My husband is looking to join the Coast Guard this year- active duty.  As of the end of this summer, he will have an associates degree in Catering/Event Planning, as well as he'll be only a few classes away from two more associates: in Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management. He is looking into a lot of different career options, but it looks like joining the Coast Guard to work in Food Service would be a good fit for him and our family.  He's done a lot of research and talked to a local recruiter, as well as a few people who have worked in this rate, and it sounds very promising.  Not only would he be able to finish his schooling, but he'll gain a lot of kitchen/cooking experience, and be able to do what he loves the most- cook!  

According to the current age regs, he can enlist up to age 30 at pay grade E-3 without a waiver. So, he needs to finish his AA. After age 30 he'll need his AA and a guaranteed "A" school, in his case FS. No waiver necessary.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

I'm sorry- AA?  Do you mean his Associates?  Also, so he DOESN'T even need a waiver at all as long as he enlists before is 30th birthday?  Wonder why the recruiter didn't know that?  Should we still wait for the new fiscal year?

AA, yes his Associates. Gears is a recruiter and very up to date on the regs. I woudl give the recruiter a call back and politely, very politely, ask for him to please check the regs again. Maybe he is just new to the recruiting game and this one slipped past him, no malice intended. He just thought a waiver wuold be needed. I wouldn't wait to call back, you are looking at September. Give a call, be very nice about it and talk again.

I'm not implying I think you would be rude... just make it so that you don't come off as trying to second guess him. Some recruiters are really great and will say hey, look at that, I made a mistake, glad I checked again. Others, their ego may bruise. They are only human after all and we all have our different emotions and tolerances.

Okay.  Sure- yeah, I'm sure it was just an oversight.  Is there a website that lists this information?  That way I can just forward it on to my husband and he can just tell the recruiter that his wife found this info, and so he was wondering if he could check the requirements again.

Applying in September means he has done nothing yet. That means MEPS, ASVAB, application, credit check, background. Better to start the application process now and then he can be ready to ship after graduation.

Thanks for the info! I'll let my husband know. One last thing- do you guys have any idea if FS will still be critical (ie. guaranteed A school- enlistment bonus- etc...) in the 2012 fiscal year? Even if you don't know for sure, do you have a projection, or is it still too early?

Well it is a little too early to say 100%. But FS is generally a critical rating. But I'm generally healthy, I can have a great 2012 and never even get the sniffles or I can get pneumonia and be sick as a dog. Same thing. There is a good chance it will be critical. But there is nothing so constant as change in the military. Best of luck with it all. Keep asking questions, we'll try our best to help.

The FS rating is in dire need of people for the foreseeable future. Also, he can bypass the need for the AA by signing up for 6 years, which would make him an E-3 as well.

although he has WELL beyond 60 credits now.

He's eligible to apply now. 60+ college credits are required for the bump to pay grade E-3. Typically, people with 60+ credits have an AA/AS so give me a mulligan on that one.

You'll find age criteria about halfway down the page, http://www.gocoastguard.com/get-the...t%20Guard?

It doesn't mention college credits, but they count.

Awesome! Thanks everyone.

Another question- on that website it states that you cannot have more than two dependents. I know that I count as one, and then we also have a 10 month old as well, so he'd be right at that limit. My question is, if I am pregnant when my husband tries to enlist will that be a deal breaker? Most likely, even if I was the baby wouldn't be due until after his ship date, but I didn't know how the CG would see this...?

If there is a bun in the oven, it counts. So wife, child and expected child = 3 dependents.

oh wow! Boy, am I glad I asked that!!!!!! lol! We were planning #2 soon, so I guess we'll have to pause that plan. So, basically, I can't get pregnant until after he signs papers, until after he gets his ship date, or until after he ships out??

Sorry for inserting my "personal" questions here....

Hey, personal questions are what we are here to help with. Don't worry about that part. Graduation night from boot camp sounds like a great night to get preggers to celebrate... just practice getting pregnant before that but don't have success. LOL You know what I mean.

Little bit of a more respectful answer... Wait until after boot camp for baby #2. Anything before that can cause the whole deal to come to a stop.

LOL!! hmmm. Ok. This is a bummer. Mostly because he'd be going directly to A- school from boot, right? (I actually posted this question in a different thread.) Would he have time off in between or would they fly him right from boot to A school in CA? If not, that literally delays our baby plan from now until he goes to boot, and then the extra four and a half months between boot and A-school- and this is best case sinario! It's my understanding that he could end up at Pataluma waiting around for A-school to start for an extra couple of weeks, too, right? We're pretty much looking at about a year here to a year and a half here...

wow... hmm. Maybe we don't want him to wait for him to get his associates before enlisting. Any idea if there are still FS spots open for the current fiscal year? His recruiter said there aren't any in our area...

They do try to coincide boot camp ending with A school beginning. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. So there are cases he can be waiting for A school to begin and yes, in that case, he will go to Petaluma and work on the base there until school begins. But he should still get his 5 days leave before having to report. So you have a little time then. Napa Valley can be a beautiful, romantic little hide away for baby planning... nothing says you can't ask your mom or mom-in-law to watch munchkin and you slip away for a nice little weekend. He'll have to make sure duty schedules are ok and all that but that would be a nice little way to start Junior #2.

Keep in mind, if he "gives up" going for his Associates right now once he is through boot, through A and comfortable in his first duty station, he can go back then. The really big PLUS, he can use tuition assistance and have the rest of his schooling paid for! The money for credits today can be saved for baby tomorrow. I don't know about the availability, once again I will defer to my friends in the know.

all very good points! I'm gonna forward this link to my hubby, and specifically point out the recommendation to vacation in the Napa Valley... hehe! You also make a great point about letting the military pay for the rest of his degree. He planned to do this already with his BA, but might make more sense to just transfer out now instead of finishing up his Associates first...

Does the CG pay to fly him from boot, to home, then to A-school? Or just from boot to CA and then he has to take his leave in one of those two places?

Also, does leave after boot, and 10 days after A-school count as part of his 30 day allowed leave for the year?

The whole fly home thing is weird when you are married... I'm not sure even I understand the rules completely. I know for single members they already paid for your travel to Cape May so they pay for your travel to the next spot, not back home and then the next spot. But with marrieds it is a bit different. But no matter what the answer is pretty much wherever you live, you are going to sort of be "on the way" to Petaluma. So he should only have to pay a small amount for the difference of going from point A to C with a stop over in B. All that gets explained really well in Cape May, they absolutely know all the answers on that one.

As for the leave, yep. Those count towards his 30 days. When you transfer from A school to your first duty station you will use some leave but you will also get travel time. So there will be more than enough days. Then when you get to the new place, the CG will give you 10 days for house hunting, that does NOT count towards leave.

His recruiter said there aren't any in our area...

Does he want to go Active or Reserve?

Active.

Any idea if there are still FS spots open for the current fiscal year? His recruiter said there aren't any in our area...

Waiting a billet to open in the area usually only applies to Reservists. For Active Duty, he would be given a ship and "A" school date in his contract. After "A" school he would fill out a dream sheet for his next unit.

Oh, okay. We were under the impression that each recruiting base had a certain number of "slots" to fill each fiscal year, and once they are full, they need to wait until the next fiscal year before they can accept more applicants and give out ship dates...? That, or they need to find a "slot" that is open at another recruiters office... My husband's recruiter told us that he already filled all his "slots" for FS for this year, and that he would need to look at other bases to find out if he could get him in through any of their openings. Maybe we misunderstood him?

It's true every office has a finite # of jobs to fill each year. Typically, once all the spots are filled recruiters begin to search for the best for the next fiscal year. However, each office handles its applicants differently. I was just looking for a little clarification.

Also... and about the age thing- from researching other thread on this site I found this little treasure of information:

"In a recruiter pocket guide dated May 2010 it spells out the age limits:

AT LEAST 17
LESS THAN 18
NEEDS CUSTODIAL OR PARENT/GUARDIAN WRITTEN CONSENT, EMANCIPATED MINOR OR IS MARRIED

AT LEAST 18
LESS THAN 28
MAY APPLY

AT LEAST 28
LESS THAN 30
MAY APPLY IF PRIOR SERVICE, ENLISTS AS AN E-3, OR HAS A WAIVER FROM CGRC

AT LEAST 28
LESS THAN 32
MAY APPLY IF E-3 WITH A GUARANTEED A SCHOOL

AT LEAST 30
LESS THAN 40
MAY APPLY IF THE APPLICANT HAS PRIOR SERVICE AND IS ENLISTING IN PAY GRAD E-4 OR ABOVE, CONSTRUCTIVE AGE MUST REDUCE THE AGE OF THE APPLICANT TO LESS THAN 35

Pasted from:
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/capemay/docs...tGuide.pdf"

Glad I found this so that my husband can tell the recruiter he "found this info and was hoping he wouldn't mind looking into the regulations again.

HOWEVER, reading through this pocket guide brought up ANOTHER concern. Debt to income. We have very little debt which really only adds up to a few hundred dollars a month. HOWEVER, we do own our own home. And our current mortgage would be about 30 percent of my husband's income starting out in the CG. We don't have a crazy expensive house or anything, but we live in an area that has a RIDICULOUSLY low BAH. Also, while I do work part time from home, I am mostly a stay at home mom and don't bring much to the table - of monetary value anyway.

So my question is- would this be a deal breaker? We are planning to either sell or rent out our house either while my husband is in boot, or while he is in A school. Just not sure how the timing of this would work out.. It would stink to have to move from here to an apartment or something just for a couple months while he is in boot and A-school, and then move again. We have a baby, so that makes it extra complicated. AND- we got the first time homebuyer tax credit when we purchased, and so we TECHNICALLY can't move until November, but there is an exception if my husband gets orders. Then we can sell-rent- do whatever we want. Just not sure if they'd give orders until his debt was under 30%??? It's a catch 22...

Thoughts??

Your debt to income ratio MUST be under 30%, there's no way around it. If you want to rent your house, you can, but you'll need a signed rental agreement before your husband can get a reservation or you'll have to sell the house.

Glad I found this so that my husband can tell the recruiter he "found this info and was hoping he wouldn't mind looking into the regulations again.

Why would you let your husband take credit for your research skills? He should tell his recruiter, "My inquisitive and resourceful wife found this info... etc, etc."

Why would you let your husband take credit for your research skills? He should tell his recruiter, "My inquisitive and resourceful wife found this info... etc, etc."

Um.  AGREED!

It depends on the recruiter. I've never had to deal with a mortgage/rental agreement issue (lots of other stuff, not that). Personally, before I sent in the paperwork for a reservation I would want a solid rental agreement or proof of a pending sale (i.e. prepping for closing). But, again each recruiting office is a little bit different.

Okay. So update:  

Jumping from office to office isn't going to speed things along. The spots at Office "B" are probably being reserved for people still processing through. All he can do at this point is be patient and stay in touch.

hmmm... okay. I'll definitely need more patience- it looks like if we end up being a Coastie family we'll need to get used to the waiting game!