Coast guard???

Original post by jtgarsik

Mar 04, 2009 08:53 AM

okay girls - my best friend is getting married this year...i'm her moh! ANYWAYS, he man is highly considering joining the coast gaurd because it's something he's wanted for a very long time and his time is running short on the recruitment age. She's being super supportive, but worried sick which i totally understand.. she knows some stuff, but is trying to find out more about it first hand...just wondering if anyone has any PERSONAL experience..family members, (spouses??) etc.. she's looking for the good, the bad, the great & the ugly... i told her my liw ladies always have an answer lol. so PLEASE any info please let me know! or if u know any of the ladies on here who's hubby or fiance is a part of it.. thankyou so much for any info! for now we're just browsing websites

Dr Meg Posted: Mar 04, 2009 12:12 PM

Re: Coast guard???

Posted by jtgarsik

Posted by Dr Meg

Sorry to crash, but one of my close friends (and BMs) husband is in the Coast Guard. He was in the full Coast Guard when we were in college and he had really no say where he was stationed (he was in NH for a while and then in NC).
He is now in the reserves. He has already spent 6 months in Cuba at Gitmo (in 2006-2007) and is now being shipped to Kuwait in June for 9 months.
He is a boat mechanic so he is never really on the front lines, but I know my friend worries a lot when he is gone. She had wanted him to not reenlist in the reserves after he went to Cuba but he did anyway and once he did he got his orders for Kuwait.

when he was away for the 6months in Cuba, did she go with him and get stationed or was this a mission and he was AWAY for 6months and she stayed here???

He was gone for 6 months and she stated in the US. Same thing with him going to Kuwait. I don't know if she had the option to go with him (I don't think she did) but she has a very good job with GE and I don't think she would have given that up.
When he was in the full CG she did spend a summer in NC with him during summer break from school. But again she had obligations here at school in LI during the year and she she lived here and he was stationed elsewhere.
His job in the US was obligated to hold a position for him when he returned. So like others said you work a regular job during the week and go to training on the weekends, but if you get sent away you have to go.

bluesashbride Posted: Mar 05, 2009 09:18 PM

Re: Coast guard???

Posted by cbcf

Posted by jtgarsik

lol my girl (gina!) is sitting here with me..(i keep TELLING her to join liw for goodness sake lol)...she wants to know (if anyone knows)...

when u go into the reserves (as opposed to enlisted) are u still on the move every 2-4 years??? all the websites have so much info for the enlisted but barely anything on the reserves...it really just says the basics about it being parttime..u work 2days a month etc... and that being in the reserves usually means u work close to home...

anyone know the details?? are u still frequently re-stationed???

ok....well coast guard is technically not the military...sorry to be a downer...but that is a good thing in a way. And I am not at all putting them down because God knows what they do everyday and how they risk their lives in such extrodinary ways to save others.

But for the Marines the reserves you stay in your duty station, DH just went from active duty stationed in MD, Cali, Japan, Iraq etc. to reserves where he wroks out of Garden City and can have a regular job but does 1 weekend a month working for them and 2 weeks out of the yea (usually in the summer) so if GC is anything like that I am guessing that is what the reserves would be. I know for military your duty station can change anywhere from 2-4 years being somewhere...so that might be the same as well. However, DH told me that yes they kind of tell recruites what they want to hear and make it sound nice but they will also tell them what goes into being in the Military. So I am sure the GC isn't lieing to your friend...well hopefully not. And they aren't shady. I think it takes a strong person to join the military. Just as I think it takes a strong person to join the Coast Guard.

But if I were your friend I would def be asking questions not only to the recruiters but people who are actually in the Coast Guard...maybe she can find a website where there is blogging. I know there was one for the Marines where you could talk to other wives, husbands etc. Pretty interesting and good information.

Actually this is wrong, during a time of declared war the Coast Guard is under the auspice of the DoD. In wartime, the Department of Defense has authority over the Coast Guard; in peacetime, that agency is under the control of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to the U.S. Code, the Coast Guard is at all times considered one of the five armed services of the United States.

The average time for a duty station for the Coast varies. InCONUS (In the Continental United States) can be 36 - 48 months on average, OCONUS 18-36 months.

Overall, within the military, the Coast Guard is highly regarded. I recently had a friend and fellow officer lat transfer from Navy to CG. He wanted to strictly fly SAR (Search and Rescue) missions, and not go through the shore tour BS with the Navy. He had to take a reduction in rank to get into the CG, they are just that picky, but he did and is very happy.

lucamon Posted: Mar 05, 2009 10:16 PM

Re: Coast guard???

I'm not trying to scare you and I don't know much about the situation since it's very touchy at the moment. My MOH's boyfriend is a CSI for NYPD and he enlisted in the Coast Guards during the Katrina crisis to help out. He had no idea that he can be drafted for war, not as a coast guard but he is. He will be shipped out to Afganistan at the end of the month. He will be in the front line. My MOH is torn apart. They've only been dating for 6 months but she has decided to wait for him.