Coast Guard Officer v. Enlisted

[NJROTC-CC]

DS is a junior in high school and is very active in NJOTC. He is very enthusiastic about serving in the military. He is anxious to leave home, see the World and have adventure. He is not a nerd and does not want a desk job. He is a total "people person" who doesn't like to do anything alone (especially studying.) He thinks he eventually wants to pursue a career in Federal law enforcement. He has over a 4.0 weighted average, cross country, leader in NJROTC, but so far, dismal SAT scores. So, he is continuing to practice for the SAT, ACT and also the ASVAB. (He will take the SAT at least 4 more times.) Right now he is considering both college and, alternatively, direct enlistment in the Coast Guard and putting off college until later.

I think DS needs to learn more about the difference in the duties of an officer in the Coast Guard versus the duties of an enlisted person. From what I have read, I think he might actually enjoy the enlisted route more. He is tall, thin, athletic and likes action. He is interested in the Boatswain's Mate and Maritime Enforcement ratings (although I understand there is a huge wait list to get the Maritime Enforcement rating and currently it is not being offered until your second enlistment hitch) I think maybe another tour of the local coast guard base and taking to some in the Coast Guard will help him make his decision. Any other ideas?

 

[kfd217]

Personally I think it’s two different worlds. Research both sides and have him draw his own conclusion by weighing the pros vs cons. I am prior active duty enlisted and I have a child at the Academy now. PM me if I can be of any help.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

I am thinking that starting out as enlisted certainly would not preclude him from pursuing a commission later if that is what he decides he wants to do. Whereas, the other way around is not possible.

 

[Devil Doc]

I'm not an O and not even in the Coast Guard but one of my three Joint Meritorious Unit Awards is from doing drug ops with a CG LEDET and I'll relate a little about that experience. I was on a Knox class frigate and our Det was from Mobile. There were about six enlisted and a LTJG who was prior enlisted. We left Norfolk and transited the Panama Canal and spent a couple days at Rodman when we had a base there and before we gave away the canal. The LEDET met us there and we took on their boat, fire arms, ammo, and other associated gear.

We got underway, slipped under the Bridge of the Americas, and entered the op area off the coast of Colombia. First day on station a little trawler looking boat tried scooting past us after throwing bales over the side. That was dumb. We received permission from the Colombian government to board so we pulled him over. The Det drove over on their RHIB and BINGO, pure cocoa paste or whatever the form is that is exported to be processed on the other end.

I have a side story that involves me having to go over to check on the captain's health if anybody is interested. We got ordered to tow it back with the captain and crew in zip ties. We tied up at Rodman and about three black Suburbans were waiting on us. The kind with more than one antenna. Men with khaki pants and lots of velcro cargo pockets were standing next to the SUVs. We posted an armed guard and bale after bale was pulled from that little boat. It ended up being over 5000 pounds of product which at that time was the largest joint CG/Navy cocaine bust.

We spent the few weeks pulling over vessels of all types. I didn't go on any boardings but the stories told after going aboard the yachts were amazing. We made no other seizures but I had a couple more interesting patients. I've read where officers "don't get to do the fun stuff" but this officer went on every boarding. What do CG officers do after climbing in rank? I don't know but just wanted to share this little story.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

I've read where officers "don't get to do the fun stuff" but this officer went on every boarding. What do CG officers do after climbing in rank? I don't know but just wanted to share this little story.

Great Story. I have read the same thing about officers not getting to do the "fun stuff." Not always true, but there is likely some truth in it.

DS is "Action Jackson." He wants to be the guy jumping on drug subs or doing boardings. I just think he is so anxious to get out of school, that he might be better off doing an enlisted tour first before college. He told me yesterday that it "sucks being trapped in a 16 year old body." He is ready to ship out now. He still has senior year in H.S. to get his mind right.

 

[ekb1398]

I think a more fair comparison would be that enlisted are more frequently "hands-on," but don't mistake that with with always being in the middle of the action. Both officers and enlisted get in on the "action." Enlisted and Junior Officers can all do boarding, law enforcement, etc. On smaller Coast Guard cutters, a junior officer is generally the Primary Boarding Officer. The primary difference is what is done outside of the "action," and this is really where most time will be spent. I'll try to give a couple of examples from my relatively limited experience.

Take, for example, a helicopter crew, generally consisting of four members - two officers serve as the pilots, an AST serves as a rescue swimmer (among other duties, but let's keep it simple), and an AMT or AET serves as the flight mechanic. They all fly to the case together. All four are integral to the safety and operational success of the mission. But when they're back on the ground, the officers will handle largely administrative matters that could be considered "office matters" at the unit. The AST will probably go work on maintaining flight gear, packing parachutes, and the like (between workouts, that is). The AMT will work on turning wrenches to make sure the engines and structure of the aircraft are in peak condition for the next mission.

Furthermore, what a certain rate does can change from unit to unit. An ME might do a lot of the stuff Doc mentioned above when they're assigned to a LEDET. But not all ME's, and probably not most, are stationed at such a unit. Many are at small boat stations, where they often serve as the Law Enforcement Department Head. But they don't do a whole lot of the law enforcement - they do a lot more of the training and paperwork related to it, while BM's and MK's handle the bulk of LE operations. Similar things can be said of many operational rates - yes, BM's get to go out and drive boats, but they also spend much time scraping, painting, cleaning, preparing charts, navigating, splicing lines, and the list goes on.

So, with all of this in mind, certainly enlisted is the right call for many people, but there should by no means be an expectation that a career in the Coast Guard will be filled with excitement and action all the time. The Coast Guard serves a lot of missions. Your son could join, go to BM A-school, and be assigned to a Buoy Tender cleaning buoys on the buoy deck. Good, hard, honest work, that is supposed to be very rewarding from everything I hear, but maybe not the Law Dog action he's after.

In summary, enlisted can definitely be the right choice for him, but I wouldn't necessarily make it solely under the premise of chasing action.

 

[Devil Doc]

Great Story. I have read the same thing about officers not getting to do the "fun stuff." Not always true, but there is likely some truth in it.

DS is "Action Jackson." He wants to be the guy jumping on drug subs or doing boardings. I just think he is so anxious to get out of school, that he might be better off doing an enlisted tour first before college. He told me yesterday that it "sucks being trapped in a 16 year old body." He is ready to ship out now. He still has senior year in H.S. to get his mind right.

I love kids like that. My son is in a place where he teaches 19 year old infantrymen to blow up stuff which also allows him to blow up stuff. If he doesn't get selected for a master's program next board he will go to a battalion as the operations officer then XO but I bet will still find a way to get out from behind the desk.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

I there should by no means be an expectation that a career in the Coast Guard will be filled with excitement and action all the time. The Coast Guard serves a lot of missions. Your son could join, go to BM A-school, and be assigned to a Buoy Tender cleaning buoys on the buoy deck. Good, hard, honest work, that is supposed to be very rewarding from everything I hear, but maybe not the Law Dog action he's after.

I told him that you never know what job you may be assigned in the Coast Guard and mentioned that he could be assigned to cleaning buoys. He told me "I can clean buoys for a while if I have to, but I will rise above that just like I have risen to a leadership position in NJROTC." Self-confidence is not something he is lacking.

 

[ekb1398]

I told him that you never know what job you may be assigned in the Coast Guard and mentioned that he could be assigned to cleaning buoys. He told me "I can clean buoys for a while if I have to, but I will rise above that just like I have risen to a leadership position in NJROTC." Self-confidence is not something he is lacking.

Not really sure what to make of this. If you get assigned to a buoy tender, you can't "rise above" cleaning buoys. It's not something you do for a few months and then they're like "Oh you do a good job cleaning buoys, you can move on now." If his job is to work the buoy deck, that will be his job until he's done with that tour of duty (or maybe a lateral over to the navigation side), usually in the two to three year range until he gets new orders. Additionally, working the buoy deck isn't something only the most junior of people do. You'll find E-7's or higher who have been in the Coast Guard for 20 years working a buoy deck, although granted that it's not as physical or dirty of work at that level.

The point I'm making here is that it's NEVER all action, and it is mostly not that. I'm an adrenaline/action guy too, and when I've been in the fleet over summers I've had a great time and felt like the work I was doing was exciting and worthwhile, but there's lots of hard monotonous work too.

I know it seems like I'm being a huge downer, but I'm really not trying to be. I'm just pointing it out that it's not all what you see in the videos on the recruiting website either, and I think that's an important realization to make to ground expectations. I would venture to say that a lot of people who have a bad time in the military are the ones who join with tunnel vision set on one particular niche aspect, and it turns out to not be what they were expecting.

 

[LineInTheSand]

Nothing is ever always fun. I think the enlisted route does not lead to a cubicle as fast as the officer route, but the officer route has some good fun stuff, especially earlier on. And there's probably some fun in being a commanding officer on a ship or flying a helicopter. But yeah, at some point the officer road leads to some admin duties.

My classmate was in a group fo Coastie who became SEALs. And one fo the thoughts was, as SEAL officers were promoted, eventually they would get tired of admin work and switch back to the Coast Guard. To my knowledge, they didn't come back (I didn't think they would, which was one reason I didn't understand how the Coast Guard benefited from the program).

 

[NJROTC-CC]

Not really sure what to make of this. If you get assigned to a buoy tender, you can't "rise above" cleaning buoys. It's not something you do for a few months and then they're like "Oh you do a good job cleaning buoys, you can move on now." If his job is to work the buoy deck, that will be his job until he's done with that tour of duty (or maybe a lateral over to the navigation side), usually in the two to three year range until he gets new orders. Additionally, working the buoy deck isn't something only the most junior of people do. You'll find E-7's or higher who have been in the Coast Guard for 20 years working a buoy deck, although granted that it's not as physical or dirty of work at that level.

The point I'm making here is that it's NEVER all action, and it is mostly not that. I'm an adrenaline/action guy too, and when I've been in the fleet over summers I've had a great time and felt like the work I was doing was exciting and worthwhile, but there's lots of hard monotonous work too.

I know it seems like I'm being a huge downer, but I'm really not trying to be. I'm just pointing it out that it's not all what you see in the videos on the recruiting website either, and I think that's an important realization to make to ground expectations. I would venture to say that a lot of people who have a bad time in the military are the ones who join with tunnel vision set on one particular niche aspect, and it turns out to not be what they were expecting.

If he is assigned to cleaning buoys for 4 years, he will leave the service when he completes his enlistment and go to college. It will be the Coast Guard’s loss. He is not cut out for boring, mindless manual labor.

 

[LineInTheSand]

If he is assigned to cleaning buoys for 4 years, he will leave the service when he completes his enlistment and go to college. It will be the Coast Guard’s loss. He is not cut out for boring, mindless manual labor.

That's a risk in any service. Cleaning buoys isn't boring. It's pretty dangerous.... heaving things that can rip off your arms or legs or crush you, blow torches, etc. And buoy tenders are pretty cool (I wasn't a buoy tender guy, but people on them love them. And there are opportunities for other missions on a buoy tender (although aids to navigation is their big baby). We worked with a number of buoy tenders in alien migrant interdiction operations (we used our flight deck, they used their buoy deck).

 

[NJROTC-CC]

That's a risk in any service. Cleaning buoys isn't boring. It's pretty dangerous.... heaving things that can rip off your arms or legs or crush you, blow torches, etc. And buoy tenders are pretty cool (I wasn't a buoy tender guy, but people on them love them. And there are opportunities for other missions on a buoy tender (although aids to navigation is their big baby). We worked with a number of buoy tenders in alien migrant interdiction operations (we used our flight deck, they used their buoy deck).

If he likes the job they assign him, great, whatever job it is. If not, he doesn’t have to stay in forever. It will be a good learning experience and a chance to serve his country. But his goal is law enforcement, not maintenance, so he will be shooting for something more aligned with law enforcement.

 

[kfd217]

A lot of truth and reality in this thread! I’ve seen a few “Action Jackson’s” put their name on the shortest “A” school list after a month in the scullery. As mentioned do a lot of research because the detailer won’t assign you to what and where you want to be he will assign you what and where the Coast Guard needs you to be.

 

[LurkingQuietly]

If he is assigned to cleaning buoys for 4 years, he will leave the service when he completes his enlistment and go to college. It will be the Coast Guard’s loss. He is not cut out for boring, mindless manual labor

My enlisted DD was on a buoy tender for 2 years (Newport RI), she wasn't strong enough to move the chain. Talk about the wrong girl for the job . She decided to be a Yeoman, then motherhood and out of the CG. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't say that was boring, mindless manual labor. I used to laugh at her stories of all the drama on that ship.

 

[NJROTC-CC]

I'm pretty sure she wouldn't say that was boring, mindless manual labor.

Call it what you want. He wants law enforcement. I will make sure that his enlistment contract gives him the training he wants. If not, then someone other than the Coast Guard will get his services.

 

[Devil Doc]

Call it what you want. He wants law enforcement. I will make sure that his enlistment contract gives him the training he wants. If not, then someone other than the Coast Guard will get his services.

I was going to ask, what about MP in the army or Marines?

 

[NJROTC-CC]

From what I understand, the Coast Guard offers the fewest number of guaranteed jobs of any branch to active duty enlistees. Just something to think about. After basic training in the Coast Guard you must strike for a job. I think my DS will have a good shot of landing a job he likes (because I am biased and think he is outstanding.) I just want to make sure he understands the risk that he might not get his first choice.

 

[ekb1398]

From what I understand, the Coast Guard offers the fewest number of guaranteed jobs of any branch to active duty enlistees. Just something to think about. After basic training in the Coast Guard you must strike for a job. I think my DS will have a good shot of landing a job he likes (because I am biased and think he is outstanding.) I just want to make sure he understands the risk that he might not get his first choice.

TL;DR he is actually virtually guaranteed his first choice as long he's willing to put in work while he's waiting his turn.

You're actually (partially) incorrect in this too, but in your sons benefit. You're correct that the Coast Guard doesn't offer jobs guaranteed in contract. The exception to this is jobs that are in a critical need (OS and CS are common ones. I believe IS is also critical right now. Speculation is that BM and MK may become critical.). Assuming he doesn't take one of those jobs in his contract, he will report to a unit as a non-rate out of Boot Camp. A non-rate is essentially an unskilled laborer, and they generally work broadly for either Deck Department of Engineering Department on a cutter or boat station, and are called Seaman or Fireman respective to those departments. Duties are still operational, so could include communications watchstander, boat crew member, and the like at a boat station. On a cutter, they'll perform duties like messcooking (washing dishes), helmsman (for a Seaman), or oiler (for a Fireman). After they have been there for the requisite amount of time (usually 4 months and fully qualified if I'm not mistaken), they are allowed to put their name on a list to attend A-school. This is the good news - your son would be able to put their name on any A-school list they qualified for on their ASVAB and medically. The catch is, as you alluded to in your initial post, really popular rates like ME and PA have a LONG wait list. Until their time is up, they're a non-rate at their initial unit they were assigned to out of boot camp.

The days of striking, where you could acquire a rate from on the job training, are no longer.

 

[nature boy]

If he doesn't care about money while in or retired, then go enlisted. If he does want to be in a better place financially, officer route is the way to go. My Dad had me talk to three retired enlisted servicemen and two retired officers. All of them loved the time they spent in their respective service, but if given a choice of doing it over again all of the enlisted said they would do it via the officer route, better active and retired pay and better housing accommodations were their rationale.