Six-Two
Unverified
Hey Guys,
Recently started working with recruiter to get a boot camp date. Picked Coast Guard as it seems like a better fit than Army or Navy. Hope that doesn't seem like a contradiction of my previous aspirations posted in this forum. At the end of the day, I want to go where I'll be the best asset to the team, and I think CG is where that is. Hoping to get assigned to a MSST or PACTACLET so I can still do some cool guy stuff every once in a while too.
So as far as the process goes, I just took the ASVAB at MEPS. To my recruiter's joy, I got an AFQT of 99 (the Navy recruiter in whose office I left my phone in said he'd get me into SEAL school immediately if I ditched the Coast Guard ).
That said, he expressed concern that my Social Security card doesn't match my birth certificate. The SS Card has an abbreviated form of it: [First Name] [Middle Initial] [Last Name], whereas my birth certificate reads: [First] [Middle Name] [2nd Middle Name] [Last Name]. Is this gonna screw me up later on? I only ask because it hasn't been an issue in my almost-28 years of existence thus far.
Secondly, am I screwing up going to Coast Guard? I'll be 28 in August, so I'm not under the impression that I can come back after my 4 years and decide I'd like to be an 18D and still be competitive as a 32-year-old former shallow water sailor. A $20k enlistment bonus would also be nice, but I'd rather be in a job and branch I'd be a great fit for than $20k richer and miserable for 3-5 years, or, worse still, a liability for the people that depend on me.
Lastly, are there any coasties on here that can advise a newbie about how to track for the best possible Coast Guard experience? I'd like to go the ME route, but there's presently a wait of around 18 months to go to the ME A-School, so BM has its appeal too. That said, if I'm basically gonna be a BM as a non-rate, then that's just fine. Will probably apply for OCS while I'm in, but I don't want to shoot my chances of getting a MSST assignment or PACTACLET before I do. At the end of the day, it's just money, and it would take a hell of a lot of currency to be worth trading in adventures for a desk.
Thanks for any pointers you guys can give.
Best,
-62.
Recently started working with recruiter to get a boot camp date. Picked Coast Guard as it seems like a better fit than Army or Navy. Hope that doesn't seem like a contradiction of my previous aspirations posted in this forum. At the end of the day, I want to go where I'll be the best asset to the team, and I think CG is where that is. Hoping to get assigned to a MSST or PACTACLET so I can still do some cool guy stuff every once in a while too.
So as far as the process goes, I just took the ASVAB at MEPS. To my recruiter's joy, I got an AFQT of 99 (the Navy recruiter in whose office I left my phone in said he'd get me into SEAL school immediately if I ditched the Coast Guard ).
That said, he expressed concern that my Social Security card doesn't match my birth certificate. The SS Card has an abbreviated form of it: [First Name] [Middle Initial] [Last Name], whereas my birth certificate reads: [First] [Middle Name] [2nd Middle Name] [Last Name]. Is this gonna screw me up later on? I only ask because it hasn't been an issue in my almost-28 years of existence thus far.
Secondly, am I screwing up going to Coast Guard? I'll be 28 in August, so I'm not under the impression that I can come back after my 4 years and decide I'd like to be an 18D and still be competitive as a 32-year-old former shallow water sailor. A $20k enlistment bonus would also be nice, but I'd rather be in a job and branch I'd be a great fit for than $20k richer and miserable for 3-5 years, or, worse still, a liability for the people that depend on me.
Lastly, are there any coasties on here that can advise a newbie about how to track for the best possible Coast Guard experience? I'd like to go the ME route, but there's presently a wait of around 18 months to go to the ME A-School, so BM has its appeal too. That said, if I'm basically gonna be a BM as a non-rate, then that's just fine. Will probably apply for OCS while I'm in, but I don't want to shoot my chances of getting a MSST assignment or PACTACLET before I do. At the end of the day, it's just money, and it would take a hell of a lot of currency to be worth trading in adventures for a desk.
Thanks for any pointers you guys can give.
Best,
-62.