How is the US Coast Guard viewed upon by other branches of the military?
What are some major differences between the Navy and the Coast Guard?
How is the US Coast Guard viewed upon by other branches of the military?
What are some major differences between the Navy and the Coast Guard?
That's a legitimate question- not sure there's a good answer. The USCG is a lot smaller, and they don't have large Coast Guard "bases" and so you don't find huge Coast Guard communities ala Norfolk, Ft Bragg, etc... and even their biggest cutters are small by comparison to the other services units, and finally-their missions don't cross all that often. As a result- I think that reality is that the other services professionally don't run into the Coast Guard very often, so IMO there is really no answer as to how the other services "view" the Coast Guard. To the extent that they do, I suspect that the Coast Guard is basically seen as another service, just with rather different missions than a DoD service. Some of their missions are pretty hard to relate to for the other services- Marine Inspection or Aids to Navigation for example really have no counterparts in the DoD-(maybe the civilian portion of the Army Corps of Engineers would be the closest civil function performed by the DoD but most military guys don't understand that either). I think they are seen as professional in what they do- but I'm not sure how many folks know what they do.How is the US Coast Guard viewed upon by other branches of the military?
What are some major differences between the Navy and the Coast Guard?
If that matters at all to you, you are in the wrong place. Perhaps Harvard or Yale or Princeton would suit you better, as you seem to place some kind of "importance' on what others think about your place of education.
Let me Google that for you.
What a pleasant response. Very mature of you, especially as an AAP. .
I'm sure you don't want to start a "he said this as a West Point Field Force Rep" vs "he said this as CGA AAP" contest, do you?
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I'm sure there are many here who think they understand the meaning of that passage, but ignore it anyway.
Or they are too arrogant to look in the mirror.
Either way, I couldn't care less what you think.
Follow the forum rules and stop commenting on what I post. Stick to your own posts.
I'm sure the OP would be interested in your take on his question, based on your personal and career experiences (besides what you've already offered).
There is no shame in being concrned with the "prestige level" of a particular college. It's something that will follow you throughout your life (although to a lesser extent once you've made a name for yourself in a given career), and all competitive people care about it to some degree. I think it's human nature.
It's a shame this forum is so judgmental.
I have classmates who went to CGA because they wanted to be rescue swimmers and were surprised to find out they couldn't do. Others went because it was free, some went because of parental pressure, and I went because I didn't get into USNA. In the end you couldn't tell why anyone went to CGA unless you asked them. All that matters is that at some point in the 4 years that they are there they buy into the system enough to be competent officers and contribute to the service. It's natural to be indecisive about your future so don't hound on the people who aren't 100% committed. It's also natural to want recognition so don't get on people who are a little curious about prestige. In fact, I'm more wary about the people who ask all the "right" questions and give the "right" answers because deep down they are suppressing their true thoughts. In my opinion, if you haven't walked the walk, don't judge.
In addition, I don't understand the whole "look it up yourself" response. The whole point of a forum is to get responses from real people. If it bothers you that someone is asking a question that could be researched elsewhere then don't answer. In fact, I'm sure that the every possible admissions question has been answered at some point on this forum. The whole point of this board is to get a more personal response to your questions.
/rant
As for the determination of who is the candidate the USCG is looking for, I tend to think that those who have served and are serving in the USCG are the ones best qualified to make that determination.
As a Marine I love the US Coast Guard. They are a heroic group of individuals. It just that normally we don't hear about them. It is a shame too because those men and woman in the Coast Guard have a story to tell.
As for their mission, well I had about 15 years in service before I became fully aware of what the US Coast Guard does. They have a mission like no other. One that is vitally important.
I would suggest that everyone who serves gets to know our Coast guard brethren.