Of course, my first post was to solicit information about the member to give proper advise. Nothing negative.
I am of the rare breed who have given more time on Active Duty to the CGR than when I was AD in the Army. I am going on 5.5 years AD with the CGR. A total of 8.5 AD years out of 28 years total service, AD Army and CGR.
When I get back to my civilian job on 30 Sep 2008, I will have a GREAT learning curve to get back up to speed to my civilian job. Over a third of the personnel in my civilian agency has been hired since I went on AD in Nov '04.
Originally posted by 6635919: I thought an IDT drill consisted of a minimum of four hours for one drill. Eight hours for two drills. If I am meeting those requirements, then what gives? I briefly looked over the reserve manual, but I don't see anything about duty.
I believe that you may have answered your own question. The Reserve Policy Manual clearly states that a single drill "must be 4 or MORE hours in duration" and a multiple drill "must be 8 or MORE hours in duration"; you must have gone right past Chapter 2, paragraphs 2.A.3 and 2.A.4 when you were briefly looking over the manual. If your Supervisor is requiring all personnel to work overnight (i.e. more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period) there is probably (now, I'm guessing here) a valid reason.
I see this topic pop up in these discussions frequently. Personally, I feel that SELRES members have a responsibility to be familiar with the contents of the RPM.
If you feel that you are unable to meet your participation standards, perhaps you should request a transfer to the IRR.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: jpdeal870,
Hey Jay, congrats on BMCM. Just got back from Tactical Coxswain School, nice refresher. SMTC is awesome, when you get transferred to the PSU you will be spending allot of time there!!! See you soon, want to talk training and working together on some stuff. Brian
663, dont listen to all the idiots in here calling your whiner and not wanting you to join. Some people just think they are great when they really arent. My unit sometimes drills at night for boardings and its great. No admin. base to yourself and after you take care of your job, you can hang out and use the rest for school time or study. Like the OOD or JOOD. I would rather do that then get screwed with a 7am to 5pm drill like I used to have to do at former unit where we sat on our butts doing nothing but pretended it was training. So I love night drills and if mixed with school could be used to your advantage. Dont let the disgruntles and so called tough guy wannabees in here get you down. If you want to come to Sector San Diego ever and see what the Coast Guard really does, let me know
I would rather do that then get screwed with a 7am to 5pm drill like I used to have to do at former unit where we sat on our butts doing nothing but pretended it was training.
Guess the CG inconvenienced you too with those nasty 7am to 5pm drills, eh?
Phx, I take it you are either a Boarding Team Member or in PSC if you come in for boardings. Good for you to get and stay certified. However, I take you to task for your "use the rest for school time or study" advice. If you are working on CG related stuff fine, if not shame on you. And shame on your supervisors for not setting a higher standard. 663 started this thread by asking about changed standards for his performance, which are more in line with what I have dealt with for 34 years. During the active duty portion of my time I worked with many outstanding Reservists. And unfortunately, a few who came in and tried to take up space and little else. They all eventually worked hard, just like you would be doing if I were at that so fine San Diego you think is the real CG. Try a PSU, LEDET, Station or one of the cutters I have been on. Maybe then you would have a better appreciation for the passion of a few hard working Coasties you have called "whiners" in this thread. Take advantage of those things we do for our people, enjoy the occasional down time when things aren't busy, but to suggest it should be a given is off base.
Originally posted by Phxrider: Dont let the disgruntles and so called tough guy wannabees in here get you down. If you want to come to Sector San Diego ever and see what the Coast Guard really does, let me know
That's the spirit! Perhaps we should aspire to be a great as you are!!!
Hang in there, where there is a will, there's a way. Duty could work out good for you, since you are in school...you could study. I can understand being overwhelmed with the needs of the service, but it is all what you make it. If you make it out to stink, it will def. stink. I know that at some stations, the reservists stand overnight duty. They are there to relieve the tired/small duty section.
I did not realize this question would cause this much grief. The day I posted, was the day I found out about the schedule. Yes, I was a little disgruntled that day. I had already made my schedule for the rest of the year and would have to change it all. We have all had changes in a duty or schedule and I've been in long enough to know that I'm not the only one who has ever vented. But, when I weighed everything about the CG in a more logical manner. It did not seem as big a deal. So lets all move on to he next subject.
Jerry; Maybe you should keep it open so that others who may consider joining will see that the USCG Reserves is/or could be more than just four, four hour drills a month.
663, is your unit switching duty or are you joining a new unit with night drills. Artic Traveler, I have worked with a LEDET, been at a PSU, and was at an MSST, so I know all about watches and how they work. I also know guys on watches sometimes hang out watch the tube, bs, or study for stuff outside the CG. Unless you have a nazi for a chief. When the alert sounded, SAR case, LE whatever we dropped what we were doing and took care of business. The job always got done with the least amount of BS. That is the real job, SAR, LE Cases, boardings, the stuff the CG does everyday. We still keep our quals upto date, get stuff signed off. When your people have to stand night watch, do you have them up at 3am in the ready room studying EPME or something. That is ridiculous. Dont matter what you are doing when you stand watch. Should you use it to do something Coast Guard related, sure, but if you are studying for college or completing a school project, I would have no problem with that. As long as when the alert is given. The job gets done!
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Phxrider: 663, is your unit switching duty or are you joining a new unit with night drills. Artic Traveler, I have worked with a LEDET, been at a PSU, and was at an MSST, so I know all about watches and how they work. I also know guys on watches sometimes hang out watch the tube, bs, or study for stuff outside the CG. Unless you have a nazi for a chief. When the alert sounded, SAR case, LE whatever we dropped what we were doing and took care of business. The job always got done with the least amount of BS. We still keep our quals upto date, get stuff signed off. Dont matter what you are doing when you stand watch. Should you use it to do something Coast Guard related, sure, but if you are studying for college or completing a school project, I would have no problem with that. As long as when the alert is given. The job gets done! Here in SD we dont have alot of Nazis and pretty cool command staff who work with you on things. I have been to other Sectors (especially the one to the North of SD) that treat their people like sh@@ and everyone you talk to there is unhappy and goes IRR.
Phx, You have accurately described life in the CG, both active and Reserves. You don't sound like someone who is going to cut and run. Congrats, sounds like you have a good career going. In 663's original post he talked about getting out because of a duty change that would leave him/her miserable. I think that is what set some of us off. IRT the Sector you see where the Reserves are miseable, they need to run that one up the flagpole and get it resolved.
6635919, another hard lesson learned. Don't hit the "Send" button quite so quickly. This forum can be unforgiving while other forums (i.e. gov't e-mail) can be painful. If you type it up and vent all your angst, then leave it in "Draft" for a couple of days. You'll either modify it or delete it after a bit of time for reflection. (Not that I've ever had to learn such a thing the hard way, of course )
Artic Traveler, the only time where I was miserable is when I was a victim of the select and direct thing. I dont think in that Sector anything could be fixed,,its just the way that place operates. They cannot think outside the box and will not be open to any suggestions. Heard they have some senior chief billets there, maybe you could go offer some suggestions haha!. I recently had a very good Lt Commander come from there to San Diego who has seventeen years in the reserves. He was ready to give up his whole career by going IRR or resigning his commission. Having worked with him now for several months, I dont see any issues with his command style..Its just that place kills moral and drives people out. For the record before anyone jumps on me, its not only the PSU up there, but the whole Sector in General. I am not objecting to doing another green side tour. I would goto the new MESS they have here in San Diego. They have a great CGR Senior Chief running things and moral is real high there. I would not mind deploying overseas with a unit like that. Its all about leadership and moral. This means if you have to pull watch or night duty as long as you have good shipmates and chiefs who cares, have fun. When I was the MSST team, we deployed to SMTC, which some of the stuff really sucked, But we had an excellent crew, so we had fun in the end. Thats all that counts!
