I'm so lost in so many different ways,

My boy man is looking at joining the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and I don't want him to go. Part of me wants him to stay because I don't know enough about it to feel comfortable letting him go. He has his heart set on it so I've decided that I need to educate myself and FAST! I've read a lot of information online, but I am curious to see if anyone could talk to me that has been enlisted before? If not then I definitely have some questions!

1: I'm Canadian and he's American is there any way that he will have time off to see me?

2: What conditions is he expected to get into?

3: How does stationing work?

4: (This will sound so arrogant and air headed and I'm sorry) Does he specialize in something while becoming a coastie? Or does he just do standard training?

5: How often should he expect to see his family?

6: Will he be forced to moved around a lot?

7: What are cell phone policies? As well as phones in general?

8: Is communication limited and restricted?


Ugh, thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this it means the world to me.


- Samantha

1: I'm Canadian and he's American is there any way that he will have time off to see me?

Yes, if he takes time off or gets leave then he can come and visit you, if he is not on tour.

2: What conditions is he expected to get into?
Personally I think the CG is safer than the army, but they do deal with the borders and get into some rough positions on the seas so it kind of depends on his skill set.

3: How does stationing work?
With the army they give you a list of places that you can go and you pick one, it might not be the same for the CG particularly for new recruits, but I think there is some choice in the decision after training is done.

4: (This will sound so arrogant and air headed and I'm sorry) Does he specialize in something while becoming a coastie? Or does he just do standard training?

First he would do standard training (like boot camp and what not) and then if he wants to specalize in something then he would go to training for that.

5: How often should he expect to see his family?

That I cannot answer, it depends on how often he gets off or how often you visit.

6: Will he be forced to moved around a lot?
Probably, I'm a military brat (army, if you can't tell) and I've never lived in the same place for more than 4 years. It could be different with the coast guard though because bases are primarily in the US.

7: What are cell phone policies? As well as phones in general?
During basic in other branches of the military only letters are allowed during basic training, but after that they can call just like they would if they had a normal job.

8: Is communication limited and restricted?

Not after initial training it's not, it's a job not a prison sentence :-)

Hope this helps, the CG is not really my specialty so so some of this could be wrong. You should check out the coast guard website, it has tons of information and a special part for conscerned parents: UNITED STATES COAST GUARD: (http://www.gocoastguard.com/) and United States Coast Guard - Home Page (http://www.uscg.mil/)

Good luck to you and your son!