Coast Guard

[Skyline]

I was thinking about joining the Coast Guard for 4 years to help pay for my college(Bachelors) and travel, I was going to become Search and Rescue. It'll also help me gain a lot of experience for my career in Criminal Justice.

What should I know about the Coast Guard?

 

[logicallefty]

I don't know much about the Coast Guard but good for you. If I had it to do all over again I'd hit the apps for Federal 1811 work hard after doing something like Coast Guard or other military.

 

[BMX]

They are difficult to get into. So I say go for it. The USCG has the most similarities to outside law enforcement agencies that you can get within the military. I saw USCG guys when I was in Dubai, UAE and Bahrain. Yes, they are around the world too.

I'm in the Navy and used to be a "big city cop" before the mil.

 

[logicallefty]

BMX, I hear that about the 1811s being hard to get into. In the 2009-2011 timeframe I was doing cyber crimes/computer forensics for a medium sized city police department and I tried brutally to get an 1811 before I hit 37 and cyber 1811s were in high demand. There were a couple that literally looked like they took my resume and wrote the job for just me. I made it through the app process several steps but never got a bite.

The USCG does more than one might think based on what little I do know about them. I live not too far from the Illinois River and they patrol even that, right in the heart of America.

 

[BMX]

Oh yeah, I submitted an app for a federal 1811 job before deciding to begin the backwards route I took. That didn't happen but I was inexperienced back then so not a big surprise.

The USCG is more versatile than anyone would guess. Hawaii, Guam, I think even Australia when I was out there that they were there too. They have special operations units, intel (if you want to submit to a 3+ year waiting list), LEO opportunities left and right. They were dressed like the Army in the middle east. I'd look into Great Lakes and Alaska personally.