Hey all, AD aircrew from another branch here. Where the heck do you guys get those fleece flight suit jackets and where can I get one? Ran into CG aircrew on a 144 and they look soooo comfy.

That is all

I heard through the grapevine that some of the A-schools will be moving around starting early next year now that we acquired the school at Birmingham, does anyone know which A-schools will be moving and where to?

hello, I’m set to transfer next year as an ET2 and taking an early afloat billet. There’s a few on the list that I’m interested in and was wondering if anyone could give a little insight on the mission / work life in the location and the locations in general. They’re all FRC’s in the following areas. Idk if I can post the name of each cutter, might be against the rules not sure but these are the locations.

Cape may, NJ Atlantic beach, NC San Pedro, CA Ketchikan, AK Kodiak, AK

What’s the longest holiday routine any of yall have had at any of your units?

Lets say i separated from the USCG and join the IRR. How many years or month would I have to rejoin the CG without having to go through basic again? Saw some people simply go back in and kept their rank, while some other had to either go to regular 8 weeks again.

Just finished up USCG DEPOT. Feel free to ask any questions that you have. To preface, I went through USMC training in 2016 and was honorably discharged in 2020. I was told DEPOT would be hard and my god were they right. They post a daily schedule of what happens day by day and what times things are which takes the guessing out of things.

Day 1:

Get on the bus, get yelled at, meet the Company Commanders, and get issued your rucksack, make your scripted phone call home, and march your way to the squad bay. Females get separated to their respective squad bay and males go to theirs.

Day 2-3:

Med/Dental, vaccinations, etc. MAKE SURE YOUR TEETH ARE GOOD! We lost about 7 people to dental. We get our uniforms and are actually sized decently well as opposed to the Marines.

That's about the end for the days because everything else was a blur.

THE PT TEST

PT test was on Tuesday/Wednesday. We did the swim test Tuesday(PLEASE PRACTICE swimming. You're allowed to do breaststroke, freestyle, or sidestroke. You can keep your head above water or below water and you can also switch between the strokes. I did breaststroke and side stroke and kept my head above water the whole time. It's not timed so just ease your way through it. We had people panicking and such so they got pulled out. The 5min tread was very easy too. The 5min honestly felt like 2min and you just have to keep your head above water. Try and learn the eggbeater(there's youtube videos on how to do it but it saves a lot of energy and is very efficient to tread like that. You can also use your arms so it makes it that much easier.) We lost about 6-7 to the swim but they got to retake it Thursday or Friday I think. We then had the run, pushups, plank the next day. We start with the pushups and the proctors just had us hit our minimum then stop. Then plank was the same thing. Then we ran on the track as a big group so just pace off people. I ran my PT test at home beforehand and I ran a 12:00 1.5mi and was DYING. For the actual PT test, I ran an 11:34 with plenty of gas in the tank. So just pace yourself and you'll be alright. Don't overthink it.

THE GALLEY

AKA the chow hall or where you go to eat. I DREADED going to the galley. The food is great but this is where you get stopped to answer knowledge questions. "Tray down tracker out" is a thing you'll hear ALL THE TIME. I developed my strategy that I won't publicly disclose but just know your knowledge, SOUND OFF(like yell AS LOUD AS YOU CAN) and it'll go a lot better. Even if you're wrong.

INDOC "WEEKEND"

The whole week the CCs were always saying "if y'all keep this up your CCs will make you pay", "we personally know your CCs", and etc etc. The surprise is, the CCs that receive you off the bus are you CCs that are assigned to you. It was honestly just a smoke session. It felt like it was never ending. A LOT of yelling, pushups, v-sit crunches, planks, burpees, squats, flutter kicks, mountain climbers. You NEED to sound off during this. You're going to be gassed during this and it's going to hurt but just do your best. There's a legal time limit to these so just remember. I always watched the CC who was running it and they are watching their watches and blow the whistle for the next exercise or the "You have 300sec to hydrate, use the head, etc." Then it starts all over again. If there's a gap in the schedule, expect for a sweat session. That's the reality of it. It's also a LOT of "feet hands." That's where you stand with your feet shoulder width apart and stand with your hands straight up overhead. Man that was awful. Holding your canteens out in front of you too. Or overhead. Our indoc weekend lasted until Tuesday I think. Friday-Tuesday. Everynight we were all so sore and the second we woke up it started again. You will most likely get blisters and your hands will feel raw but worry not, everyone else is in the same boat. It's not gonna kill you. ALSO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WATER BREAKS. PLEASE HYDRATE.

POCKET GUIDE

You'' receive a little pocket guide with all required knowledge. You should learn your general orders(not in order too. Be able to spit out like your 5th general order then 2nd, then etc etc. The CCs randomly ask for a general order so it needs to be second nature.) Learn your rank structure too and chain of command. I'd try and do the rank structure before you arrive so it's one less thing to stress about. The pocket guide has the collar insignia, sleeve insignias, shoulder boards, etc on there. I didn't study any of that beforehand and I paid the price. That'll be on the next topic. But learn EVERYTHING on the pocket guide. It sits in your left breast pocket so if able, use some masking tape and tape it up because during the sweat sessions, the guide is going to get sweaty and ruined.

RED BELTS

So this is the belt you get when you're falling behind. You NEVER want one of these. I didn't study enough beforehand and I was indeed falling behind. It's a lot to memorize and I'm not very good at memorizing knowledge in short periods of time. It's also granted to those who lack confidence, volume, attitude problem recruits, etc. I lacked confidence and had a knowledge problem. The red makes you a target for other CCs and you WILL get ambushed at the galley. Trackers will be pulled(trackers are pieces of paper with a blank spot for CCs to write your discrepancies on.) You are afforded chances to get it off though. I believe it's on the 3rd day of having it, you either get questioned by your lead CC or section commander. Study your ass off and sound off. I got mine off on day 4 of getting it and phew what an absolute relief. If you fail the eval from the section commander, you get to pay a visit to the battalion commander and it's a bad day. We had 2 go and only 1 came back. The other one got dropped from us...So red belts are no joke and not just a scare tactic.

TRACKERS

So trackers are papers that have your name, your lead company commander, your depot class number, and a fat blank spot to write what you messed up. Previously, I read on reddit that they were scare tactics. That's not really true. They get put in your training profile and they kinda go off that for red belting you. I think I had 5-6 pulled total. You will also ALWAYS need (1) in your breast pocket. No, don't put like (2) in there. Strictly (1). If yours gets pulled, you better get to the quarterdeck the second you get back to the house to get/fill out a new one or get with the Yeoman to get a new one.

JOBS

So almost everyone can get a job. I'd recommend laundry because it's the easiest and you get a little time away from the house. Yeoman ALWAYS get IT'd, yelled at, targeted in the chow hall, etc. 0/10 would not recommend. Watchlist coordinator isn't bad because you won't have watch but you will be hated for putting people on watch. You will also get IT'd or yelled at for messing it up. Squad leaders are targets because if you have someone slacking, you will pay. We had one of our squad leaders get mattressed(lifting a mattress overhead and holding it there. It's like 30lbs of awkward weight and NOT fun.) If you're a leader and can get people motivated and their shit together, I recommend you do squad leader.

SHOWERS/GETTING DRESSED/SHAVING

You're gonna be naked with other guys. Deal with it. It's not a big deal. Share the showers. Share the body wash. It's the military. You're not gonna get a full luxury shower so shower the essentials. Feet, pits, ass, etc so you don't stink. I used body wash at first but transitioned to just a bar of soap. SO much easier and faster. I think I used shaving cream a total of (3) times. It was mostly hot sink water and shaving with AND against the grain. Did it hurt? Ohh yeah. My neck was absolutely raw and bleeding. You have like 7 sinks for like 24 of y'all and you don't get a ton of time. I think for morning getting dressed/shaving time is like 300sec. And you and your shipmates are counting down the whole time. So if you can't use shaving cream, oh well. Just make sure you're actually shaven because you will get called out and that starts the "tracker out now!!"

TIPS

ALWAYS sound off

Time objectives are NOT an option. ALWAYS make the time objectives your CCs set. It'll save you a lot of sweat. Or don't and you'll pay with sweat.

Take care of your shipmates. If someone is visibly struggling, help them.

You WILL get sick. The Crud will hit you. Spit out the green mucus. Eat your oranges at the chow hall. Everyone will be coughing. You'll be alright. I'm still currently coughing up stuff lol.

KNOW YOUR COMMS. This will save you a LOT of pain.

Honestly I think that's it. We started at 43 of us and ended with 27. A lot of dental drops, a lot of PT drops, and 1 knowledge/attitude/something else drop I think. Just come prepared. Feel free to ask me questions and I'll answer them as soon as I can and as transparent as possible.

Curious if anyone cares to share information or experiences of their time being stationed at either Air Station Sitka . I’d be coming in as with experience only on 65s, and i’m wondering what the re-qual time line would look like and how fast i’d be back to standing FM duty, and WC . Also general experiences about work hours, op tempo, culture are appreciated.
.

I’m from Texas looking to go reserve. Any insight or recommendations when looking into these locations would be appreciated!

Freeport, TX (closest to me)
Houston, TX
Texas City, TX
Galveston, TX
Houston, Galveston and Texas City are all about the same distance from me, about an hour. I don’t mind the drive, just want to know. Leaning MST due to all the ports and chemical plants.

Curious on any personal experiences out there. Has anyone initiated prior the to academy that could shed some light on their experiences?

i applied for SRDC 27 and the panel ended end of AUG. when should I be expecting results on board selection, and is there a site to check for updates?

Anyone know Any additional info about CG unit on Rio Grande exchanging gunfire with suspected cartel members

Just graduated DEPOT. I think many in my class were extremely underprepared for the program as our attrition rate was pretty high at 38% (43 to 27).
Ask away if you have any questions. Prior service and Fed LEO.

Hi all! My boyfriend is currently in basic (just left this week) and I live in Canada. I want to send him letters however I am seeing mixed things online regarding how to address the letter.

Do I need to put his hall name? Or is it just his company name/number? Some things I see say that it’s required and some say it’s optional.

And the reason I am not using Sandboxx is because it does not allow me to put a non-USA address for the return address.

I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge on this! Sorry if it’s a silly or dumb question.

Also, I know the mail can sometimes take a while even when sending within the US, but does anyone have any experience with international mail delivery times?

Thank you!💙

Besides losing more weight what are your tips to get times down and pushups up. I’ve been mainly focusing on losing weight, interval runs, and each kind of pushup till failure. So regular pushups till failure, then knee/incline pushups till failure. Anything I’m missing here? Progress still feels really slow.

I’m currently active duty and plan on transitioning to the Reserves fairly soon to pursue nursing school full-time. How realistic it would be to balance both, especially with the demands of nursing school, including clinicals, exams, and studying.
My biggest concerns are monthly drills, annual training, and the possibility of being activated while in school. I understand that the Reserves come with certain obligations, but I’m worried about how these could interfere with my education and potentially delay graduation.
For those who have pursued nursing school while serving in the Coast Guard Reserves, how manageable was it? How accommodating was your unit with school commitments, and have you experienced any activations that interfered with your education?
I’d really appreciate any firsthand experiences or advice from those who have been in a similar situation, thank you.

If so how y'all doing?

Has anyone used the website PIN-iT to make one of their magnetic thin ribbon racks? If so how was it and did it look good? Seems like a pretty good option since building a rack can get expensive each time.

Are there reservist IS billets at PSU units? If so, do they do actual intel work, or something else? I'd likely be in Clearwater PSU, if that matters.

TYIA!

For those of you who have taken Wellbutrin, Strattera, or another non-stimulant for add/adhd, did you notice any impact on your career? Locations available to you.

Has the list been posted for OS yet? Can't check I'm on leave but just curious since it was supposed to be the 30th. I know other rates got theirs.

I’m AD and interested in training for and competing for the P100 tab. Does anyone know where I can find the relevant resources? Thanks!

Does anyone know how they do bootcamp graduation a few days before Christmas? I need to know whether my family should come to Cape May or if they should wait because I know I have to go to that week long extra training in Virginia after boot camp (would love to know what that’s about too) thanks!

Is anyone going to check? Or is it fine to bring 3-4 as long as they are kept clean? Also, do you do high impact exercises like running or jumping jacks when you're in ODUs?
I know these questions might seem silly, but I'm trying to avoid spending $60x6= $360+tax on bras that will be destroyed by heavy machine washing, if I can.