Service specific forums

[LineInTheSand]

All,

I know things about the US Coast Guard, and having been out, specifically about the fleet. I always debate whether USCG specific, however NON-Academy, info should be posted on the Coast Guard Academy forum, or the military news or off topic forums.

Do you think it would be appropriate to have sub-forums for specific services?

As a totally different forum from the related service academy. If I had advice about CGA, I would post/respond in the Coast Guard Academy forum, however if a prospective cadet had questions about a CG career or life after the Academy, it could be answered in the United States Coast Guard forum.


Each service could follow, a United States Air Force forum, a United States Navy Forum, a United States Marine Corps forum, a United States Army forum, and a United States Merchant Marine forum.

If you wanted to open it to all uniformed services you could include NOAA and the United States Public Health Service too..


I realize however, that this could take some conversation from the Academy forums. It was just a thought I had, and I wanted to put it out there.

 

[Zaphod]

There are the Academy/Military News and Off-Topic forums.

 

[LineInTheSand]

That's true, and those are the two I wrestle with, when it's Coast Guard related, but not academy related.

A big part of choosing an Academy, is the realization that you will owe 5 years, active duty, upon graduation and receiving a commission. It might benefit future or current cadets/midshipman, to have forums for specific questions regarding each branch, or do you think that's just best handled in that service's academy forum?

I know we have the News and the Off Topic forums, but if someone posts on there, thread topics can get lost in the mix, and for new posters, would they know to look there, if they have questions about service.


I guess I'm also asking, do you think it is appropriate to discuss branch specific questions in the Academy forums of those branches, or do you think those forums should be reserved strickly for Academy related issues?

 

[Zaphod]

I see nothing wrong with discussions of the Fleet (to pick one example) in the USNA forum, provided the discussions are interogative in nature and not just shooting the breeze.

For example, anything that comes from a news story should go into the Academy/Military News Forum, and for obvious reasons. If you and I want to swap sea stories of high-seas drug busts, that would go into the Off-Topic Forum. However, if you wanted to start a thread explaining to future USCGA Mids what they should expect to see once they graduate from USCGA, then by all means put it in the USCGA Forum. Same goes for questions from the candidates along the same lines.

That post I did in your thread explaining what a message header means could just have easily gone under Off Topic as USNA/USCGA as "How to read message traffic - you'll need to!"

That's my 1.5 cents (sorry, but the IRS is coming to visit tomorrow). If anyone else has ideas or suggestions, we're all ears.

 

[LineInTheSand]

Ok, that works too.

CGA cadets...not midshipmen (don't ask me why, our cards had midshipman, but we were always called cadets...