Engineering in the Coast Guard

a.olson

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
19
Hey! I was just accepted to the Coast Guard Academy this week. I have also applied to the Air Force Academy (still waiting for a response). I want to earn a mechanical engineering degree and was thinking about specializing in areospace engineering. I was wondering if anyone could tell me a bit more about what an engineering career would be like in the coast guard; what kind of projects I may work on, where would I be stationed (ship, land etc.),and possibilities for advancement. I am not particularly fond of the idea of living on a ship for months at a time. That is one of my primary concerns about the coast guard, if anyone has some advice or input on that it would be much appreciated.
 
why did you apply?

"I want to earn a mechanical engineering degree and was thinking about specializing in areospace engineering"

And you applied to the Coast Guard Academy....why?
 
Learn to love the water...it is the CG after all. :wink:

Good luck with USAFA. Sounds like a better fit for you.
 
"I want to earn a mechanical engineering degree and was thinking about specializing in areospace engineering"

And you applied to the Coast Guard Academy....why?

Learn to love the water...it is the CG after all. :wink:

Good luck with USAFA. Sounds like a better fit for you.

Easy now guys...you're forgetting that we have aircraft too. There are many people here who are interested in getting a masters degree in aeronautical engineering (myself included) because they want to go the pilot route.

To the OP: As far as engineering goes, we have four majors here at the academy: Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, and Naval Architecture. I'm a EE.

Engineering in the fleet (especially on cutters) is waaay different than engineering you learn in school. cutter engineering is about maintenance, not design. The aviation side of the coast guard has an engineering branch as well, with the aviation engineering officer overseeing the maintenance and logistics of the aircraft. We also have electrical and civil engineering support units.

Now, if you want to just design you'd probably be better off going to a civilian engineering school or 5 and diving. Military officers aren't involved in the design process of military systems. That's for civilian contractors.

A little off topic, but I would argue that engineers are more likely to 5 and dive because we have a lot more earning potential in the civilian world than our friends in the other majors.
 
A little off topic, but I would argue that engineers are more likely to 5 and dive because we have a lot more earning potential in the civilian world than our friends in the other majors.

I don't know, a management degree on Wall Street in the hands of the right person/company can have unlimited earning potential. :wink:
 
When I want a toilet made, I can always hope to find an engineer, especially a toad, to make one. My old roommate and best friend was good at that.
 
Many people who want to go into aerospace engineering become Naval Architect/Marine Engineering majors. Boats and planes aren't that dissimilar, and the Coast Guard has a grad school program that will send you to MIT for a dual masters in Naval Architecture and Aerospace Engineering. I personally know three officers who have completed this program. It's totally possible.
 
I don't know, a management degree on Wall Street in the hands of the right person/company can have unlimited earning potential. :wink:

meh. The quantitative analysis necessary for Wall Street finances is better suited to those who major in Operations Research or Electrical Engineering. The beauty of a technical degree is that you can do anything that humanities/business majors can do. :wink:
 
Except write, speak clearly or get girls....

Not true at all. I scored an 800 on the English part of the SAT and was in the Honors English class here at the Academy. The lowest grade I've ever gotten on a paper here was a B.

As for getting girls I know a lot of socially ******** government majors :wink:
 
Not true at all. I scored an 800 on the English part of the SAT and was in the Honors English class here at the Academy. The lowest grade I've ever gotten on a paper here was a B.

As for getting girls I know a lot of socially ******** government majors

English is one thing....writing political science papers is completely different. And are you sure about that Sam? Because if we did a comparative analysis...well let's just say we both know that Government majors are communicators...engineers, well...not so much. :wink:

Besides, if I wanted to, I could be an engineering major. But its dead boring to me so I decided not too. Its all about choices and what you are truly interested in. The Coast Guard needs both a technical and non-technical way of looking at things. That's why we have different majors as opposed to about 50 years ago when everyone graduated an engineer.
 
Not true at all. I scored an 800 on the English part of the SAT and was in the Honors English class here at the Academy. The lowest grade I've ever gotten on a paper here was a B.

As for getting girls I know a lot of socially ******** government majors :wink:

Lets just leave it that there are a lot of socially stunted people at the academy... period. Everyone has them in their class. :wink:
 
English is one thing....writing political science papers is completely different. And are you sure about that Sam? Because if we did a comparative analysis...well let's just say we both know that Government majors are communicators...engineers, well...not so much. :wink:

Besides, if I wanted to, I could be an engineering major. But its dead boring to me so I decided not too. Its all about choices and what you are truly interested in. The Coast Guard needs both a technical and non-technical way of looking at things. That's why we have different majors as opposed to about 50 years ago when everyone graduated an engineer.

You're right T&F about a lot of engineers not being good communicators. I think that's one of the biggest things that I bring to the engineering table...the ability to speak and write clearly and get the idea across so others can understand it.

I think I would be doing better academically if I was a non-engineering major, but that's because my strengths lie in reading and writing and not math based courses. I do think it's important to improve your weak areas though, and I do like learning how things work. For instance, how a cellphone works.

It does take all types to make it work :thumb:
 
One thing I think we can all agree on, engineers are good at sleeping in weird places at CGA....
 
Not true at all. I scored an 800 on the English part of the SAT and was in the Honors English class here at the Academy. The lowest grade I've ever gotten on a paper here was a B.

As for getting girls I know a lot of socially ******** government majors :wink:

All this and you're humble too! :wink:
 
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