The Coast Guard is a specialized branch of military tasked with the responsibility of protecting the public, environment, and U.S. security and economic interest in the maritime region including international waters and America’s ports, coasts, and inland waterways.
In order to accomplish these missions and many more, this service has more than 40,000 active-duty men and women, 35,000 Auxiliary personnel serving in a variety of job fields as well as 8,000 Reservists.
It falls under the newly-created Department of Homeland Defense, but was formerly under the Department of Transportation.
However, the Coast Guard is a military service since, in the event of war, the President of the United States can order the transfer of any or all of the assets owned by Coast Guard to the Navy.
Commanded by Coast Guard Commandment, who is a 4-star admiral, this unit is tasked to perform the following missions;
On average, the Coast Guard will do the following in a day;
This service was incepted in 1790 and operated under the name Revenue Marine. This makes it one of the oldest continuous maritime service.
The U.S. Coast Guard is a highly selective service that does more with less. This means they have to handpick versatile and hardworking individuals to be able to perform more missions than members of other services.
To become one of the servicepersons in this unit, there are strict requirements you have to fulfill. Here is a summary of the coast guard requirements;
For you to join the Coast Guard, you need to be either a U.S national or a resident alien. A person born in the United States is a U.S. citizen, same as U.S. citizen’s children born overseas. Also, if you earned your citizenship through naturalization (passing tests in English and civics), you can qualify as well. On the other hand, a resident alien is a non-citizen who is legally residing in the United States. Those who are permanent residents are often called green card holders.
Coast Guard age limit: You must fall between 17-27 if joining for active duty, and 17-39 for reserve duty. However, 17-year-old recruits will require parental consent
Height and weight requirements: To be a member of Coast Guard, you must remain fit by maintaining their MAW (Maximum Allowable Weight). There are specific guidelines for this.
Dependents: They should not exceed three.
Education: You need to have a high school diploma although sometimes they accept GED.
Assuming you have met all the above requirements, you will now need to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test often called ASVAB test.
To be enlisted, you need to meet the minimum ASVAB score. This test measures your skills, to help the Coast Guard determine the tasks you are best suited for.
You also need to pass the basic military medical exam to confirm you are in good state of health for the service.
Simply meeting the basic requirement and qualifications needed by Coast Guard doesn’t mean you are ready for the ‘real’ training.
You will not join the Guard unless you complete eight weeks of basic physical training at Cape May, New Jersey. You will not graduate unless you pass the guard’s physical fitness test.
Here are the physical fitness tests to complete;
However, some of these standards are different for women;
If you fail to meet the Coast Guard requirement needed for physical fitness at Cape May, your company commander will work with you to enable you to meet them. The closer you are to meeting the targets, the better your chances of graduating.
During your 8 weeks stay in Cape May, you will be required to use your brain and strength. You will receive intense theoretical instruction to equip you with entry-level skills for your role. Also, you will learn a lot about Coast Guard history, military justice, and military ethics.
Other training you will get include:
You will also engage in team-building exercises.
If even after working with your company commander, you fail to meet the physical and academic standards, you will not graduate to join the Coast Guard. You will have to go home and choose a different career path.
Those who complete basic training successfully become E2 guard members, firemen, or seamen. From there, they proceed to their first unit where they are exposed to different career paths available to members of Coast Guard.
If you are interested in joining the Coast Guard to save lives and protect the water borders of the U.S. as well as secure the borders, then here are the steps to follow so you can become a Guardian;
The first thing to do before joining the Coast Guard is to determine if it is the right place for you. Research about your options and understand what life will be like as a Coast Guard member.
The USCG job involves dealing with highly-sensitive information and national security issues.
You need to meet the requirements we have discussed in the previous subtopic such as passing the ASVAB test, passing a military basic medical exam, passing a criminal record review, and much more.
There are several careers in the Coast Guard including;
After knowing the requirement and the career path to follow, it is time to talk to a recruiter.
Ask them important questions such as:
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test assesses your skills in general science, mathematical knowledge, word knowledge, numerical operations, auto and shop information, paragraph comprehension, mechanical comprehension, electronic information, and assembling objects.
The recruitment process for the Coast Guard is very thorough, and you will have to go through police background check whereby felony convictions will lead to your disqualification. Also, you will go through a credit check to disclose your financial security. A security clearance check will be run since you will be dealing with matters of national security.
This is where you meet with your recruiter. They will be evaluating your personal attributes and skills. Consider this as a job interview. Based on your answers, a recruiter will fill out different forms to validate that you are eligible for the service. They normally test professionalism, attitude, respect, honesty, physical abilities, work ethic, and language proficiency.
Here, you will be doing basic training to test if you are physically fit and mentally prepared for a transformation. It will take eight weeks. We will talk more about this in our next subtopic.
This is where recruits transform from civilians to Guardsmen. It will be physically and mentally challenging so that you can learn the importance of teamwork and hard work.
Here is a brief of Coast Guard Boot Camp:
Boot camp takes 8 weeks where you will learn skills, teamwork spirit, and what it means to live in accordance with the set core values.
The training is challenging and rough, and thus you need to be prepared.
As a Coast Guard, you will be tasked with the responsibility of saving lives and enforcing laws and these tasks requires you to be physically and mentally tough.
Here is a breakdown of how the training will be:
You will arrive in Cape May by bus. After getting here, your hair will be cut, and initial medical screening will be performed.
You will be issued with a uniform, and there will be other administrative tasks that will take place.
This will be your first step towards your transition from a civilian to a Coast Guardsman.
Of course, at the end of the forming stage you will not feel like a military member, but you will begin to act and look like one.
After about three days, all of you will become a Recruit Training Company. You will be assigned a company each with a Company Commander.
Your Company Commander (CC) will influence you a lot. He/she will be an instrumental figure in your growth as a Coast Guardsman.
They will teach you respect, honor, and devotion to duty.
Your CC will be demanding and tough and will help you grow in an unimaginable way.
Your first weekend with your company will, of course, be challenging since you will be learning to take and obey orders as well as act as a team member.
This might be the most difficult period of your eight-week stay in the Boot Camp.
After forming the company, you will undergo thorough physical fitness training, and you will also be given the required knowledge including military drill, basic classes, and military courtesies and customs.
This happens at the end of the fourth training week. If you pass the mid-term exam, you will go ahead to fill your ADC or Assignment Data Card.
This tells the Coast Guard where you are suited to serve. You will be assigned a unit or ship depending on the needs to fulfil.
The ADC gives the Coast Guard an idea of where you would like to serve, but this doesn’t mean you will be assigned to your desired unit; the Coast Guard will assign you anywhere your services are needed.
Training at this stage is more hands-on and practical. You will learn line handling, marksmanship, firefighting, and seamanship.
At this stage, you are already conducting yourself as a member of the United States Armed Forces. Your training is now purely practical, and you are preparing for graduation.
In the final week of training, you will be taught first aid and CPR.
To join the Coast Guard, you have to meet all the requirements. You need to have a passion for serving your country.
Some of the requirement include being a U.S. national or a resident alien, be between 17-31 years for active duty Coast Guard or 17-40 for reservists.
You also need to have a high school diploma and not have more than three dependents. There are other requirements as discussed in our earlier section.
The Coast Guard Boot Camp, which last for eight weeks, is one of the toughest boot camps as compared to that of Air Force and Navy.
You need to be physically and mentally prepared since it is tough and rough.
According to the official Coast Guard website, all active-duty coast guard members start out making approximately $20,000 annually.
However, your ultimate salary will depend on your rank and the length of time you’ve served.
Here’s a snapshot of Coast Guard enlisted basic pay rates for 2019:
And here’s a snapshot of Coast Guard officer pay rates for 2019:
Enlisted members have a clear advancement system; they know what they need to do to advance. However, on the part of officers, guarantee for promotions is complicated although promotions from ENS to LTJG is guaranteed.
Both fields have their benefits but being an enlisted member is better if you are looking to advance to a higher level.
If you’re looking to make more money, clearly the officer route is the way to go.
Being a unique force tasked with military and civilian duties, Coast Guard missions touch virtually all facets of maritime interests.
On an average day, the Coast Guard;
There are 20 enlisted coast guard jobs, often called ratings divided into 4 major categories;
Related Article: 5 Best Coast Guard Jobs
Deciding to join the Coast Guard is down on your commitment and your passion for serving your country. While members of the Air Force and Army may go to foreign theaters of war to defend the United States, Coast Guard members defend the US within its territories.
Therefore, if you are passionate about serving your nation and feel that you can meet all the requirements needed, the Coast Guard offers a great opportunity for that. We hope that our guide clears all the question you had about joining Coast Guard.
Resources:
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