Hey everyone. I am new here on the forums and just wanted to say hello.

Welcome aboard Philly. At least the trip to boot camp would be short for you. I want to know why you are under the impression that you would stay on the east coast??? We were from NJ, my finace was sent to Kodiak, Alaska. He could have gotten sent farther but I suppose that was close enough to a world away at the time. There are no guarantees you would stay on the east coast. You could be stationed in Guam, Hawaii, there is a CG base in Saipan (God willing it is still in one piece right now). The CG is deployed world wide, please don't think Coasties only spend their time in the US. My son has been in 2 years and has been to 9 foreign countries already. So please don't cloud your thoughts with a definate east coast asignment. It can happen, but it is as likely that it won't happen.

The CG offers no reimbursement for college already paid for. The best suggestion would be to meet with the recruiter. See what options he has for you and go from there. I'm assuming you want to go full time. If you want to go reserves then the above answer might not ncessarily apply. I don't actually know of any books to help one prepare for OCS. The Helmsman is just basically a guide of what to bring for boot camp and some other general information. Your fitness routine should be fine.

Best of luck. Welcome aboard. Please let us know if we can help with any other questions.

I know they will not reimburse for already paid off, but all of mine is still loans. Will they help with that? Its is not much in loans, but possibly up to about $50,000.
I did not know that about being sent wherever. I figured since the CG is run by the DoD it would be more homeland or closer to where you are familiar (though I would love to visit Alaska).
That's ok though.

The Coast Guard is run by the Department Of Homeland Security, but Coast Guard mission is worldwide, including the Persian Gulf and Afganistan.

My son joined in 2002. He has been stationed in Kodiak, Ak., Chicago, Staten Island, NY., and will be moving next to Portsmouth, Va...so there is no guarantee where you will be stationed during your career. The CG tries it's best to take member's wishes into account when making assignments, but the "needs of the service" will always take precedence.

Coast Guard Cutters routinely deploy worldwide, so factor that in to the equation as well. It's the Military, and a sacrifice everyone makes to serve their country.

I don't believe the Coast Guard offers any loan repayment program, but you do benefit from the GI Bill, with education benefits extended to your spouse after 6 years service and your children after 10 years. Also remember that all your housing and medical expenses are paid for during your enlistment, so some of that money can be used to pay off your loans.

Best wishes!

What I meant by my statement of "The CG offers no reimbursement for college already paid for." I meant loans... You used that loan to already pay for college. The CG will not help you pay back your loan other than giving you a guaranteed paycheck every two weeks. I know you meant loans, I thought it would be understood the loan paid for college already. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

That's ok. I was just tryng to get definite, specific info and wanted to be as clear as possible. I'm betting after 4-6 years of not being able to spend any money that I will accumulate enough to help pay back loans, especially since I plan to go through officers training (I know it will not be a big increase in pay, but enough that over time it will make a bit of a difference).

I understand now that the CG goes all over, thank you. I just thought I would be closer because the family that I have that has been in the Coast Guard, and some that still is, has either stayed on the east coast or in the Carribean. Alaska seems like it would be awesome. I do like to travel and like hiking/camping so Alaska would be beautiful. Plus it would be a nice vacation for my mom if she wanted to come visit. haha. I am just trying to get more information for my girl friend since we just started dating recently and she doen't like the idea of me being away from her for so long. I know I don't want to be away from her either, but joining the Coast Guard is a great way for me to go on into a career in law enforcement, security, or other gov't jobs.

Thank you all for your help and info so far. I am still very interested in the CG and am taking all of your help into account.

If you're dying to get rid of those pesky loans (join the club) The Navy and the Army have programs that can pay up to 65k of them. The Rates and MOS are the hardest to fill and complete training in. I believe it is a "NUKE" (hope you like math) for the Navy and it is Special Forces for the Army and I just found that some National Guard MOS are repaying. Besides that, no one that I know of is actually signing GI bills off to pay off people's loans. Sign of the economy, unfortunately. 

I didn't want to make another thread with such a small question so I'm just bumping this one.

Ever since I have thought about joining the military (since probably before high school) I've always thought about the training. I've anted to get the best training I can (physically and mentally) and push myself to the limit. So far I am not doing that very well as a civilian (lack of personal drive) but I know if I have reasons to do something I will (hence me already getting prepared for the CG).

My question is how can I get the best out of my training in the CG. I'm more talking about after boot camp. After seeing the DOGs videos I know that I would really like to do that kind of work. It is similar to what I want to do after the Coast Guard as well. I would like to go into some sort of Investigative Services (CGIS, detective in a police force, etc...) or even SWAT based services. I expect myself to train very hard and I always try to (I try to train like DragonBall, haha) so I know I can acheive it, but what is the best way of going about this?

The CG doesn't have a PT schedule like the Army or the Marines. So once again, this will be a self-motivation thing. There are some guys that lift weights, work out, constantly train and they are an FS. Then you have some that lift only 12 ounces at a time. Of course everyone in the CG must maintain weight standards but muscle and training and that type of thing is up to each individual. You might get on a ship or at a station where there are others that want to train and you can all work out together. You might also get to a station where you have people that aren't into it and you're on your own. Either way, if DOG, SWAT, MSST is something you are driving towards, it should be easy to maintain the level of training you need to compete for and keep the job you want.