Hi!  I got my 5-week phone call on Friday from my Coastie!  Looks like he'll be going to Two Rivers, Wisconsin.  He quickly mentioned it's a small-boat station.  Does anyone know anything about this station, or the area?  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!

Here's a link: http://www.uscg.mil/d9/sectlakemich...Rivers.asp

I had a buddy stationed there. He loved it.

Thanks, Gears! What was life like for him, do you remember?

It's a station so he'll stand duty 2 days on and 2 days off with sliding weekends. I don't know what their operational tempo is like though.

I know the Sector in Milwaukee is very busy in the summer, while winter is much slower. The lakes get some crazy weather and lots of recreational boats (IE not very experienced, often drunk people) so it should be a great experience. And if he is a sports fan, lots of football up there!

It all depends on the location with the Great Lakes. If he's close to Green Bay, he'll probably see a decent # of SAR/LE cases. It's hard to say though. There are 2 stations in Chicago on on the north side the other on the south side. The south side was always busy during summer. While the north side seemed to have it pretty easy by comparison.

Thank you, all, for your input! Please excuse me, but what are LE cases?

LE = Law Enforcement

Search and Rescue and Law Enforcement. The small boat stations tend to do lots of both, but location, esp on the Great Lakes determines how much.

Thank you! It's getting even more exciting now! We're getting close to moving him!

My brother-in-law was at Two Rivers for 4 years. He loved it and is trying to leave and go back. From what Ive heard it's a lot of SAR. He told me about some boardings or escorts on a ferry in the area. He's shown me pictures of testing cold weather gear in the icy water. If he can deal with the cold he'll be fine. It's a pretty small station from what Ive heard.