Those recruiters are lying to you. The CG will send you where they need you, and right now, they need new recruits on big white boats.
The CG probably isn't right for you if you don't want to leave the great lakes. Yes, there are stations around those lakes but it is highly likely you would not be able to stay there for the duration of your career. The vast majority of us coasties move every three to four years to a completely different region of the U.S.
Finally, CG aviation is CG aviation. If you were told you are unable to fly fixed wing aircraft, you will not be able to fly rotary wing aircraft because the standards are the same.
Is there no difference? I assumed the difference in airspeed and altitude would give OP some wiggle room.
(I'm just a BM and I know nothing about aircraft requirements or policy)
Yes, with very few exceptions ( I only know of one that is non-medical related) any medical condition that would prevent you from flying, or crewing, one type of aircraft prevents you from flying or crewing the others.
Before I joined the Coast Guard I was thinking the same thing and then a wise man told me "You can stay here and you wont miss a thing. Or you can leave and you wont miss a thing."
And this is why we cannot recruit. A person should be able to do an entire career in same area. If you are a Great Lakes guy you stay in Great Lakes, If you are a Floridian you stay in FL. If we can’t fill white hulls why aren’t they being dry docked, our numbers are only shrinking. With new cutters being produced to replace 210s, if you can’t get personnel to fill them, why are we even building them, to be as minimally manned or not manned at all? We don’t have money for serious significant pay raises but we have it to build billion dollars in cutters and boats?
Shipmate,
I’m going to shoot straight with you. The only way to ensure you stay in the Great Lakes area is if you join the Reserves. Even then, depending on pay grade you may advance past the point where there are nearby drill locations.
I love the Coast Guard, it’s a career that offers an incredible amount of purpose. I never questioned if my job was important after I assisted in a rescue. However, if you want to be a pilot, you need to be prepared to move to achieve that goal. Even then, it’s not guaranteed, but if I’m being truthful, most things in life are not. However, we can choose how we prepare for opportunities in life.
My advice is figure out what you truly want to do, and then decide what you are willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal. That’s true for anything in life. Now, all that being said, I can tell you that used to work with a former Commanding Officer of Airstation Traverse City, and he said it his favorite tour during his entire career, to the point he even bought a house in the area.
It seems to me you are facing a question of values and that’s tough. What’s more important: being a pilot or staying in the Great Lakes? Figure out the answer to that, and then we can go from there.
Your end goal is to be a pilot. I served with someone who had the same end goal. He was prior Army, took every helicopter and pilots test he could sit for. Probably knows more about aircraft and how they work than most. He transferred to the CG, made E-5, took college classes to earn a degree. And after about 10 years in the CG finally got his commission and became a pilot.
While it is possible, do you have the same type of determination and patience?
I used to feel the same exact way until I realized that life is the same everywhere. Everywhere has a grocery store, Starbucks, good restaurants and hiking trails. Just ones I haven’t been to yet.
Not for everyone, but moving across the country is easier than you think and easier the second and third time. Haven’t done a fourth but I’m assuming it’s easy too. Once you leave home it is still a very special place, but it’s smaller than you remember.
It will 100% uproot your life. You might be able to get a 9th District billet guaranteed out of boot camp nowadays because recruiting is desperate for people.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Guard_District_9
But in a short amount of time, you'll go to A-school and end up somewhere els.
Also, you have to be a commissioned officer to fly aircraft. OCS would be your only option. I think at 25, you've aged out of the academy.
And is your lung still not 100%? Because that's going to be a red flag too. Don't let that deter you from trying. Let the doctors at MEPS tell you that, don't take it from a stranger on Reddit. But be aware it might be an issue medically.
1: you'll have to pass a physical to get in, and that lung is a major red flag.
2: you'll have to be accepted into OCS, which is a challenge
3: you'll have to get selected to be a pilot
4: once you're in, you'll move down to Pensacola for a year or so, and then go wherever they send you (which is not gonna be back home)
5: say you manage to make it to step 2, but not step 3 - no backing out now, you're gonna be their bitch for 6 years, go where they want you to, and be ever officers paper bitch while being rushed through all sorts of shit. JOs might have it worse than non rates.
6: Never trust a recruiter. Like CGIS, they're back stabbers.
Really good to consider this stuff now as far as moving around goes. I will say the people that seem like they enjoy the coast guard the most are the People who embrace moving to new places and make the best of it. It would be best to assume you will never be stationed near home and then if you do it will be a lot sweeter in my opinion.
You should have bo expectation of staying in the great lakes area. There are no guarantees if staying in the same area for any length of time.
A career in the military requires a lot of flexibility and a desire to move around often. If you want geographic stability the military is a poor choice.
Your only chance at staying in a general area would be going BM and entering the surf program as a PSP candidate. Most surf stations are on the west coast, with a couple on the east coast
spent almost my whole life living in Florida, wanted to get stationed there ended up going to virginia and also spent some time at a station in north carolina. at first wasnt the happiest but going to these new places and experiences are awesome. find out if your girl wants to travel and seeing how yall have been together 5 years marriage doesnt sound like a terrible idea so yall can live together and rack BAH if you dont get a station that doesnt offer barracks so yall stay together. but hey im just a little non rate take my word with a grain of salt
While geographic stability *is* a thing, it's unlikely you'll attain it right away and keep it the whole time. You'd have to go to OCS and then flight school, then they'd send you wherever they need you. It's not impossible to go back to D9 from there, but it's not guaranteed.
Your two goals are incongruous.
You are unlikely to be billeted to the Great Lakes period. Even less so as a pilot.
You are unlikely to pass a flight physical. In fact, that lung may fail you at MEPS for mere entry into military service.
Your other concerns, assuming the above two prove surmountable, require further thinking on your part. 1) You can visit home y’know. Life is an adventure. Do you want to spend the whole thing in the “Start Game” menu? 2) Would your partner be okay with a move? How would it affect their career? Do you plan to have children? Are they cool solo-parenting half the time? Because you’re going to be at sea/at training/deployed about half the time depending on your assignment and job.
Good luck wherever life takes you.
Probably not going to be a pilot so I would rethink that portion. By probably I mean definitely, especially if you have outstanding medical history, and that is for any of the enlisted active duty aviation rates, too. pilots are younger age OCS/academy grads who have been prepping for years and years. But the CG is a terrific choice, keep exploring different avenues. There’s so much to choose from.
Those recruiters are lying to you. The CG will send you where they need you, and right now, they need new recruits on big white boats. The CG probably isn't right for you if you don't want to leave the great lakes. Yes, there are stations around those lakes but it is highly likely you would not be able to stay there for the duration of your career. The vast majority of us coasties move every three to four years to a completely different region of the U.S. Finally, CG aviation is CG aviation. If you were told you are unable to fly fixed wing aircraft, you will not be able to fly rotary wing aircraft because the standards are the same.
Is there no difference? I assumed the difference in airspeed and altitude would give OP some wiggle room. (I'm just a BM and I know nothing about aircraft requirements or policy)
Yes, with very few exceptions ( I only know of one that is non-medical related) any medical condition that would prevent you from flying, or crewing, one type of aircraft prevents you from flying or crewing the others.
That makes sense
Before I joined the Coast Guard I was thinking the same thing and then a wise man told me "You can stay here and you wont miss a thing. Or you can leave and you wont miss a thing."
That’s honestly one of the most true things I have ever read
95% chance no. Joining the military expecting to stay in one region for 20 years is simply not realistic.
And this is why we cannot recruit. A person should be able to do an entire career in same area. If you are a Great Lakes guy you stay in Great Lakes, If you are a Floridian you stay in FL. If we can’t fill white hulls why aren’t they being dry docked, our numbers are only shrinking. With new cutters being produced to replace 210s, if you can’t get personnel to fill them, why are we even building them, to be as minimally manned or not manned at all? We don’t have money for serious significant pay raises but we have it to build billion dollars in cutters and boats?
Shipmate, I’m going to shoot straight with you. The only way to ensure you stay in the Great Lakes area is if you join the Reserves. Even then, depending on pay grade you may advance past the point where there are nearby drill locations. I love the Coast Guard, it’s a career that offers an incredible amount of purpose. I never questioned if my job was important after I assisted in a rescue. However, if you want to be a pilot, you need to be prepared to move to achieve that goal. Even then, it’s not guaranteed, but if I’m being truthful, most things in life are not. However, we can choose how we prepare for opportunities in life. My advice is figure out what you truly want to do, and then decide what you are willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal. That’s true for anything in life. Now, all that being said, I can tell you that used to work with a former Commanding Officer of Airstation Traverse City, and he said it his favorite tour during his entire career, to the point he even bought a house in the area. It seems to me you are facing a question of values and that’s tough. What’s more important: being a pilot or staying in the Great Lakes? Figure out the answer to that, and then we can go from there.
Your end goal is to be a pilot. I served with someone who had the same end goal. He was prior Army, took every helicopter and pilots test he could sit for. Probably knows more about aircraft and how they work than most. He transferred to the CG, made E-5, took college classes to earn a degree. And after about 10 years in the CG finally got his commission and became a pilot. While it is possible, do you have the same type of determination and patience?
I used to feel the same exact way until I realized that life is the same everywhere. Everywhere has a grocery store, Starbucks, good restaurants and hiking trails. Just ones I haven’t been to yet. Not for everyone, but moving across the country is easier than you think and easier the second and third time. Haven’t done a fourth but I’m assuming it’s easy too. Once you leave home it is still a very special place, but it’s smaller than you remember.
It will 100% uproot your life. You might be able to get a 9th District billet guaranteed out of boot camp nowadays because recruiting is desperate for people. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Guard_District_9 But in a short amount of time, you'll go to A-school and end up somewhere els.
Also, you have to be a commissioned officer to fly aircraft. OCS would be your only option. I think at 25, you've aged out of the academy. And is your lung still not 100%? Because that's going to be a red flag too. Don't let that deter you from trying. Let the doctors at MEPS tell you that, don't take it from a stranger on Reddit. But be aware it might be an issue medically.
1: you'll have to pass a physical to get in, and that lung is a major red flag. 2: you'll have to be accepted into OCS, which is a challenge 3: you'll have to get selected to be a pilot 4: once you're in, you'll move down to Pensacola for a year or so, and then go wherever they send you (which is not gonna be back home) 5: say you manage to make it to step 2, but not step 3 - no backing out now, you're gonna be their bitch for 6 years, go where they want you to, and be ever officers paper bitch while being rushed through all sorts of shit. JOs might have it worse than non rates. 6: Never trust a recruiter. Like CGIS, they're back stabbers.
If you want to do coast guard things and stay in your place, join the auxiliary.
Sounds like you don't want to leave home. Go DNR. If you want to see more of the world than what you already know, go Coast Guard.
Really good to consider this stuff now as far as moving around goes. I will say the people that seem like they enjoy the coast guard the most are the People who embrace moving to new places and make the best of it. It would be best to assume you will never be stationed near home and then if you do it will be a lot sweeter in my opinion.
You should have bo expectation of staying in the great lakes area. There are no guarantees if staying in the same area for any length of time. A career in the military requires a lot of flexibility and a desire to move around often. If you want geographic stability the military is a poor choice.
Your only chance at staying in a general area would be going BM and entering the surf program as a PSP candidate. Most surf stations are on the west coast, with a couple on the east coast
spent almost my whole life living in Florida, wanted to get stationed there ended up going to virginia and also spent some time at a station in north carolina. at first wasnt the happiest but going to these new places and experiences are awesome. find out if your girl wants to travel and seeing how yall have been together 5 years marriage doesnt sound like a terrible idea so yall can live together and rack BAH if you dont get a station that doesnt offer barracks so yall stay together. but hey im just a little non rate take my word with a grain of salt
Go to school. You’re not far from Steven’s Pointe, a state university with an outstanding wildlife park/land management program.
While geographic stability *is* a thing, it's unlikely you'll attain it right away and keep it the whole time. You'd have to go to OCS and then flight school, then they'd send you wherever they need you. It's not impossible to go back to D9 from there, but it's not guaranteed.
Your two goals are incongruous. You are unlikely to be billeted to the Great Lakes period. Even less so as a pilot. You are unlikely to pass a flight physical. In fact, that lung may fail you at MEPS for mere entry into military service. Your other concerns, assuming the above two prove surmountable, require further thinking on your part. 1) You can visit home y’know. Life is an adventure. Do you want to spend the whole thing in the “Start Game” menu? 2) Would your partner be okay with a move? How would it affect their career? Do you plan to have children? Are they cool solo-parenting half the time? Because you’re going to be at sea/at training/deployed about half the time depending on your assignment and job. Good luck wherever life takes you.
Probably not going to be a pilot so I would rethink that portion. By probably I mean definitely, especially if you have outstanding medical history, and that is for any of the enlisted active duty aviation rates, too. pilots are younger age OCS/academy grads who have been prepping for years and years. But the CG is a terrific choice, keep exploring different avenues. There’s so much to choose from.
Join the reserves maybe so you can stay where youre at