that's an option I had previously written off. Looks like BM is going to be my research area and probable job. Any stories? Great postings? Or terrible ones? I understand I can shadow folks before joining and speak with people in different rates as a non-rate, will definitely use experienced people as a resource.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2018 20:35

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > A whispy fart off the coast of Rhode Island