deployment with coast guard?

Question

hello i am currently an army wife. my husband is an e-3 in the army, active duty. he has 2 years left of his contract and wants to go into the coast guard. i have a few questions.
how often does the coast guard deploy and for how long? with the army he deploys 9 months then has a 12 month cooling off period before he is deployable again. i was wondering how the coast guard works with deployments, if its similar. how long will he be home for before he is deployed again ( he is looking into becoming an ME)
also, does the coast guard have bases to be stationed at like the army does?
he loves military life but not deploying. we have a family, 2 sons under the age of 16 months.
how does medical work? bah? would we live on base?
thank you for answering my questions!!

Answer 1

All the medical and pay and housing is just like the rest of the military.



http://www.uscg.mil/cgpc/epm/PATFORSWA.asp



Now from what I have read the Optempo for deployments is a bit different but just scanning this I think it depends a lot on what kind of job he will have. Obviously Cutter duty is a lot of time away from home along with the quasi customs jobs with parts of the Army. Well I can tell you this, I have met a lot of folks for some reason that used to be in the CG and not a one of them had anything really bad to say about the time they spent. Now I've known a lot of folks who have been in the Army like myself and well, whether they have good or bad things to say is always a toss up.



http://www.uscg.mil/cgpc/epm/PATFORSWA.asp

Answer 2

First things first, he is going to have to go through full boot camp again and the process to get into the coast guard takes a while longer than the other branches so he will have to be patient. As long as his ASVAB score qualifies him for ME than he can do that, but again the wait list for that school is a long time and he will be an E-3 until he graduates from a school.



Now as for deployment, we really don’t get deployed with a few exceptions that won’t apply to him. Besides, there is a wait list for Coasties that want to go overseas. The term is underway and that all depends on what kind of unit he is assigned to after boot camp. For example, if he is assigned to a small boat station he will get to go home at the end of the day on most occasions with the exception of standing duty. However if he is assigned to a 270 foot cutter than he will be going underway for periods of two months at a time, then be in port for two months before going underway again. Make since? That’s a perk of the Coast Guard because in my opinion whoever would want to be underway for six months at a time has something wrong with them. Heehee just teasing the navy guys ;) So really it’s not that bad.



Anyways, as far as BAH and medical it is the same across the board for the military branches as is pay. Same benefits.



Finally, because he is married, he will automatically get BAH and you will be living off base.



It can get a little more complex than this, but that was just a quick cover of how the norm is. Good Luck to the both of you.

Answer 3

Your recruiter is being sincere. There's a "bulletin board" on USCG's web wherein deployments are published. The postings are for jobs any wherein and any approach USCG does trade. Right now there are postings for cutters, seek and rescue stations, BP/Gulf of Mexico oil spill. They published stuff for the Japan earthquake remedy too. These voluntary deployments are open to each energetic responsibility and reserve men and women so long as he meets the qualifications and his manager approves. The deployments are quick-time period, from a few months to a yr. An exemption on your recruiter's remark is unit-headquartered deployments. If your unit as a entire is being deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or anywhere, there is now not a lot you'll do approximately it. An illustration of a entire unit deployment is a Port Security Unit. The PSU deployments don't seem to be published at the "bulletin board". Their deployments come from approach up the chain of command.

Answer 4

To correct one part of what Kess said... because you are married, if there is on base housing, you can opt to live there if there is space available. My ex-husband is active duty CG. We lived in base housing for several different locations. We also lived off base, either by choice or when housing was just not an option where we were stationed.



Underway time depends upon the size of the ship. You can pretty much guarantee he will be underway for half the year. The smaller the ship, the shorter time of deployment. An 87 will go out for 5 days, be home 5 days. A 110 will go out for 10 days, home for 10 days. A 210 will go out for 6 weeks, home 6 weeks. The ice breakers will go out for 6 months and then will be home for 6 months. If he is at a Sector, with the exception of days standing duty, it is pretty much a 9-5 type of thing, weekends off. So it all depends.



He will have to be 6 months out to tour complete when he can get in contact with a recruiter. He will have to take the ASVAB again, he will have to go to boot camp. He MIGHT be able to go to DEPOT (Direct Entry Petty Officer Training) if his MOS in the Army translates to something in the CG. That rarely ever happens. So please be prepared for him to go to boot camp for the full 8 weeks. If he doesn't, then that's a bonus for you (and him). :)



The current wait for ME school is about 2 years. So again, be prepared for a wait on that end of things.



I can tell you I am divorced from my Coastie. However, the CG had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with our divorce. I loved my CG life, we just were not meant to be husband & wife. We are now very good friends and encouraged our son to become a Coastie. He is loving his life as a Coastie as well and hopes to make it his future. You will find that CG life is very good, very family oriented and while he may be underway for half the year at varying increments of time... it probably won't be as stressful as Army deployments.



Thank your husband for his service so far. And thank you to you as well. I wasn't an Army wife, so I dealt with different circumstances but I know how hard it is sitting home, worrying, wondering, just wanting your friend to be there with you. Hope you are together for the holidays.