I knew a few RM’s,Rm 3 RM2 (no longer a rate) none ever referred to themselves as “communicators” 1st I ever ever heard of the rate referred to as you have.
So as a communicator after 14.5 what rank did you leave as ?
I sat behind a few right seat and left seaters in the radio seat back in the 70’s nothing in CGD# 7 got relayed.
I suppose your initial post, to me, was a dig at the CG which peaked my interest.
Rescue swimmers are cream of the crop, no one can compare.
I entered the Coast Guard Reserve as an RM2, Radioman 2nd Class (E5), and
retired 14.5 years later as a TCC Telecommunications Chief (E7). Today, I believe the rating has changed again and I think they may have consolidated the communications responsibilities with the ODO responsibilities (plotting currents, resource allocation, District real time communications, etc.).
During my CG search and rescue career, we always were reminded that the Navy resources were always available, even though we didn’t have any info on where they were. We would joke about the Navy having too rough a demeanor for rescue operations, being constantly trained in how to “break things”, and not trained in search and rescue. So it was a friendly dig at the Navy, not the CG.