A good question. USCGA is far older than USAFA, but the Coast Guard has worn blue for a slightly shorter time (called Bender Blues after the Commandant that switched from the uniforms similar to Navy).
The line is longer at USCGA....but I would be interested to know how many total graduates have come from USAFA.
For the pure sake of debate, does the "Long Blue Line" more appropriately belong to the USCGA or USAFA, because both schools use it.
A good question. USCGA is far older than USAFA, but the Coast Guard has worn blue for a slightly shorter time (called Bender Blues after the Commandant that switched from the uniforms similar to Navy).
The line is longer at USCGA....but I would be interested to know how many total graduates have come from USAFA.
Just read Adm. Bender's bio. Quite impressive. Especially because he was an aviator that became the CO of the 311-foot cutter Bering Straight as a captain. I thought that aviators didn't go afloat once pinning on their wings...
Just proves that aviators can be sailors, but sailors can't be aviators.
Just proves that aviators can be sailors, but sailors can't be aviators.
Probably got bored flying and wanted a hair cut. Or maybe he just felt guilty.
CGC Mellon’s first Commanding Officer, Captain Robert P. Cunningham, was thefirst Coast Guard aviator to command a 378-foot cutter. Her first crew numbered approximately 150 personnel. The crew began training at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, HI before Mellon's commissioning.
Not just more qualified, but the fact that an airdale isn't at all qualified.
To add onto that general fact, cuttermen and airdales aren't the best buddies. I don't see many qualified cuttermen appreciating an airdale onboard any longer than an AVDET has to be. A pilot hasn't earned his "lumps" like a cutterman has at sea. 30 ft. seas look much smaller 500 ft. in the air.