I havn't been an IT that long. I'm just finishing my first EAST-PAC aboard CGC BOUTWELL. Every peice of equipment we are responsible for has broken at least once, and I feel confident in my skills in maintaining it all. I enjoy my job and see that it's limited in some ways. C schools arn't always readily available, and the Coastguards newest technology isn't so new. (at least on this boat)
I eventually would like to transition into a civilian industry. I try to expose myself to as many IT systems as possible. It just seems impossible to keep current with IT's out in the civilian industry, their world is always changing and my 1MC still has the tech manual from 1960. I want to start applying myself towards an associates and eventually pursue a BA and possibly transition out. Before I do that, I want to get some input before I ultimately decide on any path. I'm basically looking for instances of success and failure of IT's trasitioning out of the coastguard and into the civilian industry. Does the pay outweigh the benfits, job security, and housing? The coastguard seems like a safe bet. And I have considered doing a full 20 years, but before i decide on either I'd like to hear from experience. Any and all help, comments, suggestions, and advice are much appreciated.
Hey, I know Boutwell is old, I think you replaced me... but once you really get to know that boat, its not hard at all... work on your pracs and make 1st, once you have completed the courses, you practically have your AA just from CG experience.
What's up Slick. My suggestion would be to get as much out of the Coast Guard as you can. Use Tuition Assistance to start your degree path. Once you get that going it's very easy to use. If you plan to make the CG a career, an education will be very important when you start applying for Warrant etc. If you decide to stay in, apply for the ACET program when you make E-6. That's 2 years of doing nothing but school. As far as the technology not being new a lot of people don't know this but the Coast Guard is the premier service when it comes to IT. We have many other agencies including DHS, the Border Patrol, Customs, FBI and more who strive to model their IT environment after the Coast Guard's. We will soon be migrating to AD 2008 and Exchange 2007. The Coast Guard is the only armed service that is part of the TAP (Technology Adoption Program) at Microsoft. We provide input on how to improve and tweak many of their products including Vista, Operations Manager 2007, and Systems Center Configuration Manager. Hang around for a while, work on your degree, learn new things. You said it yourself, if you get out now with no education and very little diverse IT training....where are you going to go??
