I dont see many people talking about the GM rate. Is it not as popular as all the others?

Ive been considering either BM (because Im a captain) or GM (because Ive been around firearms my whole life). Are GMs few and far between?

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^{Future Coastie} _{Coming in 2011}

There are lots of GMs. Whether or not they post on this board is another matter all together.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

Are the actively involved with other aspects of the CG (ie LE, SAR, etc.) or are they more behind-the-scenes maintaining weaponry?

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^{Future Coastie} _{Coming in 2011}

They can be involved in LE, SAR, etc if assigned to an operational unit. The GMs I've known who are assigned to Sectors, etc. are typically Small Arms Instructors and maintain the armories at their respective units.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

The ones I know are mostly the behind the scenes types. They maintain and issue the weapons. If you're looking for a more active role in law enforcement, look into BM, MK, and ME. If you're also looking for a more active role in search and rescue, focus more on just BM and MK.

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If you want to order parts and take extra long lunches... look into SK.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

Thanks guys. After seeing that the waiting list for GM is almost 2yrs long, I think I'll stick with BM :)

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^{Future Coastie} _{Coming in 2011}

I would take offense to that, but every word of it is absolutely true!  We still don't have it quite as good as the YNs though, or MSTs for that matter...

I haven't looked at the waiting lists in quite a while.  That would be the first time I've seen the GM list that long!  You would think with all the high ASVAB scores coming in, that the GM rating would be depleting! ;-)

I was told that they anticipated several GMs to lateral to the ME rating, so they offered guaranteed 'A' school and got a lot of GM3s. Once ME went live, few of the GMs switched rates...so they had a flooded market of GMs...hence the long waiting list.

This is just what my XO told me as my brother was DEP'd in with a guaranteed GM school, but ended up never getting a ship date...seems logical.

If you want to lose your hearing, stay awake all night listening to engines turn, and fix everything the BMs touch, go MK.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

Hahaha let it all out guys, dont hold back!

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^{Future Coastie} _{Coming in 2011}

If you want to compete for the World's Great Paper Clip collection, cross T's and dot lower case J's, and spend lots of time staring off into space, go YN.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

You forgot about the world's largest string ball...

So as a BM I'd be working my ass off doing enything and everything (while breaking things in the process) with no time to myself?

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^{Future Coastie} _{Coming in 2011}

As a BM you'll spend half of your time fighting with other BMs for time on the helm, the other half you'll spend talking about how great it is being a BM.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

Haha cant wait...

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^{Future Coastie} _{Coming in 2011}

Don't forget that they also complain about standing duty because their job is "too important".  At a previous unit (No need for naming names), any BM that was coxswain qualified was pulled out of the duty rotation, regardless if they were the ready coxswain or not.  This left about half as many E-4's and E-5's for the duty rotation.  So you would have a kid that was brand new to the CG, an E-4 that just got coxswain qualified getting out of duty.  Meanwhile, you would have E-5's in other ratings that have been in a while standing double duty to make up for it.  Makes a lot of sense... 

I've run into my fair share of Cox'ns who've felt like they were too important to work alongside their nonrates. I've never found that with the MKs. I've had Master Chiefs turning wrenches right along side me, God bless 'em.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

I'll second that about MKs. There's always a bad seed in every rating, but for the most part, I've worked with only good MKs.

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GM would be awesome if you just shoot things to death and blow things up. But gosh I would love to be an ME. "Put your weapon down!!"
& hiding behind doors and kicking them down and handcuffing.
That is the life!
Besides BM I would love to do too for a living

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I am an MK and a certified Boarding Officer. Done it.

GMs don't shoot stuff to death. They are experts on small arms and weapons systems. SAFETY, handling, training, and maintenance are all apart of the job.

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Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.

- Mark Twain

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Last Edited : 4/10/2010 3:24:33 PM GMT

Don't forget that MEs are also gate guards, so you'll also get to say: "Can I see your ID please?" The SWAT team stuff won't be as common as people think.

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