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Coast Guard Questions Please Help!!!?

sorry this is going to be long, but our decisions now could effect the rest of our life. I just want to make sure we make the right ones. Please help! A little background: My husband is thinking about joining the coast guard. He is 27 with a bachelors degree. He has already taken the ASVAB and qualified for all jobs. I know some recruiters will tell you anything to get you to join or try to lead you in certain directions. I just want to make sure we are making the best choices. Questions: 1. If we are married with a little girl, do we have to live in base housing if it is available? Will we get the BAH if we live off base? 2. They told him he would go in at E-3 and after A school be an E4. Does that sound right? Is going in at E-3 set for anyone with a degree or could he negotiate for a better pay grade? 3. If he is an E-4 what kind of life can he expect? By that I mean, how will he be treated, how is the benefits, advancement opportunities, etc..? 4. He is very athletic (played college football) and likes things that are hands-on. I could see him in search and rescue or something like that. They told him the A schools were open for electricians, machinery techs. and OS specialist. Would he be better off going into a field where the A school is open or doing something else? What kind of job do you think he would enjoy (again he qualified for all jobs on ASVAB)? 5. He is also interested in officer school since he has the degree. Would he be better off to apply for it and then enlist if he's accepted or enlist and then apply for it? We just want to figure out the best opportunity for him to get in. Thanks so much for your help.

Public Comments

1. Some of your questions I can answer because it is universal across the military. The Coast Guard is a little unique in that it's assigned to the Department of Homeland Defense in peace time and the Department of the Navy in times of war. Every service has different rules and enlistment requirements, quota's, etc. The Coast Guard is fairly small in comparison to other branch's and basically can reject many candidates because it usually has no problems meeting it's recruiting goals. I know that if you have a bachelors degree you can enlist in the navy as an E-4, may be limited to certain rates (jobs) and as an E-5 if you have a Masters degree. The Coast Guard may be different in what they allow you to enlist as. I can tell you that life as an E-4 is not bad at all. You are just beginning to enter the world of the non commissoned officer role and as such begin to gain much more respect because generally those that have attained the rank have worked hard at getting it and have put in their time. Your husband will be able to get that treatment without having to have put in the time in rate that most people do. They call them push button petty officers but don't sweat it because if your husband is a hard charger they won't give him much crap over it. I can tell you that right off the bat, that during basic training and most likely A School your husband is going to be treated like a recruit, no matter what pay grade he comes in at. By recruit I mean he will be treated like he doesn't know anything and he isn't worthy of much, which isn't really too far from fact because even though your husband is older and has a college degree, he knows very little of what it is to be in the Coast Guard (or in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines for that matter). This is one of those universal rules across the military. Think of it as earning his place. While no one wants to be treated in a low status, everyone that has gone through the military has experienced it. It's a rite of passage. Once he get's done with his entry level training, life gets better and the more rank he gets will give him more status. As far as BAH, I don't think he'll get while in basic. He will be eligible for it when he starts A School. If after A School the area that he is assigned does not have housing available he willl get BAH and live with you off base. If housing is available, which I doubt (but I don't know that much about Coast Guard bases), you would live with him on the base. If he wants to be an officer I would suggest he get commissioned first because officer life is better than enlisted but officers do not get to do the "fun" stuff of hands on like enlisted do. It just depends of what type of experience he would prefer. Officers do get treated much better and get paid better than enlisted though. Sorry it's so long but I wanted to give you as much information as I could.
2. Your hubby had better hurry up, as the max age to enlist is 27. Our recruiters don't HAVE to lie to get people to enlist. They'll tell the truth, and if you don't like what they say, just bail out - there are several other people behind you that want to get in more than you do. That's why we can tell the truth, and the other services let their recruits believe whatever they want to believe. 1. Yes, you'll get housing on base or BAH for the area of your unit. 2. Yes, he'll start as an E-3 (although he'll be CALLED a Seaman Recruit (E-1) in Boot Camp - don't freak - he'll get paid as an E-3!!). After A-School, he'll be advanced to PO3... but it may be upwards of two years or more until he graduates from A-School, depending upon what rating he chooses. No, he can't barter for a better pay grade - he's already done that if they are giving him E-3. 3. Advancement totally depends upon his performance, his test-taking ability, and his rating. Some ratings move faster than others... As a PO3, he'll be a technician in whatever field he has chosen, and will work doing that job. As a junior Petty Officer, he'll get to do the bulk of the harder jobs and the less "glamorous" jobs, but they are the jobs that really NEED to be done. How he is treated will depend a lot on his performance... if he's a hard worker that doesn't complain, he'll be treated well. A whining, shirker will be treated like crap... it goes with the territory. 4. If they are giving him lists for open A-Schools (guaranteed ratings), then he will go to A-School right out of boot-camp. After six months (including the two months of Boot Camp), he'll be advanced to E-4 (minimum time in service is six months to make E-4). Career advice time: Does he WANT to be an electrician (EM), a mechanic (MK) or an operations specialist (OS)?? If he doesn't really KNOW if he wants to do it - DON'T go for the guaranteed A-School... because he won't like the job. There are people that know they want to do something, and like doing that thing, and they are cool for jumping right in... if he isn't SURE, OMG, don't do it!!! We have a saying - you pick your rate, you pick your fate. If he picks MK, he'd better love working on engines and H-VAC systems and generators and pumps and stuff - because he CHOSE to do it. Have him consider the jobs - and that EM's, MK's and OS's get underway a lot... Even if he loves the job, is he (and you) willing to be separated that much? I had to make the same choice. If I was single, I would have been a Bosun's Mate... I wasn't - so I chose a different rating. If he wants to grow up to be a (insert rating here), but the wait is two years... tell him to put his name on the list and WAIT FOR IT. It will pay off in the end. Does it suck being a non-rate? Oh yeah... but it will be great experience - and he'll be a better Guardian for waiting. Also, going in without a guaranteed A-School is a GREAT way to see all the ratings in action. You can see folks doing it on a daily basis - the good, the bad and the ugly. He can talk to people that love the job - and those that hate it... and he can make up his own mind on the rating. The Coast Guard is the only service that allows this - the others feed you propaganda videos about the ratings and you pick the "coolest" - and what happens if it turns out that you think the job sucks? You are stuck. In the Coast Guard, he can see the jobs in action and make a truly INFORMED decision. 5. Just a quick point of order: Former enlisted officers (Mustangs) get more respect as junior officers than other officers. Also, after at least four years of active duty, and being an E-5, he can apply for a Temporary commission as an officer - and get paid LOTS more money (check out a pay scale for the 0-1E thru O-3E!!!). Also, if he gets passed over and forced to get out, as a Temp commission, he can revert back to his enlisted paygrade - and won't lose his entire career. He can also just apply for OCS as a regular enlisted person (non-Temp commission), and that works as well. Whatever you decide, I wish you lots of Good Luck!!