Coast Guard Programs

[HercDriver]

By the look of the folks that side of the house it seems to be who can eat the most.

Aren't you 65 guys required to be on the weight program until the re-engining of the 65's takes place; you know, big guy + underpowered aircraft = limited hoist capability? I keed, I keed.

Aviators are like Oscars:icon_fish...they grow to the size of the aircraft they are flying. Hence, many C-130 pilots are big muscular types...with most of the muscle around their waist. Two box lunches per flight helps too.

 

[USCGaviator]

Is there some sorta competition to get a seat in an HH-60J? Is it the same in the Navy where if you graduate top in your Naval Flight School class, you get to choose your aircraft?

In the CG, a student pilot's choice of aircraft/duty station is based upon flight school grades....I'm not so sure that an HH-60 seat is the most desirable RW choice.

By the way, I'm a DCA so I don't have any information on CSPI or the Blue 21 Program for you. Sorry.

 

[STARFlight145]

I really appreciate all the input fellas. Got another question. Obviously, there's the possibility that I won't get a flight slot. I was looking over the USCG site for officer careers and didnt find much information. What other officer positions are there for the Coast Guard?

 

[Gatordev]

Ridin' the cutters. But it's a lot different than the Navy career path. A JG can become an XO of the smaller cutters, so there's a chance for a lot of responsibility.

Another job is the LE dets that deploy on the ships for CD ops. They do all kinds of training w/ boarding (non-compliant and otherwise), helo-casting/fastroping, and general LE stuff. I think the officers that do that are post ship tours, though, much like aviation.

 

[sardaddy]

Officers are spread out all over the Coast Guard. Even right out of OCS, or the Academy. You could be assigned to a cutter, aviation, a Marine Safety Office, Gulf Strike Team (pollution response), and the ever dreaded admin job.

Unlike the Navy you can get a lot of responsibility at an early stage in your career. There are many O-2s that command their own cutters or small boat stations. There are a lot of E-9s that do the same thing.

The Coast Guard is a great opportunity no matter what you do as an officer.