wanting to join the USCG

so I've been thinking about it for a while and i have always wanted to join the military and ive pretty much set my mind on the Coast Guard

right now im 19 years old a junior in college.... should i wait till i graduate to enlist or should i enlist...?

no one in my family has been in the military so i have no idea about how any of it is, my parents are not from america, but i am an american citizen and i want to serve.

my eye sight isnt 20/20 would that effect anything?
i really want to finish college before i go to bootcamp.

so im pretty much askin what steps should i take? any advice?
the recruiter office is like 2 hours away from me ive called them and left a message to call me back

 

Coast Guard Recruiters can be hard to get a hold of, especially this year when all services have meet their recruitment and retention goals to date. If you can't get a hold of them keep trying.

You can wait 6 months now just to get into the Army or Marines. The wait to get into the Coast Guard can be a year. So since you are a Junior you could sign up now and still have time to finish college. But by all means finish your school.

A lot of good information about the military and the entrance process can be found here. Read and understand it before you go to a Recruiter so you will be better informed and can write out any questions you may have before you go.

LINK

Good luck to you and if you get in you probably won't regret it. I for one, would do it all over again.

 

I would absolutely finish college first. Like Cak said- The CG has more or less filled it's recuitring goals for the year already so the wait is long. The degree will give you something extra to be looked in your application package.

Your eye sight might keep you out of certain rates (job types) but unless you have really really bad eyesight- You should be fine to get in.

Cak had it right...Keep calling and trying to get in touch with the recruiter. You can also look into the officer side of the house: http://www.gocoastguard.com/find-your-career/officer-opportunities/programs/officer-candidate-school

Good luck. Let us know if you have any more questions!!

 

Finish Junior College! That's a no brainer if you can afford it. College in the military is always a challenge and now that you have the time, you should definitely do it. Coast guard is a great choice but don't make it because you think it provides some perks over the other services because they all have different pluses and minuses. The Coast guard is just as demanding as the other services so if there is another service that you have an interest in, and has a shorter wait, don't hesitate to talk to that recruiter.

 

sorry to jack your post but does the coast guard take prior service army?

 

Yup- but again- all the services are in the midst of some aggressive "force management" (aka- shrinking budgets) so it's harder and harder to get in.

 

is there any badass jobs in the coast guard for a u.s. army green beret haha. i love my job now but i also have 2 young kids and would love to not deploy anymore.

 

OP.

Suggest you finish college first and get whatever two-year degree you started.

Read through the prequalifications online and be honest with yourself. This will identify any barriers to service.

Provided you are qualified (and really only processing at the MEPS can tell for sure, but do that after college) -- If you're not in shape, get in shape. If you are in shape, get in better shape. Focus on core strength, low impact and endurance.

USCG offers some outstanding opportunities, has a very good entry-level service model (no A school until you serve a while), and has some very cool jobs. Bottom line though, service is tough and dangerous, no matter what branch, what job, etc.

/My $.02.

 

only jobs i can think of that would come anywhere close to green beret would be hitron gunners(helo gunners/snipers essentialy), ME's on some sort of task or drug force team or a msst team. thats probly the closest your gonna come to some sort of special ops job, if your an adrenaline junkie you can always go into the cg dive program( basically a navy diver), or AST( aviation survival technician) rescue swimmers basically like from the guardian

 

Not really. The MSST/MSRT/LEDET/TACLET units (the Coast Guard SWAT teams) are all deployable...probably not as long a stint but more often.
ME (The Law Enforcement specialists) get assigned to all sorts of units, some deployable, some not.

Lots of options tho.

 

Hrmm might have to talk to a recruiter

 

im actually workin on a 4-year degree gettin a bachelors degree in criminal justice, i took alot of hours cause i wanna graduate early, ill be 20 in march and by the time i get my degree ill just have turned 21
as in affording college... im all loans and working full time lol, but hey nothing thats worth anything in life comes free

im planning on driving to the recruiting office this saturday ill let yall know how it goes

ross123 - no biggie, other people asking questions give me more information

i took a practice ASVAB and more than enough points to get into "A" schools... im pretty good at math and made near perfect..
question is do you have to serve before you go to these schools or do you go there right after graduation of basic? i have no idea how the A school works

i saw the officer school thing and considered that too, it'll probably be best since people tell me that rank is everything in the military.

edit: friend informed me that recruiter offices typically arent open on weekends ;P

 

To piggy back on this, the ME rating is relatively small, and very new. That being said advancement is SLOW. Less than half of ME positions are within the specialized units, all the others are scattered around elsewhere, their main responsibility and duty is to be leading the way as far as unit law enforcement training, not necessarily actually conducting the law enforcement...

Choose your rate, choose your fate!

 

Got in touch with a recruiter. Said they only see people by appointment and emailed me a prescreen form then would call me within the next 24 hours... sent it in today at like 1 so i hopefully I get a call tomorrow to make an appointment to meet with a recruiter!

Anyone can give me a rough timeline?
Like I hear it can take several months before basic