I have several questions and hoping that I can get some input from those of you already in the Coast Guard. I head to Cape May In the Middle of January and have been trying to decide what rating I want to go into. I have narrowed it down to either AST or BM. Here is where the questions start. My recruiter has told me that you cannot be an officer and be an AST. Where I do want to get into a field that highly interest me I know that it is a job and a career choice for myself and one day my family. I already have a degree but am not going into the officer program right away im entering as an E-3. A) How fast do you promote up as an AST considering you are a workaholic and your doing everything right. B) If i choose AST now how long of a commitment would I have to that before I could switch to an officer position? C) If I choose BM when would be my first opportunity to test up to an officer position and what is the likely hood of that happening in that amount of time? D) Do you enjoy AST and where are you stationed? * I understand that these are very general question but any insight that those of you might have would be very much appreciated.
1. AST's historically do not promote very fast. last year we promoted quite a bit. It's not very easy to project with any certainty how fast the advancements will move. Good marks will defintly aid you. And scoring high on a Service wide exam will defintly be the biggest factor. So, my advice is if you want to advance fast you are really gambling by being an AST. But really you have to advance once in any rate to be elgiable for OCS ( you have to be an E-5 ). A suprervisor of mine made E-7 with 9 years in rate, 11 in the coast guard. 2. The commitment as an AST is 29 months. But then you have to add on waiting on the list, and 8 mos, for the Airmen program (4 months) and school ( another 4). Then you also have to add on putting in an OCS package, getting tht reviewed, being selected. Then waiting for you OCS class to start. Plus 4 months at OCS. That is also if you get selected the first time around, it's not unheard of but usually it's not the norm. 3. If you went BM the likely hood of you waiting that long to be an officer is slim, it most likely will go much faster. You probably will become a BM much faster than an AST. The Coast Guard needs a lot of BMs, AST is a much smaller rating. That makes a big difference. Also, a lot of ASTs stay in for the Guard for a long time. This is what generally slows advancement and makes the school wait a bit longer. 4. I love my job. I am in San Diego. I like SoCal very much. But being an AST here is not the most exciting station. My quality of life is great, But There are stations that offer more operational activity in regards to doing rescue. Do not get me wrong, I have a great boss, a good shop, and a very forgiving work load. The one thing that is great about this job for me, and this is my personal preference (I considered being a BM also) Is that that Being an AST offers me the benefit of doing the same job (with the exception of a few stations) at any operation unit I can go to. I did not choose BM because the scope of work varies from what type of unit your at. Being a BM at a small boat station is very different than being a BM on a large cutter. This to some may be an attraction to the BM rate, Offering many different challenges.
My Question to you is why not just go for a commision now? That seems to be your goal. But if you must check out the enlisted side first. AST is a great job by itself, plus with many attractive perks. I only have about 2 years of experience as an e-2/e-3 working on the surface side. I was not very high on the totem pole. So my experience was rewarding but not the most challenging. The scope of work on the cutter I was at as non-rate was very hard, boring labor. So, I can not comment on what it's like being a Petty Officer on the surface side of the house. But the Aviation community I have found to be a very tight, fraternity like community. The people are great to work with. The job is very rewarding. The work is fun. I cannot really find anything that is unaccpetable about it.
Thats was great I really appreciate your time. I do need to speak with my recruiter more on the officer program. I really felt that it might help me in some ways seeing the enlisted side of things and going from there. I was not sure on how long it would take for me to get into the program if I went enlisted first. Thanks again I have read many of your post in these forums, and you seem to be a great help to a lot of people. Best, Cody
