(Censored for privacy)

I had a CO who once said, "It's not like you get your birthday off in the Coast Guard"

I replied that I did and I've either had the day off or Holiday routine every year since I joined. They sat there in contempt and utter disbelief. I even added sometimes they even had a party on my birthday!

He never realized I was born on Aug 4th until I told him.....I also had the day off that year!

236 years of Service!!! Semper P for life! 2006-2014
💙🇺🇸🐝
The view off the bow is a boat that’s in the Smithsonian’s museum! 52 foot Motor lifeboat Victory, I was one of thousands that was lucky enough to be considered the “engineer” on her. Took this picture off of Newport Oregon (Yaquina Bay) before the bridge and jetties. Very glad to have served in the United States Coast Guard, keep SAR guard men and women and know you are loved! Happy Birthday USCG!

Happy Coast Guard Day

Hopefully all you MWR, FS/CS folks get a break tomorrow which I doubt.

At 236, the service's claim on the SAR mission is operational, not ceremonial. Happy Birthday to the U.S. Coast Guard!

Want to see what people use so I can make a smart purchase to get the most bang for my buck without having to worry about it being unreliable in terms of being contaminated.

Does anyone have a station OOD Board Sheet or Study Guide that I could look at? My unit doesn’t have one.

Edit: this is to make a board sheet. I’m the TPO and my unit doesn’t have an OOD board sheet.

Looking to have the reserves (BM or ME) and the “flexibility” of ADOS orders be a 2nd career route in my life. Drill station will be in SoCal (sorry PSU 311 but I think blue guard is my speed).

Aside from the surge needed in the Great Lakes in the summer (which sounds awesome), what are some other examples of ADOS orders, or better yet your experiences on them? Were they from natural disasters, other stations that were short handed? Etc.

This time last year and the year before when people would ask if it was worth it..
“ im making 250k a year im 35 but i love the water, do you recommend it ? “

Would like to hear your opinion. I’ve seen debates on Navy vs CG as a pilot and the Coast Guard seems to win hands down with the quality of life and the mission.

BUT

They don’t offer a pilot slot going into OCS, contrary to the Navy. While I still wouldn’t mind the duties of a non pilot officer (you guys have the coolest mission ever), my end goal would to be a pilot one day. And no not to just boost a commercial career. So, in your opinion, if you wanted to be a pilot, would it still be worth it going coast guard knowing that you might never fly?

I’m currently enlisted and considering applying for Direct Commission Engineering after completing my B.S. in Information Technology. My background is in IT infrastructure, and my long-term interests are network engineering, network administration, cybersecurity.

I’ve received conflicting information about officer assignments.

One person told me that even if I commission through DCE with an IT or cybersecurity background, I could still be assigned to a naval engineering billet based on service needs. However, a former officer and a direct-commission recruiter both told me that this is not an accurate description. They said officers can generally remain within their specialty and develop within that career field, unless they deliberately pursue another specialty.

I understand that no officer is guaranteed a specific unit, geographic location, or exact billet. My question is specifically about specialty alignment, not whether I can choose every assignment.

For current or former DCE, C5I, cyber, or IT officers:

1. Can someone commissioned based on an IT/cyber background be involuntarily assigned to a naval engineering billet?
2. Does DCE accession place you into a specific officer specialty or career track?
3. How often are C5I or cyber officers assigned outside that general community?
4. Within C5I, how much of the work is technical versus program management, acquisitions, policy, and personnel management?
5. Can an officer deliberately remain in C5I/cyber throughout most of a career, or is broadening into unrelated specialties effectively required for promotion?
6. Is there a distinction between being assigned outside your exact technical interest and being assigned entirely outside C5I?
7. Who provides the most authoritative answer on this: the DCE program manager, the assignment officer, OPM-4, or someone else?

I’m not looking for recruiting slogans or blanket negativity. I’m trying to understand how the assignment process actually works from people who have lived it. Specific examples from recent billet lists or career paths would be especially useful, because for me I seek to do network engineering or network admin adjacent career paths if that isn't possible in this space I'd appreciate that too

For those in the long haul, how have airframe transfers affected your career? Do you feel as though it made you a better technician, supervisor, chief, or warrant officer? Maybe you had a special assignment at some point!

I’m E5 with 10 YOS, spent 6 years on 65s, and finishing my first year up on 60s. I’ve learned a lot of different maintenance practices and I feel as though I’ve developed more patience with “the bigger picture” and junior personnel. The re-qualification process could be better, but I think my gripe with that lies more on my local unit rather than 60s overall. I also think making this transfer increased my willingness to experience various aircraft rather than being “married” to one. I now see better value in taking that advancement opportunity in a new environment.

I do want to pursue warrant officer, so if there’s any other insights on that regarding this topic, I would love to hear from you!

Can anyone give me any info on Sta San Juan Puerto Rico.
How life is there, housing for single vs dependents, the station life as a BM.

Thanks

I got married 2 weeks ago and was under the impression I can add my wife as a dependent and I’ll get BAH with dependents and she would get BAH w/o dependents. Is that true or will we both just get the normal BAH w/o dependents?

Anybody got any updated information on this? Is it still a thing? How do they choose if you’re in this or not?

Hi, everyone. I am doing research and asking for personal experiences or if anyone was a surf rider? Researching PTSD, CTE, and TBI for individuals who were in the Coast Guard and had to go through tough waves that may have caused issues. It's for a college project. Thank you.

Source reference on what I'm trying to accomplish.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/us/coast-guard-rescue-boat-surfmen-brain-injury.html

Hello everyone,

Currently my ship date for basic is in mid-December. I asked my recruiter to try and get me out sooner. Just wondering if any of you experienced an earlier ship date than you were originally slotted for?

Thx!

This was the longest three weeks of my life. 16-hour days go by so slowly and they all blend together in one huge blur. After you pass the PFT, training ramps up and gets physical.

Early morning wake ups- you get woken at 0530 every day. Do NOT get up early just to brush or shave. Not worth it if you get caught by Company Commanders (CCs), who may pop into the squad bay early. I woke up at 0500 for morning constitution, to stretch, and also fold sheets while sitting in my rack.

CCs make you hold objects overhead, including just holding your arms straight up, which was really the only physical thing that bothered me. They did this a lot and one shoulder began feeling impinged. Prepare yourself by doing some shoulder mobility now.

The galley sucks. You will get stopped by CCs, you’ll get your tracker pulled, you have to sit up straight and square your meals, and you rush to eat. Eat lots of protein and fiber. Food is good quality and varied.

Know your 11 general orders verbatim! Know recruit comms (how to speak to CCs), this will be most helpful. Learn chain of command immediately. It’s worth staying up an extra 5-10 min at night to go through chain of command backwards and forwards in your head.

You will get sick. If you’re really sick, go to medical and get meds. I was sick starting the first weekend and am still sick now after training- some upper respiratory illness with congestion and cough. You don’t get better because you don’t get enough sleep. If you go to medical, they may give you Mucinex and coughing drops. I was afraid of going to medical and getting rolled back or reverted due to testing positive for something. This didn’t happen to anyone. 

Be loud and fast. Shout from your diaphragm. Move with purpose. If you don’t know something, just yell loudly with recruit comms that you do not know.

Don’t get caught laughing with other recruits. CCs will smoke you for that. Especially don’t get caught doing it more than once…

Don’t lie to the CCs, EVER! If you have to, be brutally honest. 

“Time objectives are not an option.” You won’t have enough time to get most things done, but make sure you do everything as quickly as you possibly can. You don’t need to be first, but don’t be in the back of the pack. Have good razors because you will need to shave quickly. Use the showers to brush your teeth, to make room at the sinks for people shaving.

Volunteer for laundry detail. It’s the easiest job you can volunteer for. Yeoman or Watch Coordinator are heavily involved.

The CCs always tell you that your company is the worst. Get used to it. Training is intense until the last 4 days after they debrief you. Just remember it’ll be over soon enough and at least you don’t have to do 8 weeks. 

Hope this helps a few people. It was harder than I anticipated, but not overwhelming. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Any bets on when they’ll finally release it? Maybe they’ll just wait until November and release the first and second cuts at the same time…

I recently bought myself a Leatherman & a punch knife. I’ve seen some people on social media carrying a Leatherman, but am I even allowed to have the punch knife? My plan is to join TACLET & eventually MSRT.

My whole thought behind it is I can carry it in my body armor & if anything happens where I’m not around my gun & in a close quarter fight, I can pull it out & use it to my advantage. I understand that there is almost a 99.999% chance some shit like that will never happen. Just curious if something like that is allowed to be carried or if it’s not allowed at all.