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Coast Guard vs. USMC

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BRM21o

BRM21o

New Member
Hey Devil Dogs,

A buddy of mine wants to fly for the Coast Guard. They have some Blue 21 program where you can get a guarenteed flight contract like through the USMC. What's the difference between a USMC and CG aviator? I'm completely clueless about what the CG is like. Thanks for any help!

Semper Fi

http://www.gocoastguard.com/dc/dcprograms/blue21.htm
 
U

usanavypilot

Registered User
I was looking into that earlier too. From what I read, you have to already have your commercial pilot's license to be guaranteed for aviation in the CG. If you go to OCS without it, you can be whatever they tell you they need. Plus, the CG only has a few planes and doesn't get to do all the things that the USMC does, like extract Marines and fun stuff like that. Good luck finding out info.
 
phrogdriver

phrogdriver

More humble than you would understand
pilot
Super Moderator
The Coast Guard is a very good organization. The aviation branch, in particular, does a lot of very demanding work. In particular, when the weather gets bad and no one else wants to fly, they go out looking for people out on the water. Most of it isn't "tactical" like the Corps (HITRON notwithstanding), but it can be just as hard, if not harder, than the stuff we do in the Corps.

The biggest thing to think about is that they are a very small organization, much smaller than the USMC. That's good, in the sense that there is a lot less bureaucratic BS. It also is a little limiting, in that the scope and breadth of your career may be a little narrower.

I'm no expert on their officer assessions, but if I wasn't flying for the Marines, they'd definitely be on my list of places to go.
 
46Driver

46Driver

"It's a mother beautiful bridge, and it's gon
I'll second what PhrogDriver said. The Coast Guard is a great organization - they do some flying when the weather is really, really bad. Their flight students train here at Whiting and receive the same wings of gold the Navy and Marines earn. Also, there are always a number of Navy and Marine instructor pilots trying to get an interservice transfer. Finally, the Coast Guard has a multitude of sweet duty stations and also has very limited deployments.
 
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