Does anyone have any experience with Naval Coastal Warfare Squadrons (NCWRON/MESRON) as a CG reservist? If so, what were your likes and dislikes. Was it good for your CGR career? Was there a ton of Navy BS to put up with?

Cheers,

CGDudley

quote:

Was there a ton of Navy BS to put up with?

Boy, it sure is a good thing you don't have any "BS" in the Coast Guard .

Can't answer your specific questions, but maybe I can give you some other insight. I have limited experience with one of these units in Everett, WA - a colleague of mine was a USCG Warrant Officer there, plus I was able to tag along with them during one of their drills so I could qualify at the range.

They seemed very squared away and happy to be there. People seemed to mix pretty freely as far as Navy-CG "associating" with one another (it wasn't like the Navy personnel sat on one side of the room and the Coasties sat on the other, like some might expect). Either the unit CO or XO (I wasn't sure which he was) is a former SEAL. He seemed very competent, yet extremely laid back, was joking around with people, etc.

It seemed like a solid enough unit that when I had a chance to put in a dream sheet to go somewhere, this was my top pick. I didn't get it, unfortunately.

I believe they also deploy pretty frequently - someone mentioned it might be something like every 13 months, but I'm not 100% if I heard that correctly or not.

Hope the info is useful.

Dudley-
I enjoyed my time with NCW. Last year the REPOY and RJO were both from NCWRON34. But if you want another perspective you should talk to STUCKMAN. Sean has had a bad time with NCW after two deployments.
My old unit, NCWRON 25, just had a USCG CO take command recently. I think Capt. Martin is the only Coastie CO in the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command community.

Be advised. NCWRON 25 was decommissioned Feb of this year. I was part of that unit, Captain Martin is a good man. He was CO for a couple of months.

I wasn't in a NCWRON but have worked a lot with them. The ones I've worked with were the most disorganized organizations in the military. They are the unit that is responsible for the deployment of other assets (PSU, IBU, MIUWU, EOD, etc)and you would think they would know what was going on but they didn't. For a organization that is maritime you would think basic questions about tides and weather would be second nature, guess not. They were surprised when we asked for unleaded for our boats, their comment, "why do you need unleaded?" It was a blast filling boats with a 55 gallon drum, hand pump and 5 gallon jerry cans.

They have good guys, but lack organization, I would stay away. May not be all of them, but I've worked with 3-4 and that's the experience I've had.

I will try to avoid getting too detailed but here is some info.
I started my USCG career in an NCW unit, went to a PSU, and now back in a NCW unit.

There are big changes in the NCW community -- now called MSRON. There are 10 MSRONs nationwide and about half will have SELRES billets. The USCG had about 20 personnel per NCW unit and under the new format that is supposed to be reduced to about 5-7 -- mainly senior O3 and O4 billets for PSU types to rotate to for a "Joint" tour for transition from JO at the PSU to a more experienced officer for higher PSU jobs. They are not sure if there will be any E's in the units.
Naval Expeditionary Combat Command is in charge of the MSRON community and they are very busy all over the world. Expect to deploy -- and that is not a bad thing.

I am currently in an MSRON and currently title X. The theory is that in MSRON you will deploy at the same rate a PSU does.

The advantages of the USN MSRON are they go on more exercises out of the country and also throughout the US -- so you will do lots of camping and have travel and training opportunities. Their funding is feast or famine -- the closer to deploying the more funding and training. The Navy Enlisted Reservists are mostly prior active duty and have more military expereince than the average coastie who was an RX with no prior or a brand new PS "A" school graduate. It is difficult to become a USN Chief and they are very professional and get more respect from the enlisted ranks than in the USCGR. If they still take you in an enlisted billet you can qualify for and earn the USN Expeditionary Warfare pin and be one of the few in the USCG that will wear that device -- maybe a few dozen at the most will get that chance. If you deploy, you will get all sorts of medals/ribbons not available in a USCG unit.

The disadvantage is the MSRON is Navy-centric -- the USN comes first and the USCG comes ssecond -- mainly for admin/logisitcs issues. You don't have easy access to the USCG workstations and you have to have good YN support to get travel, pay, education assistance, and promotions done properly. The units focus on the Navy's needs -- and this leaves the CG out of the loop for things like medical, PT tests, paperwork, and other little things. The Navy is a huge bureaucracy and they make big decisions for BIG NAVY and sometimes those decisions seem counter-intuitive and counter-productive to the Navy Reservists -- and make no sense to the USCGR.

Overall it is a good experience, a good break from the USCG, and afterward you will be happy to go back to the USCGR where things work out a little easier and a little bit better.

I would not goto any joint command, PSU, NCW. You are basically a bit@@ boy when deployed. Having conducted numerous exercises with the Navy and Marine parent commands I want to have nothing to do with them. Most of them dont respect Coasties and in return I didnt have any respect for them when I was there. Some guys are really gung ho and want to be like the Marines so bad they will do anything for them. Its kind of funny though while at SMTC everytime a Marine is alone they will ask you how hard it is to get in the Coast Guard. The best look on their faces is telling them the Coast Guard doesnt do felony waivers!

quote:

Its kind of funny though while at SMTC everytime a Marine is alone they will ask you how hard it is to get in the Coast Guard.

One of the Marine embassy guards in Haiti was about leave active duty and join USMCR. He started asking us questions about USCG, USCGR, what we were doing in Haiti, other deployments and before too long he was signing papers to join USCGR. We laid low and avoided the Gunny for the next few days. He accused us of shanghaiing him.

I have worked with several Naval Coastal Warfare units, and the main thing to remember is IMLIVID is right. USN is like WalMart, and USCGR is like the neighborhood IGA, and USNR is like the seasonal garden department of that WalMart. Sometimes the decisions made in Bentonville that apply to all WalMarts don't make sense to the warehouse clerk in the Anchorage AK store. In USN many actions require concurrence and approval from higher up, when in USCG you would just do it. One of the reasons joint commands have USCG contracting officers is the unwieldy DOD way of buying things, compared to them USCG is simple.

True, at times you will be marginalized in an NCW community. But that will build character and experience for Junior O's. A coffee and newspaper drilling reservist officer will be overwhelmed by a PSU. A PSU officer will be more powerful as a senior leader if they leave the PSU, take a tour at NCW, and then return to the PSU. Bigger picture and better interoperability.
It all depends on what you want to tell your kids you did during the war. Did you work 8 hours on a Saturday and leave early on Sunday, or did you actually contribute to the cause -- at least by helping keep the SORTS readiness high.
I am disappointed in the difficulty for the PSU and NCW world to find Chiefs and Officers to go do a challenging task. Many have completed their 5 years in green or tan and then gone onto other things. SO MANY Chiefs and Os avoid the challenge and it is sad. I'm glad to see that the stars are making those chiefs that homestead in a unit for 10 years crap or get off the pot.
Everyobody who can do it within a reasonable commute (some places like HI and AK have little choice) should take a tour at a PSU or NCW.

quote:

I'm glad to see that the stars are making those chiefs that homestead in a unit for 10 years crap or get off the pot.

What about the perma-thirds and seconds!

It's only within the last couple of years that moving up in the CGR meant moving around for enlisted folks. Before that, it was not uncommon to see people at the same unit for 20 years or more.

It's not neccessarily a bad thing, but you do lose experience and knowledge that sometimes our AD counterparts don't have.

quote:

Originally posted by imlivid:



The theory is that in MSRON you will deploy at the same rate a PSU does.

I'm currently an MA deployed to Afghan. When I return my contract will almost be up. I'm looking at either Navy reserves or CG reserves and at either a MSRON or PSU or MSST.

What is the deployment cycle for MSRON and PSUs?

In theory, one deployment every five years. That is the anticipated and budgeted OPTEMPO. But where you go is a spin of the wheel...

quote:

Originally posted by imlivid:
In theory, one deployment every five years. That is the anticipated and budgeted OPTEMPO. But where you go is a spin of the wheel...

Thanks, thats actually not a bad rotation.

By where you go ...do you mean AOR?

I know MESF can deploy to places that have no water any where near or around it. Are the PSUs the same? I know it's a weird question since it's called "Port" Security. But thne again "Maritime" Expeditionary Security has deployed to Afghan. So I'm just curious.

imlivid...so what you are saying is that Chiefs and O's who dont deploy to a PSU are not upto accepting challenges. The Chief at my unit has thirty years in the guard and has served at TACLET, FVB, 110's and 378's. I guess he is not upto a challenge? I have left early on Sundays but did a ten hour boarding the day before..I guess I am not upto a challenge either Not everyone wants to be a bi## boy to another service. I believe everyone here joined the CGR for a reason...not to work for the navy or army. I believe the USCG should be concentrating on homeland security our primary job. I have no objection to a PSU or a MESF deploying that has a Coast Guard Command and is run by the Coast Guard.