Thoughts/experience/advice to share regarding enlisting when receiving a NO for EA.

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hmb

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DD applied EA and received her NO letter today. She is very strongly considering enlisting after she finishes her SR year. She’s smart ambitious, but really can’t put her finger on what school she would want to go to other than CGA and she really wants to just get started in the CG. Currently going to dig into what it’s like to take college courses while enlisted. I think she just doesn’t want to do the waiting And wants to keep her forward momentum. We’d love some advice on this route and any good recruiters to reach out to that you know of?
Thank you and congrats to everyone who has made it into the CGA class of 2028!
 
Has she received a final no or is she now in the RA pool?

Very generally speaking, as a Navy-background person, going the enlisted path is the long way around, with no guarantees. Yes, there is a path, and there are definitely prior enlisted at USCGA, but we don’t know how many lose their way or are not offered an appointment.

If she enlists, the needs of the Coast Guard will come first, and she will be at the very bottom of the rank structure. Stellar performance, zero misconduct and a walk-on-water endorsement from her CO have to happen, and that takes time. She would enlist, go to initial and then technical training for her hands-on work, then possibly on to first duty station, depending on when she is eligible or able to apply. It can be difficult to get command support and accomplish all the required application steps, but of course it can be done.

Any local Coast Guard recruiter can assist her with enlisting and would likely be delighted to do so. There will be contact info online or a contact form. The nearest armed forces recruiting office may have a CG recruiter.

Typically, no enlisted recruiter can guarantee selection for a commissioning program down the road.

The military has numerous educational benefit programs to help enlisted personnel and officers obtain degreees. It can be remote or distance learning or going after hours to a local college or even to college classes at large military bases, if her work schedule permits. Tuition Assistance is the big one.

From reading posts here on SAF, USCGA Admissions is very good about talking to candidates not offered an appointment about what they need to work on. She should not leave that stone unturned.

And, is her goal attending USCGA -or - becoming a CG officer via any path -or - being in the Coast Guard. All slightly different. Did she look at USMMA or the state maritime academies as a path to a CG commission? (Rhetorical.)

Finally, serving as an enlisted person is honorable in and of itself and a great path to technical training, educational benefits in-service and post-service, all the benefits of active duty, as well as a path to leadership opportunities at sea and ashore, and promotion. The officer-enlisted relationship is a two-way street of deckplate technical expertise and small-team leadership, and big picture leadership and management, grounded in mutual respect and working together to accomplish a mission.

Helpful links:
uscga.edu

Enlisted Personnel - United States Coast Guard Academy

A Top Military College Welcoming Enlisted Personnel As an enlisted member of the U.S. Coast Guard or other armed force, you are welcome and encouraged to apply for admission to the Coast Guard Academy. As a member of the military, your professional experience is a strong asset in the admission...
uscga.edu uscga.edu



Officer Candidate School (OCS) | United States Coast Guard

www.gocoastguard.com www.gocoastguard.com

Direct Commission Officer Programs | United States Coast Guard

www.gocoastguard.com www.gocoastguard.com


Unofficial but usually reliable source:
www.military.com

How to Become a Coast Guard Officer

You can earn a commission as an officer in the Coast Guard through the Coast Guard Academy and Officer Candidate School, among other means.
www.military.com www.military.com

Connect with a Recruiter | United States Coast Guard

www.gocoastguard.com www.gocoastguard.com


This is all just general food for thought. I hope someone who has walked this path will post.
 
Last edited:
Capt MJ said:
Has she received a final no or is she now in the RA pool?

Very generally speaking, as a Navy-background person, going the enlisted path is the long way around, with no guarantees. Yes, there is a path, and there are definitely prior enlisted at USCGA, but we don’t know how many lose their way or are not offered an appointment.

If she enlists, the needs of the Coast Guard will come first, and she will be at the very bottom of the rank structure. Stellar performance, zero misconduct and a walk-on-water endorsement from her CO have to happen, and that takes time. She would enlist, go to initial and then technical training for her hands-on work, then possibly on to first duty station, depending on when she is eligible or able to apply. It can be difficult to get command support and accomplish all the required application steps, but of course it can be done.

Any local Coast Guard recruiter can assist her with enlisting and would likely be delighted to do so. There will be contact info online or a contact form. The nearest armed forces recruiting office may have a CG recruiter.

Typically, no enlisted recruiter can guarantee selection for a commissioning program down the road.

The military has numerous educational benefit programs to help enlisted personnel and officers obtain degreees. It can be remote or distance learning or going after hours to a local college or even to college classes at large military bases, if her work schedule permits. Tuition Assistance is the big one.

From reading posts here on SAF, USCGA Admissions is very good about talking to candidates not offered an appointment about what they need to work on. She should not leave that stone unturned.

And, is her goal attending USCGA -or - becoming a CG officer via any path -or - being in the Coast Guard. All slightly different. Did she look at USMMA or the state maritime academies as a path to a CG commission? (Rhetorical.)

Finally, serving as an enlisted person is honorable in and of itself and a great path to technical training, educational benefits in-service and post-service, all the benefits of active duty, as well as a path to leadership opportunities at sea and ashore, and promotion. The officer-enlisted relationship is a two-way street of deckplate technical expertise and small-team leadership, and big picture leadership and management, grounded in mutual respect and working together to accomplish a mission.

Helpful links:
uscga.edu

Enlisted Personnel - United States Coast Guard Academy

A Top Military College Welcoming Enlisted Personnel As an enlisted member of the U.S. Coast Guard or other armed force, you are welcome and encouraged to apply for admission to the Coast Guard Academy. As a member of the military, your professional experience is a strong asset in the admission...
uscga.edu uscga.edu



Officer Candidate School (OCS) | United States Coast Guard

www.gocoastguard.com www.gocoastguard.com

Direct Commission Officer Programs | United States Coast Guard

www.gocoastguard.com www.gocoastguard.com


Unofficial but usually reliable source:
www.military.com

How to Become a Coast Guard Officer

You can earn a commission as an officer in the Coast Guard through the Coast Guard Academy and Officer Candidate School, among other means.
www.military.com www.military.com

Connect with a Recruiter | United States Coast Guard

www.gocoastguard.com www.gocoastguard.com


This is all just general food for thought. I hope someone who has walked this path will post.
Click to expand...
A final NO, try again next year or another route.
This is all such great information- thank you for taking the time to write it out. I believe DD has already requested to get feedback from her AO (who honestly was very difficult to get conversation/support from during the admission process unlike the support from USNA) so I don’t think she expects a response.
The questions you raise here are exactly what she needs to think about- but maybe not have a definite answer for quite yet. My feeling is that she wants forward momentum and to head to boot camp, get that accomplished and under her belt, is what motivates her more than filling her days with classes at a college to check boxes and working to be what the CGA needs to build their class (especially when those needs change with every semester.
In the long run I think this may be a blessing! I want to help her have the intel she needs to confidently make the decisions that lay ahead because she definitely is eager to have a plan. Thank you!
 
Great attitude. Just in my personal life I've found that when something I've been gunning for doesn't happen there's usually something even better (for me) coming along and God is just saying to listen a bit better.
 
hmb said:
A final NO, try again next year or another route.
This is all such great information- thank you for taking the time to write it out. I believe DD has already requested to get feedback from her AO (who honestly was very difficult to get conversation/support from during the admission process unlike the support from USNA) so I don’t think she expects a response.
The questions you raise here are exactly what she needs to think about- but maybe not have a definite answer for quite yet. My feeling is that she wants forward momentum and to head to boot camp, get that accomplished and under her belt, is what motivates her more than filling her days with classes at a college to check boxes and working to be what the CGA needs to build their class (especially when those needs change with every semester.
In the long run I think this may be a blessing! I want to help her have the intel she needs to confidently make the decisions that lay ahead because she definitely is eager to have a plan. Thank you!
Click to expand...
And for something enjoyable for her to read, see link below. The chief petty officers, senior chief petty officers and master chief petty officers are the top three ranks of enlisted leadership, respected for the depth of their technical expertise in their rating (specialty) and their team leadership.

www.mycg.uscg.mil

Women of the Coast Guard tell their story

Our Voices, Our Coast Guard from the Coast Guard Office of Civil Rights
www.mycg.uscg.mil
 
I have no personal experience to offer but my son is in 26 class and his roommate enlisted after being denied or waitlisted (2025). He was at his boot camp graduation when his dad informed him he had been accepted into the academy for class of 26. He spent around 6 months enlisted in Alaska then flew to Ct for June 26 R day. He told me it was a great way to get in and would recommend anyone to do it. He really got to experience the CG a little before the grueling workload that comes with being in the academy and is always able to look forward to what’s ahead. So enlisting is not a dead end road if your passion is to become an officer.

And BTW he claims Swab summer is 1/4 as hard as the boot camp in cape may 🤣🤣🤣
 
Everything Capt MJ wrote is spot on.

I struggled to find myself after high school and would up enlisting in the USN after politely being asked not to return to Temple University for lack of academic effort. Signed up for the Montgomery GI Bill and went to Great Lakes for Recruit Training and EM "A" School.

Would up stationed in California in a unique assignment through dumb luck. Stood a lot of watches, painted just about everything you can think of, and became a cleaning expert! Reapplied to USNA and earned an appointment to NAPS. NAPS was a struggle in the classroom, but very necessary.

Graduated USNA and decided to try my hand at the USMC. Can't believe my 30th USNA Reunion is next year!

NAPS used to be almost exclusively for enlisted Sailors and Marines; it has unfortunately morphed into more of a haven for recruited athletes but that's a whole other discussion.

I think your daughter has a lot of great options in all branches of the armed services. Academy appointments for enlisted members are out there and I wish more of our enlisted members would take advantage of these education and commissioning programs.
 
I'm not necessarily "sold" on the whole "most probable" way to get into CGA. I think it all comes down to the person. If one enlists, works hard, retakes PFE/Scores, enrolls in some online classes after getting those baseline E-2/E-3 quals, I think they stand a good chance of getting in. Now, if they do all that, but they lose focus on their ROLE as an enlisted person but have great online courses, great scores, etc., and if it were up to me as an officer writing a letter of recommendation/command endorsement, I'd probably say their maturity level wasn't right--they lost sight of their enlisted duties. I think it is what you make of it. Now if they did all that and got a letter/command endorsement from their CO saying they are wonderful, I'd be apt to say that letter of recommendation 100% carries more weight than some math teacher or coach--just saying...but hey, I'm just a guy on the internet...hah.

I work with 2 fine former enlisted people that went to the CGA after (one is a supervisor senior officer and the other is a peer), so yeah, I think it is realistic considering the sample size of my experience, FWIW.

I will say there is some great benefits for enlisting first--it knocks off some time required to get that golden/magical/whatever you want to call it 20, even in the BRS landscape of today. You earn some wonderful life experience and get to see the "real" CG, and get some "street cred," whatever that means. Final thought--if I had someone go the enlisted route, I'd have them disclose it to their command upon check-in, but not let it "become" your personality/sole driver when working with other crew members--that'd be just downright a turnoff for the crew.

Cheers.
 
Understand that if you enlist to be a non rate , you will most likely go to a cutter. If you go to a cutter with a flight deck, (they represent the majority of non rate billets) then you 1, will not have the time to do online school except maybe during the imports, 2, will have very limited access to a computer. Internet is pretty good these days now that most cutters have starlink, but workstation access for nonrates is extremely limited.

Although, I think enlisting makes a lot more sense than going to some random college if you don’t know what you want to do in life and need to buy time to figure it out. And since your enlisting to figure out what you want to do in life, might as well go boot to A, to be an ET. Get yourself automatic promotion to E4, that 70k bonus, and an extremely marketable skill set. Furthermore, far more likely to go to land where you can take online classes, or if on a cutter far higher access to a computer.

There are a couple rates that this would apply to — OS, BM, GM, MK — but ET is gonna be the best bet for money, intellectual stimulation, and time/ability to do online classes due to lower afloat percentage.
 
Sierra said:
Understand that if you enlist to be a non rate , you will most likely go to a cutter. If you go to a cutter with a flight deck, (they represent the majority of non rate billets) then you 1, will not have the time to do online school except maybe during the imports, 2, will have very limited access to a computer. Internet is pretty good these days now that most cutters have starlink, but workstation access for nonrates is extremely limited.

Although, I think enlisting makes a lot more sense than going to some random college if you don’t know what you want to do in life and need to buy time to figure it out. And since your enlisting to figure out what you want to do in life, might as well go boot to A, to be an ET. Get yourself automatic promotion to E4, that 70k bonus, and an extremely marketable skill set. Furthermore, far more likely to go to land where you can take online classes, or if on a cutter far higher access to a computer.

There are a couple rates that this would apply to — OS, BM, GM, MK — but ET is gonna be the best bet for money, intellectual stimulation, and time/ability to do online classes due to lower afloat percentage.
Click to expand...
How does one obtain such a rate as soon as possible after boot?
 
Northwoods said:
How does one obtain such a rate as soon as possible after boot?
Click to expand...
The CG has critical rates, ie rates that don’t have enough 3rds. For these rates you can sign when enlisting to go straight to A school upon graduating Boot Camp. There is a reason the rate is critical, and it is usually because retention is particularly bad for it. However, for ET it is pull factors as opposed to the push factors seen in the other critical rates.
 
hmb said:
DD applied EA and received her NO letter today. She is very strongly considering enlisting after she finishes her SR year. She’s smart ambitious, but really can’t put her finger on what school she would want to go to other than CGA and she really wants to just get started in the CG. Currently going to dig into what it’s like to take college courses while enlisted. I think she just doesn’t want to do the waiting And wants to keep her forward momentum. We’d love some advice on this route and any good recruiters to reach out to that you know of?
Thank you and congrats to everyone who has made it into the CGA class of 2028!
Click to expand...
Recognize I am late replying and your DD may have already decided on an alternate path. However, if she is motivated to attend college and is oriented towards a military structure - the USCG has an alternative college commissioning route through its selective college program. All the Senior Military Colleges offer this as do other selected colleges. At The Citadel for example, cadets take NROTC and participate in the Coast Guard Auxiliary working with the local CG base. Worth considering if she does not mind the military structure and attending college. See:

irect Commission Selected School (DCSS) or Prior Trained Military Officer (PTMO)​

Have you had military training in college, such as ROTC or a military college, or prior experience as a military officer? You can bring your leadership skills to the Coast Guard through our Direct Commission Selected School (DCSS) or Prior Trained Military Officer (PTMO) programs.

 
glen said:
Recognize I am late replying and your DD may have already decided on an alternate path. However, if she is motivated to attend college and is oriented towards a military structure - the USCG has an alternative college commissioning route through its selective college program. All the Senior Military Colleges offer this as do other selected colleges. At The Citadel for example, cadets take NROTC and participate in the Coast Guard Auxiliary working with the local CG base. Worth considering if she does not mind the military structure and attending college. See:

irect Commission Selected School (DCSS) or Prior Trained Military Officer (PTMO)​

Have you had military training in college, such as ROTC or a military college, or prior experience as a military officer? You can bring your leadership skills to the Coast Guard through our Direct Commission Selected School (DCSS) or Prior Trained Military Officer (PTMO) programs.

Click to expand...
Great info. This was my daughter's backup plan last year if the academy route didn't pan out. She was accepted to VMI and Norwich and was going to pursue the DCSS route. The list of eligible SMCs is rather robust.
 
Have her decide would she still want to enlist if she knew she had no chance of getting into the CGA. Don't enlist in order to get to the CGA, enlist because she really wants to be in the Coast Guard. There are lots of people who have a fulfilling career as an enlisted person. Is there a job that she is interested in and would be happy doing? If that all makes sense, then it may be for her. If she enlists there are some benefits. I think reapplying saying she wanted to be in the CG that she enlisted rather than abandoning her dreams would be good next year. Unfortunately, depending on where she got assigned as an enlisted person could help/hurt her. If assigned as a Seaman to a cutter, she would have many opportunities to get to know the CO and more likely get a better recommendation. If assigned to a Station, the CO would be the Sector CO, which could be hours away and little chance to make a good impression. Same with taking college classes while enlisted, some jobs it would be very easy some impossible. Also having some enlisted time can make it better as careers become more competitive to stay in as officers rank up. There are also routes to Officers Candidate School (OCS) for enlisted persons, but a certain amount of college is required (45 credits?). She could pursue this if unsuccessful again. I know a couple people who failed out of the CGA, reverted to enlisted, then became (Reserve) Officers making it all the way to CDR. Similarly to when I enlisted in 2002, I think it is a great time to get into the Coast Guard. I wish her the best, as my daughter readies to apply to AIM.

Respectfully, J.R CWO-4 USCG(R)
 
Curious as to what changes in their portal to know. DS's AIM denial letter to Virtual letter was same link, same spot, the only thing that changed was the body of the letter. Will it be the same if you go from Deferred to Appointed?
 
Wondering same. Portal still only shows the deferral letter. Son has email trail that shows required information has been received & uploaded to his file.
 
Bduett said:
Curious as to what changes in their portal to know. DS's AIM denial letter to Virtual letter was same link, same spot, the only thing that changed was the body of the letter. Will it be the same if you go from Deferred to Appointed?
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Yes! Following.
 
Bduett said:
Curious as to what changes in their portal to know. DS's AIM denial letter to Virtual letter was same link, same spot, the only thing that changed was the body of the letter. Will it be the same if you go from Deferred to Appointed?
Click to expand...
How were you updated with an AIM change letter? Did they email you that there was a change in the portal?
 
Iblameej said:
How were you updated with an AIM change letter? Did they email you that there was a change in the portal?
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I don't recall he was. There was an email about putting him on a waitlist and he logged back in and the letter had changed. I wanted to keep the original (for just record keeping) but it was like it was replaced.
 
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