I'm seperating from active duty soon and I was wondering if anyone knows of any Army reserve watercraft units on the Great Lakes? I'm a medic now but would be willing to reclass if there are not medic positions within watercraft units. Any refereces or links would be appreciated.

Additionally any sea stories about life of an Army sea going vessel are always welcome.

Thanks.
MIKE

There are no water craft units in the Great Lakes area. The closest unit would be Maryland or Virginia for you.

Most of the units have medic slots, especially if you have the ASI M6.

The reason for this probably is the width limitations of the Saint Laurence Seaway more then anything.

The bigger Army Watercraft are too wide with the hull to transit into the Great Lakes. Only know that because the ship building yards in Wisconsin are limited to Navy Minesweepers at the most from what I've seen.

Biggest DoD ship I've seen on Lake Michigan are small USCG Cutters, Occasional Navy Frigate (I think thats the Nomenclature).

They do have Naval Reserve units in the Great Lake States though, not sure if that helps. If your considering a switch, probably the best post is Great Lakes, IL near Chicago....if they still train recruits there. Wisconsin had a few Naval Reserve units, not sure what they did but remembered my National Guard unit picking up a few of them because they got tired of the Naval Reserve.

It may actually have more to do with the treaty between the US & Canada, making the Great Lakes, essentially, a demilitarized zone.

BTW, during WWII Submarines were built in WI then sent down the Missisippi via the canals connecting it to Lake Michigan.

quote:

Originally posted by gumbydammit:
It may actually have more to do with the treaty between the US & Canada, making the Great Lakes, essentially, a demilitarized zone.

BTW, during WWII Submarines were built in WI then sent down the Missisippi via the canals connecting it to Lake Michigan.

The Subs were barged down the Mississippi because of U-Boat concerns at the Mouth of the St Laurence Seaway.

I'd ask the USCG on the treaty, I'd be curious if it was even followed anymore. They have armed M240's on their Cutters because of smuggling. So even though the border is undefended...

quote:

Originally posted by ErichG2:
The reason for this probably is the width limitations of the Saint Laurence Seaway more then anything.

The field is very small with only a handful of locations world wide. Given that and their METL task, there's no reason for the Army to expand into the Great Lakes area.

quote:

Originally posted by ErichG2:

quote:

Originally posted by gumbydammit:
It may actually have more to do with the treaty between the US & Canada, making the Great Lakes, essentially, a demilitarized zone.

BTW, during WWII Submarines were built in WI then sent down the Missisippi via the canals connecting it to Lake Michigan.

The Subs were barged down the Mississippi because of U-Boat concerns at the Mouth of the St Laurence Seaway.

I'd ask the USCG on the treaty, I'd be curious if it was even followed anymore. They have armed M240's on their Cutters because of smuggling. So even though the border is undefended...

USCG are probably not considered ships of war that are prohibited by the 1814 treaty.

There were 88k (Watercraft Operator)slots at Ft Sheridan last year when I got picked up by a supply unit in Des Moines as an 88K. I was an OS1 in the Navy and we are currently getting all the paperwork together so I can put in my package for 880A Marine deck officer. I would contact the Reserve recruiter at Ft Sheridan. So as far as staying a medic with a watercraft unit, I dont know. The Army watercraft are operated very different from a Navy vessel. On an Army boat, the soldiers are split into two specialties, deck and engineering. So the soldiers in the deck componant need to know all aspects of operations, navigation, cargo handling etc. Where, as you know, the Navy is more specialized, BM, QM, OS, SM etc...

Again, the nearest boat units would be in Virginia or Maryland. There may be slots in other locations but they do not regularly sail.

Most units do have slots for 68W and there's a movement to expand them to all open ocean vessels.

Ft. Sheridan is still open?

If your not looking for big boats the 652nd Engineering Company in Marquette, MI has spots for 21C. It's a Bridge Crewmember but one of the tasks in the MOS is operation of a Bridge Erection Boat for float bridges.

They have/needed medics a while back. Maybe still now.

Thanks for all the info guys.

MIKE