Hello

This is my first post because I've been pondering this for a while.
Well I applied a few years ago to attend the Academy but didn't make it in. So I'm onto my final year at Michigan State and am engaged.

So I'm trying to decide if the Coast Guard is still right for me. We'd like to get married in a year or so and then we're off out of college and onto the real world.

So would going straight into 4 months of training and everything be a bad idea? Does anyone have any experience with going into a service right after marriage? Should I go for training before getting married then try to fit in a wedding before going to my first placement?
I understand that its all up to me but if anyone has any experience or thoughts on it, thanks.

Sorry, but as you said, that is all up to you. There isn't another person on this planet that can tell you what is a good or bad idea for your marriage.

I agree with Sardaddy that the decision is something only you can honestly answer for yourself. But it really isn't that difficult. If you get married prior to OCS or boot camp then your lovely wife is covered by insurance and in the few short months that the initial training is she will be included automatically in your moves. If you marry in between graduation and duty station it could get tricky. The seperation time isn't easy but if you are military, why not get used to seperation coming right out of the gate? Married or still engaged you will still be just as seperated and the distance will still be there so why not endure it as husband and wife, if you are ready for that.

My ex went to OCS when we were married just shy of 5 years and we had an 18 month old son when he left. He was enlited when he got picked up for OCS. Was it easy? NO! Was it impossible? NO! We managed through 8 weeks of boot camp, we managed through 17 weeks of OCS, we managed through 10 weeks of MST A school, we managed... so if you are ready to be married, if you want to be married... Go ahead, go for it. If for you staying engaged and doing the whole wedding thing afterwards is the best thought in your mind, then hang out and wait. Either way if the answer is what your heart is telling you to do, then it's the right answer.

Best of luck!!
Macie

If your already talking about marriage then you need to talk about his between the two of you. But as a wife, I wanted to get married before he went into the coast guard but that was something we decided as a couple. And the added benefits of being married start when you will be in bootcamp, so you get BAH and she gets insurance. I learned when my brother was in the Army and when he got married it was a hassle to get all the paperwork done for BAH and her insurance. It took the army a couple of months after the paperwork was finished to get them their first BAH check.

Made, why in God's name did you quit on him? You already did all the hard stuff. Here speaks a guy who gave up eight years of service and slunk back to civilian life because my (prospective) wife stamped her little foot. Turns out, after the fact, military was the only thing I was ever good at. Even so, we're still married; if she ever complains, I remind her that I could have been Commandant.