That is kind of an open end question. What is it you want to do? If it is in the "MK" field you should maybe start looking at where you want to live and start taking the tests to get a license or cert. so you can work on cars or trucks. If it is in the marine field the same certs. may apply. Hope that helps some.
Lets see, if you were mostly in small boat stations then you probably were a boat engineer and managed to go to outboard engine school and to any of the CAT Schools or detroit diesel schools and / or generator schools. If that is the case you are mostly qualified to work on a marina. Now, if all you have seen are white hulls, then my friend thats a whole different beast. I mean if you were in a 210, 270 or a 378 and in Main Prop you most likely went to CAT School / generator school, also if you are an E5 you probably went to ALCO School. If in AUX (A-Gang)and you were lucky enough you went to AC&R school, and maybe even Hydraulics school and maybe even outboard school.
So what does that mean? If in main prop you could work for the rail industry, yes, thats right! As far as I know ALCO engines are mostly used for trains. Or you could go work for Caterpillar. Also with AC&R you can become a Heating and A/C tech.
Of course there are other possibilities but automotive is not one of them unless you do it on your own time. I have yet to see a white vehicle with an orange stripe that you can work on. LOL
Originally posted by 15665795: I would love to work on a marina. Would that be a good paying job? Would it be easy to get the job since I was in the coast guard?
Being ex Coastie may help, the pay $12 to$14 an hour. Depending where you live you could get layed off in the winter. They still want you to be Merc.crusier certified or other out/inboard quals. Take a good look at what you are making now. Take your monthly base pay and mulitply by 12 then divide by 2080 ( work hours in a year). You will get a better idea of just how much you make now. You may just have the best paying job right now. Also think about health insurance. Not many places offer it and if they do you have to pay some of the cost. Just trying to help out as I have been there and done that.
There are a couple of things to think about before getting out. If you are married with kids make sure you find out how much health care will cost because it will surprise the crap out of you when you see what the cost of equivalent coverage is on the outside. Another is make sure you have a plan in place before you take that step. I got out but before I did I took leave and submitted resume's to every place that was in the field I was certified in.(HVAC) I ended up going back into the Coast Guard because for one I missed how things are run in the CG and I couldn't stand how people treated me in the civilian workforce. Also I have two kids and the medical alone was 1/4 of my paycheck a month. This is my perspective but I will not get out again and have to worry about how many hours I will get in the week to make ends meet.
If you are looking to use your CG experience, look at maintenance work in a hospital. No matter what part of the country you are in or plan to go to, there is a hospital near. Great benefits and pretty good pay.
My advice...go to college. The MK background was great for me AFTER I got my engineering degree because I was able to document my experience in maintenance. The present opportunities presented by the GI Bill insures that you will have a fairly comfortable life while in college.
