Appointment declined

Luigi59

Luigi59

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Well, I know of one previously offered USAFA Class of 2012 appointment slot that will be available to a new candidate in a few days.

Son's mind is made up, "no sense keeping someone else out, or making them wait longer" in his words.

He will sign the "I decline" paper and mail it back to Colorado Springs. :eek:

At the same time, he will sign his "I accept" paper for the US Coast Guard Academy. :thumb:

A lot of work for him (and my wife and I - whew!) over the last year, but he says he enjoyed the experience of the nominations/interviews (he got Senator and Rep for USAFA), Summer Seminar 2007, the help from his ALO, as well as knowing that he "made it" into the USAFA. He feels the whole application/nomination process was worth it and that he learned a lot about himself during the examination.

But his first choice was always USCGA, and when the "fat envelope" from New London arrived I knew that the USAFA appointment letter would become just another page in a scrapbook.

Hard to believe that the admission process is finished for us.

Now a whole new waiting period begins..... :cool:
 
Well, at least he had the guts to do the right thing. Others might have waited until the last minute, or not have responded at all.

Good luck to your boy at USCGA. Who knows? They might just teach him to swim! :cool: :biggrin: :thumb:
 
Congrats on both appointments.

I think that he is an asset to USCGA, he is there for his ambitions, and that will make him a terrific officer. Call it naivete, but I believe wanting to wear a particular uniform is a great motivation for anyone. Think about it in a sports analogy, he has the ball and can see the goal line, he'll do everything to get the touchdown (commission in this case).

Again congrats on both appts. Bless the USA!
:bounce1:
 
That's great news Luigi - good for him to make the decision now. He can spend the next few months focusing on getting ready for the summer.
He really had two great options.

I am curious - USCGA and USAFA seems like an odd combination - what was he thinking? Does he want to fly in the CG?
 
JAM,

It's funny you say that, one of our best friends had chosen both of these 2 acads, along with USNA. He chose AFA. I asked him why the USCGA, he wanted to be a helicopter pilot and thought they had the "neatest sorties"...He is an F-15E pilot now, so he thinks differently, but still says CG would have been his runner-up.

If you live in Alaska, you get a whole new respect for the CG...diving into frigid waters to save fisherman in rolling waves is much more frigthening to me than flying sorties in the Gulf (nobody shoot me, remember DH does that now, maybe I have desensitized myself to what he does)
 
Yes, a flight career is his goal, probably drug/migrant interdiction (what they call "LEDET" I think).
 
Wow, Luigi59! Congratulations to your son for receiving two appointments! The waiting is over - now he can focus on preparing. Good luck to him at the USCGA. He is awesome! :thumb:
 
We actually knew someone many assignments ago who did the drug interdiction and x trained into fighters. CG has some cool career options. I actually sold a home for a CG guy, he was pcs'ing to Louisiana from the Pentagon. I still wonder about him, because 1 yr later Katrina hit them.
 
Pima said:
If you live in Alaska, you get a whole new respect for the CG...diving into frigid waters to save fisherman in rolling waves....
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Diving into frigid waters to save fisherman in rolling waves is the domain of the AST (Aviation Survival Technician), open to enlisted personnel only.

The USCGA graduate (officer) would be the one telling the AST when or where to jump in. :wink:
 
Luigi,

I knew that, but the pilot hovering over the water in a dark night (it is night 20 hrs in Dec) has incredible skills and it is frightening. I went white water rafting every yr for the summer solstice and you can see little ice flakes in the water...this was 60 mi. from Anchorage...we also wore dry suits...temps were in the 70's, but the water was so cold that you had to dress in the gear...fast foward to December with sub-zero degree weather. I love Deadliest Catch and unfortunately they showed an episode where the helicopter went down, very disheartening. It is very common to watch the news up there and see them talk about the CG and AF being sent out for a missing boat or a plane that went down. Kids go out for recess at the elementary until it goes passed -15. They fly until the divert base passes a certain temp also...much lower than -15.

I am just saying people don't realize that the mission for the CG is unique
 
See you at Leamy in July, Luigi.

If your son's playing football, tell him his teammates will really be supportive in making the transition at CGA.
 
Luigi, too many congrats to put on the forum! Orange is an awesome good color. Has to feel good knowing he is where he wants to belong. Good luck to him in all he hopes for!

Dang, you Coastie Dad's are cool! :cool:
 
This is true, if an officer is getting wet it's for one of three reasons.

1. Swim call (a very nice reason in the right water)
2. Dive Officer
3. Something seriously wrong has happened and something he was just on may be sinking.


I have done #1, and that's it. I hope not to do #3.



LEDET stands for Law Enforcement Detachment. You can find LEDETS on Navy ships and various places overseas and here at home. If your son wants to fly and plans to do so in the drug interdiction area he may be talking about HITRON (Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron). To be in HITRON you have to have prior experience elsewhere in CG aviation. The USCG was using leased helos, Augusta MH-68s Stingrays, but I believe with the reengined 65s, they'll be using the new and improved HH-65c Dolphin.

If you son wants to do migrant interdiction then aviation is not the way to go at all. Besides spotting go-fasts and chugs, there is little a helo can do to stop or board a small boat with 200 Haitians in it. It is the Coast Guard cutter fleet that takes that mission head on, along with the help of Sector Miami and Sector Key West, and in large part from the support of the stations associated with those sectors. If your son wants to interdict migrants and have 190 Cubans around him, that will only happen on a cutter, and if he wants to do that almost 24/7, pick a cutter out of District 7. My cutter is an LANTAREA unit out of District 5 so we'll do north patrols (North Atlantic, typically Homeland Security, Fisheries, and SAR), and south patrols (typically migrant and drug interdiction and SAR).



My completely biased opinion, he made the right choice. Maybe it was between AFA and CGA because he likes wearing blue?
 
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LineInTheSand said:
LEDET stands for Law Enforcement Detachment. You can find LEDETS.....
Click to expand...

Good info, thanks. :thumb:

Yes, I think he understands that he'll go to sea when he graduates like everyone else, perhaps allowing him to get a "taste" of drug and/or migrant interdictions on the water before heading into flight service.

LineInTheSand said:
My completely biased opinion, he made the right choice.
Click to expand...

Based on his excitement level, I really think so, too. My wife and I could tell from his different reactions to each appointment envelope.

When the USAFA appointment arrived, he casually opened it, quietly said "I got in," put the letter back in the folder and went to practice. Same reaction to the Senator's nomination letter and the nomination phone call from the Congressman. When we alerted him that the USCGA envelope arrived, he rushed home, ran inside and quickly opened it, yelling "I MADE IT!" before texting and calling all his friends with the news.

:cool:
 
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