Hi

So I have been qualified and ready to join the Coast Guard Reserves. I have been researching MSST and PSU units----which of these is going to provide the most exciting work for a Reservist? The main motivation for joining is to serve and for excitement. I see all the cool videos online of MSST guys fast roping from helicopters, driving fast boats, wearing swat team like gear (which I like)..but heard as a Reservist I would not get to do most of this and was told to consider a PSU instead. The PSU was not as appealing from the information I found (mostly online and chatting with one person) and it appeared to look like really boring all day watch duty...is this on point or way off? If anyone has any insight it would be helpful. I would love to hear pros and cons of both.

Thanks,
Matrix

If you want a MSST, you will have to enlist into the active duty Coast Guard. For the PSU, we only have a few active duty billets, so if you want the PSU you will have to join the Reserves. As for excitement, both are very good choices, each having very challenging training, cool stuff to do, and a rewarding mission.

quote:

The PSU was not as appealing from the information I found (mostly online and chatting with one person) and it appeared to look like really boring all day watch duty...is this on point or way off?

It definitely wasn't boring when we were ducking SCUD missiles almost nightly for about a month in Saudi, or from random gunshots just outside the port in Haiti.

Training was never boring, either. Nor range time. "A bad day at the range (or fishing) is better than a good week at work"...

Hmm, heard that somewhere before...

quote:

Originally posted by JerryG:
Training was never boring, either. Nor range time. "A bad day at the range (or fishing) is better than a good week at work"...

Hmm, heard that somewhere before...

I don't know about the BAD DAY AT THE RANGE being better than a good week at work. It depends on just what caused the bad day.

Usually the SAI...

quote:

Originally posted by arctictraveler:
If you want a MSST, you will have to enlist into the active duty Coast Guard. For the PSU, we only have a few active duty billets, so if you want the PSU you will have to join the Reserves. As for excitement, both are very good choices, each having very challenging training, cool stuff to do, and a rewarding mission.

What kind of "cool stuff" ? I heard there is spots for Reservists in the MSST here but only on the boats side...not force protection side---do you know if FP is much better than boats (in terms of excitement) or if they are close and have the same training?

Eventually there will be opening for reservists at all the MSSTs, but they will most likely be for boats since that is their mission, and they will most likely only take experienced boat drivers and crew since they don't have time to worry about training the unexperience -- much easier to maintain quals than start from zero.

If you want continuous high speed, go become a SEAL. Whether at an MSST or a PSU, there will be long hours of watching a pier or a waterway to make sure that nobody attacks the asset you are protecting. The training can be fun, it can be tiring, and the hours may be long. There are no guarantees on anything. You may join to be high-speed and then: have nothing in your area; go to a unit that has all the cool stuff filled by a bunch of guys or gals that do high speed stuff as cops and are more qualified to do it at the unit and therefore occupy all the cool jobs; or find that you have to be at a unit for a while and get training and experience before they let you do all the cool stuff -- which means you will have to stand long watches staring at the water -- until you do your time and earn the right to do the cool stuff.
Like I said, SEALs and other SOCOM full time jobs do the cool stuff full time, everywhere else you have to train into the job and eventually it may happen.
Go to a PSU, have fun, become part of the team, and work your way into the dream job. With the right attitude, motivation, sacrifice, and effort you are certain to get the job you want to have.

quote:

Originally posted by BTDT:
Usually the SAI...

I'll take that as a compliment!

Honestly, I've had SAI's who just screamed at us (collectively, never individually) and I've had SAI's who actually taught folks.

I'm the teaching kind, not the screeching kind.

quote:

...which of these is going to provide the most exciting work for a Reservist? The main motivation for joining is to serve and for excitement.

You may want to consider the Army Reserves. They get to wear "cool stuff" and it's kind of exciting where many of them are located. Of course Iraq is getting kinda warm this time of year.......