Posted on 05/23/2005 7:54:14 AM PDT by coder2
My 17-old son (HS junior) told us over the weekend is thinking of joining the Coast Guard.
It was a complete surprise; he spoke of the Marines before, but never the CG. We did some research on the net and even went to the Coast Guard Academy website.
He's a great kid, all boy though (lol), is bored with school, but has a 3.7 gpa. Will be taking the ACT test next month. Great in Math & Science, but doesn't like English much. Plays varsity sports and is extremely strong physically.
We have been a little concerned over the past year 'cuz he hasn't really shown much interest in going to college, but I do realize that this is normal (just strange in this house), and attributed it to his boredom with school in general.
So I asked him why he felt that if he went to the Coast Guard Academy, what would be different.. And he made us proud when he said that it would be different because he would be doing this to serve his country..
So anyway, that's why I thought I would turn here to see what you guys thought. There is no local recruiter around, closest is about 200 miles away.
Looking for advice as to whether he should go in as enlisted, or try to get into the CGA, etc. General thoughts about the Coast Guard, sources to go for more info, etc. That kind of stuff.
Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
He definitely needs to learn more. I have no clue whether or not he wants to be on a ship (he does like boating though, but has never sailed). Very good question though for him.
He loves shooting (very good at it), is shorter than 6" (however, I do believe he still may grow a few more inches). Most people think it is closer to 25 years old than 17.
He's a football player, and he power weight-lifts, very very strong -- he amazes us with his strengh. Hubby does joke though that he probably shouldn't be on a sub, with the width of his shoulders and chest, he wouldn't be able to walk through without going sideways.
Family tradition ?? Wide variety of service, so no fast and firm tradition.
I'll try to get him to pin-point more of what he wants so he can better decide which branch would be best. Thanks.
One thing I forgot to put in my original post that says much about the kind of boy we raised is this. He came home from school on 9/11/2001, and one of the first questions he asked me was how old did he have to be to join to fight those bas###ds (first time I ever heard him swear).
He was only 13 at the time, but still to this day, considers it an honor to have the opportunity to serve his country. So we're just trying to find the right place for him.
The military is inherently dangerous and what they do to be ready kills people on a routine basis, yet you can never get a second of time on CNN or a drop of ink from the Washington Post about it.
Our nephew went to the Coast Guard Academy on a soccer scholarship for a year and liked it. He also spent a summer afterwards on their old tall mast ship and also enjoyed that. He used that time to decide for sure what he really wanted to do for a career. At the end of the year he told them he would pursue his engineering degree at another university. There were no hard feelings, in fact, they wanted him to work on the tall ship that summer in spite of the fact he was leaving the Academy at the end of it. He is now doing post graduate work at an engineering school and working on actual building projects this summer. The Coast Guard seems to encourage young men to stick with the Coast Guard only if they really want to be there and for no other reason.
But maybe I'm wrong... I didn't think the CGA did scholarships at all, since they don't have tuition. Again I could be wrong.
The actual ROTC work is handled during the school year as classes. The main impact was that those classes tended to be early morning classes, and I would be in uniform on those days. Some professors had a bit of a problem with that - the uniform pretty quickly becomes a magnet for that kind of pinhead. However, that was kind of good in a way in that these problem individuals identified themselves pretty quickly. I did not have any grade problems from these folks, so it was no skin off my nose.
Summers there are optional (and then later mandatory) 'summer camps', that are part basic training, part field exercise and part continuing officer education. Those were a blast; I learned as much or more from those 4 to 6-week sessions as I would from regular ROTC classwork.
For me, the impact on college was positive. I was in ROTC during the Reagan years, so there was a good amount of popular support for the uniform among the students. Many of the professors were former 60s liberals, but even they were for the most part supportive, or at least no openly antagonistic. Might be different on campus now, but I think that might be more a regional issue than a national question.
And also, that was NOT a stupid question. That really needs to be part of the decision process for ROTC; no sense doing it for a while and then quitting - learn as much as you can in advance and then the informed decision will usually be a good one.
"not dockside safety inspections"
Most of the dockside I do are the result of a termination at sea by a cutter
or the result of being towed in by a 47' or 52' boat (which is a mandatory boarding).
My job is then to make sure all the violations have been corrected.
My exam is then entered in the data bank.
This is how I spend my volunteer hours each and every week.
Not my son but the son of coder2
Dept of Homeland Security now.
I spent just under 7 years as an enlisted CG. My thoughts on the Coast Guard as a first step are as follows:
1. Enlisted: For the CG I think you should really want to be there. I saw many people who were not sure what they wanted to do with their lives flounder, the Coast Guard does not give as much enforced motivation to the enlisted person as I would imagine some of the other services do. This will of coarse vary from command to command but my opinion was that you had to be self motivated to really take advantage of all they had to give you. The other negative for enlisted service is you only get the basic GI bill. One last thought, with few exceptions all enlisted will spend around 1 -2 years as an E-2 – E-3 doing various seaman/engineer related tasks. Most will be sent to ships but some will go to small boat and other more land based commands. (I was cutting grass and painting buildings, but this is rare) The work will be tough, sometimes thankless, and menial, that said if you show good attitude and work hard you will be given better work assignments and responsibility even as a E-2, E-3.
2. Officer: As I was enlisted I only have a couple of things to say. With the exception of the aviation ranks, I always thought of officers as mostly managers, the enlisted got to do most of the fun work. Also in the sea service the junior officers are kept from real responsibility by the Chiefs. It was never a good idea to overrule your chief even if he was wrong. There are good things and bad about this but I think it keeps the officers from really leading until they get to the department head level. There are two things that junior officers can do that I think really helps their leadership development. One: Being able to qualify as underway officer of the deck and conn. Two: Being a boarding team member/leader, but these tasks are never the primary job of any officer.
Overall I think it can be a great first step but you should go in with a definite plan for what you are going to do with you time in the Guard.
This is why I am glad he is researching this (with our help of course) and not making a quick decision. This is also why I am so very grateful for wonderful freepers who share their thoughts and experience with us.
Well, it was my understanding that he was going on a soccer/athletic scholarship, but I get things mixed up a lot. He did play soccer on their team.
You are clear enough.
Most of the people who go to the CGA have a plan, even if it is to get your degree, your experience, some adventure, and then bail out to the civilian side.
It's not a place to 'decide' what you want to do, per se. Most of the people in my class that got in planned on getting in since they were freshmen in HS. My plan: my parents weren't paying for my degree, period. From there, I could make almost anything worked.
I chose the degree (Electrical Engineering) because I felt it had the best potential for job prospects in technology than any of the other major choices. In retrospect, I'd have chosen Computer Science - highly prized in the CG I might add.
He's got the grades, the extracurriculars and all of that - if he's got a shot at getting in, and he prizes the difference in the college experience that a military academy provides, then he should commit to getting in and go full throttles into trying to get in.
As for my comments about going enlisted, being a seamen or firemen sucks, but once you've made your school, you'll be amazed at the responsibilities you get as an enlisted person. I recommend going enlisted if he just can't find himself, doesn't know what he wants to do, sick of school, etc. Nothing like going enlisted to underline the value of a college education.
My business partner, who's father was a very high exec at Siemens, was sat down and offered two scenarios: become a plumber, per se, or go to college and become a doctor, per se.
Ostensibly, what this man was trying to show his son was the economically, going to a trade school and becoming either an electrician, a plumber, or an HVAC tech was almost economically on par with going to school and becoming either a doctor, or to a lesser extent a lawyer.
The trades I've highlighted above are very secure positions, can't be outsourced, very readily made into self-run businesses, lucrative, etc. Two years out of school and you have your pick of entry level positions by which you can gain experience and become a journeyman. For someone 'out of love' with school, these trades might help him learn something very marketable, but at the same time get him out of the college track grind he's now in.
Added benefits: No boot camp, no commitment to serve, and you still have the option of joining the national guard. This also allows him to apply for a college should he want to do so later (i.e. CGA would still be an option, and the extra trade experience shows a high degree of maturity in the face of indecision about your future).
Adventure-wise, going enlisted is fun, but you are essentially beholden to puke ensigns out of college.
CGA is a marvelous, incredible, once-in-20 lifetimes education, but I'd have a plan for what I was going to do as a civilian before my first day at the CGA. Being a Commander, Captain, or Admiral in the CG is almost demeaning in terms of the amount of bowing and scraping you have to do just to get promoted.
In fact, the best officers I served under only wanted to drive certain ships (Icebreakers, for example) that were highly specialized. These guys knew they weren't making Admiral, but they knew they were going to get bounced between CO jobs on breakers, Headquarters, Ice Patrol, then back to a CO job. They, frankly, had the guts to call situations as they saw them because they weren't putting their careers first in the decision making process.
That is the WHOLE problem with the CG: The primary decision making criteria is always career, then its the good of the CG, then the good of the personnel.
I can attest that parts of the CG are very liberal in their leanings, but am hearing that even that is changing. Th
"The military is inherently dangerous and what they do to be ready kills people on a routine basis, yet you can never get a second of time on CNN or a drop of ink from the Washington Post about it."
Sure you can. When they are trying to undermine the military, or it's training methods, or preparations. The media gleefully chirps about things that they think they can use to reduce the effectiveness of the military.
But you're right. Accidents that happen, things that can't be avoided or accounted for. Not a peep about that.
I often think of how many soldiers would be killed just in routine ops in peacetime.
What you put is similar to what we talked about to our son. #1, you have to find something marketable to do (meaning don't go to college to be a history teacher, no offense to history teachers), choose tech or college, but what are your goals for lifestyle and comfort of living. LOL --- he likes his current lifestyle very much thank you was his reply --- LOL.
I told him that this was 100% due to hard work but you also need to make smart decisions along the way.
I could see our son doing many things, anywhere from the trades you mentioned to being a top executive. But he needs to find his place.
He needs to do more research and talk to more people. That is the main thing.
Thanks again...
Your son sounds like a real good kid. Best wishes to both of you.
For example, when I was a single guy working the avionics systems of the F-14 in a fighter squadron aboard USS John F. Kennedy, I was able to live in a barracks (or rent a house) on land after a six-month deployment, while the "black shoes" had to remain and live aboard ship.
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