My daughter is having a very good time in the Coast Guard. She was 18 (and one day!) when she signed up, but didn’t start until a couple of months later because she was finishing a semester of community college.
She went to Basic Training in New Jersey and then was posted to a cutter based in Seattle. She’s been up to Alaska and Canada, to Southern California, and now on an extended tour of the Western Pacific (Hawaii, Guam, Borneo, Thailand, Indonesia, Borneo again ...).
She chose the Coast Guard over other services because she thought it was the best chance for a small girl with a lot of computer skills to see some action. She didn’t want to be a typist somewhere!
Sounds like a great experience. I wish I had investigated the Coast Guard when I was her age...
Thanks for the info! Fletcher J