Look thru this thread and others in this section. There are lots of OS ones that are fairly recent. Reservist just do 8 hour days instead of 12.

what are the best perks of being an OS? Can they be part of a boarding team? Are they likely to be assigned to a large cutter because i would love that.? I'm leaving to boot camp on june 25th of this year, if i bust my butt to get qualified to put my name on an A list how long would it take to make E-4?

My son is an OS aboard the MIDGETT. When his ship returns to port he will have been underway for his longest patrol ever. He was stationed on the SENECA before A School and he did some decent trips. I think he is ready to touch down on some solid ground though. LOL

I believe, the last time I checked anyway, the wait time for OS A school is about 6-10 months. So bust buttons, get qualified, show that you should be on the list for advancement and get your name on the A School list. Expect for it to take about 2 years-ish. But please... really WANT to be an OS and not just see the advancement light at the end of the tunnel. FloridaGirl and my son are both OS's. They will both tell you, the exciting moments, are really exciting. The rest of your 8-12 hour shift is listening to static, watching blips on a screen and dull. Of course a dull day for an OS probably means really great days for fisherman and the like.

Posted By Old Guard2 on 20 Mar 2013 07:00 AM
 Of course a dull day for an OS probably means really great days for fisherman and the like.

Basically.  Its what we said at the hospital too.  "Did you have a good day at work?" "Depends what side of the counter you were on."  Good for us = probably a crappy day for someone else.

See im not joining OS for advancement because my recruiter told me all about that area. I was told it can be so wonderful and stressful and then really boring, but told me its like being a quarterback for a team. I love great responsibility. I also took into account although may like other rates i also have to think about my future. i prefer not to sit in a rank for most of my career. 

BMs and MKs see things. Most ratings see things, almost all of the ratings have cutter opportunities, some of them are at only certain paygrades, but thats usually relevant to how much seatime is needed for that particular rating. FS has the highest seatime requirement, and FS, BM, and MK usually would have idealy rotating one tour shore one tour sea. ET and DC are up there in seatime too. Then maybe EM and OSs. The lowest seatime is probably SK, YN, and PAs.

BMs work outside a lot. Engineers mostly work inside.

But there are so many BMs and im pretty sure its hard to advance (correct me if im wrong), but again im not looking just to get promotions because if that was the case i would do FS. I just dont want to be E-3 forever. I want to do something thats great even its behind a radar and waiting for that mayday call but i would love to be on the deck and be for of boarding teams that seize other ships for drugs.

If you are an OS, you are going to spend the majority of your time in a windowless vault, either in the middle of a ship or in a building somewhere. If you want to be outside, being an OS is probably not for you.

@Floridagirl that i do know of and that i do accept. i just figure to ask some questions about their extended objectives if they had any. But the thing i love about being part of the coast guard is that ill have the chance to see some rates before i choose

You choose a rating, not a rate.

I wouldn't base your decision off of advancement opportunities. It is always changing.

Exactly, before OS's were advancing at an extremely high rate. Now with the new ERATS, OS's will not advancing as fast as they once were.