I enjoyed your post. As a USCGA 4/C parent and retired USN sailor, I agree that “total qualifications“ should definitely trump any consideration given an applicant that does or does not have a prior-serving immediate family member. That being said, there is tremendous value in having a prior-serving immediate family member for not only their cadet, but also, the cadet’s classmates and non-military experienced classmate parents. I’ll give some examples.
My cadet: My having a military background (USN) afforded my cadet a knowledge source for service expectations (long talks about the about the terribly serious responsibilities of being an OOD or EOOW at sea and how your actions or inactions could potentially save or end the lives of the Coast Guardsmen under your supervision, sacrificing your own personal freedoms for a greater good-military life, etc.) Additionally, my prior service afforded my son a knowledgeable person to go to for service academy application, application questionnaire, PFE training, etc. assistance. On a lighter note, attending R-day and Parents Weekends was so much smoother for my cadet because little things like having a retired military ID for easy campus access, understanding military etiquette, etc. and being able to point out little (and big) things that a non-military experienced parent wouldn’t notice or feel was significant. During Swab Summer and after I was able to advise about uniform preparation, seafaring traditions (why certain things were accomplished in certain ways aboard Eagle) etc. About 3 weeks ago, my cadet FaceTimed me on a Saturday evening. Evidently, he and his shipmates received training on the current Coast Guard retirement system (Blended Retirement System) and the training left them with way more questions than answers. We spoke for almost 3 hours referencing several Coast Guard, DOD, and military-related websites about the pros and cons of the Blended Retirement System vs. the High-3 Retirement System that was in effect when I retired from the US Navy. I could go on and on with another 100 or more examples. What I could not and cannot help my cadet with so far is academics! His Calculus I work looks like the green digital script from “The Matrix” movie.
Other cadets: To a much lesser extent, I have advised some of my cadet’s shipmates (especially his roommates and shipmates in his company) about some of the same things listed above. One of my cadet’s roommates is a foreign exchange cadet. Due to my extensive naval service in the 7th Fleet, I was able to speak intelligently about his home country, nearby waterways, culture, etc. I even went shopping at a local supermarket for treats from his home country and sent them in a care package.
Non-military experienced parents: As you know, the USCGA Parents and USCGA Parents Class of 202* Facebook groups are extremely active! Sometimes, parents ask military-specific, nautical-specific, and academy-specific questions that a non-prior service person could never know the answer to. I, and many other prior-serving parents, go way out of our way to assist and answer these questions. Personally, I’ve helped parents set up Navy Federal Credit Union accounts for their cadets, explained uniform requirements, explained the difference between leave and liberty, explained what shipboard life is like, etc. I could go on and on.