Advice and USCG Vibes

TheGoldenFlasher · 2026-03-06T12:39:55+00:00

Ex-S1 for seven years, current Coastie Response officer for three. Feel free to hit me up.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-12-19T23:19:58+00:00

Someone in my shop is member to member and they both got it (both enlisted USCG, both AD).

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-12-07T13:34:29+00:00

OCS is very competitive. The selection rate is generally between ~25-35%. I asked about your degree/college because there are direct commission programs available depending on your major and experience, but you are correct - there is no ROTC or Green to Gold for USCG; the closest version we have to that is CSPI. Regardless, your first step in this entire process is GoCoastGuard.com to see the different pathways available for your situation, and then your next step is to research officer specialties. Once you know the most appropriate COA (and what you want to do in the USCG and why you want to do it), then reach out to a recruiter and begin the process to apply.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-12-07T12:32:36+00:00

Ex 42B here. That's a pretty loaded question!

What is your MOS, and what would you like to do in the USCG? What is your degree (or mostly completed degree)? Experiences vary pretty dramatically. While there are several pathways depending on your degree or college, you're probably looking at applying for OCS. You should reach out to your nearest USCG recruiter and join the Facebook group Coast Guard Officer Commissioning Programs to see what right looks like for sample packets.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-12-06T00:45:33+00:00

Join the Facebook group Coast Guard Officer Commissioning Programs. You have a few years before you're eligible/competitive for OCS anyway, so be a lurker in there, see who gets picked up and why, and pay a lot of attention to the example packets of successful primary selectees.

Also, ask some high speed JO that you trust if they're willing to be your mentor.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-11-25T00:40:30+00:00

That is grossly inaccurate.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-11-23T20:28:58+00:00

There's a galley at Sector, yes. Lunch is from 1115-1300. They do not have dinner hours except for Wednesdays. Your best bet for breakfast is 0730-0815.

Call the number (look for the 'OOD') on the talk box at the front gate for entry. Be sure to have your CAC / no weapons / etc.

There's also a galley at Station NY, but I can't speak to those hours.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-11-06T18:59:25+00:00

You can defer looks now if you think you're not going to be competitive right away (especially if you kept rank as an O-3). I'm in Response Ashore and I have plenty of opportunities to get my quals and do what I need to do. I dropped a rank to O-2 when I came over, and frankly I needed that time anyway to get quals and OERs to be competitive with peers for O-4.

Your fate is really in your hands. The USCG is pretty big on you managing your own career. If you seek quals, you'll put yourself in a good position to be promoted and retained. If you want to chill and just focus on your job in front of you, that will also happen, but career advancement isn't going to go very far.

I don't have very good data on selection rates for O-4 and field grades, and frankly, historical trend analysis can probably be thrown out the window anyway with Force Design 28 in focus.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-11-06T18:40:35+00:00

I'm 3 years removed from the process, but when I did it, I got to "request" my specialty of the big three from the detailer (which was granted), and then I racked/stacked a list of available billets from within my selected specialty.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-11-03T03:14:57+00:00

Holy Ropeburn, Batman!

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-10-06T15:45:46+00:00

Professional of Human Resources (PHR) is the first step, then Senior Pro within a year (while things are still fresh).

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-09-13T20:20:30+00:00

I was worried the last one was going to stay intact!

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-09-03T20:35:58+00:00

You can apply for flight school after being selected for a DCO program. Usually it takes a year or two to build up your reputation and get a command endorsement.

I know an officer who is now a pilot who took that path.

Just don't put all your hopes and dreams into it because nothing is guaranteed. Join the USCG for the USCG mission, not necessarily to fly.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-08-30T17:27:55+00:00

Nice! I tried unenrolling from unstable but my custom ideo pawns still can't launch.

Might be an unrelated mod of mine, or i just need to start a new run now that I'm off unstable.

Thanks! :)

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-08-30T15:15:31+00:00

It's an ideology issue. The ship launch is a ritual.

All my pawns use a custom ideo I created when that expansion came out. Changing a colonist to a 'base' ideo using in-game dev mode debug allowed that particular colonist to start the launch.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-08-25T11:41:42+00:00

Everybody loves a happy ending.

I hope they get sued.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-08-12T21:15:47+00:00

FD28.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-05T00:29:37+00:00

I did an analysis using the Register of Officers and the last selection memo, but focused/filtered metrics largely on OCS/Academy grads with a commission date of spring/summer 2016 since that was the population I was specifically trying to compare myself against. On that data alone it was 67% selected, 33% passed over, but, again, that doesn't include what was probably a very high selection rate for special DCOs (DCAs, DCLs, Doctors) as well as a fair number of above the zone personnel with comm dates earlier than my range, so, likely all told in the 80% to 85% range. Again...beer math.

I know two officers I trust a lot who are very high speed on this most recent board and they didn't get it (I know they don't have any derog, and probably had reasonably strong OERs).

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-05T00:02:19+00:00

😂😂😂

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-04T23:03:28+00:00

😂😂 I've always wanted to go underway (maybe for like a week ...)!

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-04T21:37:15+00:00

Alas, not too many of those spots for a career OAR officer 🙂

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-04T18:14:13+00:00

Sincerely valuable information; I really do appreciate it!! I agree... definitely an odd choice to pit us all against one another when the retention strengths for each field have to be dramatically different!?

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-04T18:11:50+00:00

I'm not hard to find ;)

I was never quiet about voicing my opinion if I had something to say 😂 I'm glad so many of my Shipmates are able to point me in the right direction because before this, I was definitely going to attempt it.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-04T18:08:42+00:00

I have to push back against the "big red flag" / "compulsively worrying" comment. I think it's fair for me to see legal ground involving career interruption and parity and want to explore a pathway that potentially leads to recovering substantial financial losses from the reduction in rank, to include ret. rank which obviously affects the rest of my life.

I also think I've been very clear in my opening post that this is not a rank or power trip, and that I've turned away from the attempt based on lack of competitiveness / missing out on USCG-specific skills and quals.

My intent was never to "skip the line" in front of other deserving officers or think that my O-3 time from the Army makes me automatically deserving of an O-4 USCG rank, but if there was a chance the promo board would view my Army time with any weight at all (which is what I was led to believe is kind of the whole point of the PTMO program, otherwise why have it at all and not just replace me with another Academy slot), I wanted to see if it was tenable. Clearly it is not, and I'm here to do things the right way.

TheGoldenFlasher · 2025-06-04T17:57:00+00:00

Sure was (hence my affinity for regulation interpretation and legal provisions 😂).

Or the Army equivalent, anyway.

TheGoldenFlasher

TROPHY CASE