I have been in the Coast Guard for 7 years. I have been at an Ice Breaker, a station and I am on my 2nd Patrol Boat. When I leave my current PB in 2009 I hope to be a BM1. I kind of want to get out of the LE and try some AtoN. Any input on how far behind I will be in knowledge, and how difficult it is to make up for it?

The only thing you'll be behind in is the ATON side, which I'm learning right now. I just made BM1 and was at a station then a PB. I am now the XPO on a 75 WLIC. Its not hard and you won't be far behind at all, just put in the extra effort to learn it quicker than everyone else to get with the job. Review the manuals for ATON, that will help out to. Good Luck

Don't over think it Joel. The best thing to do is to jump right in, take what ever tender they offer and go from there.

I was in your same shoes. I spent the first part of my career at 3 Stations followed by 2 PB's. I finally landed an ANT Team a couple of years ago.

I was obviously up to speed on everything BUT th ATON stuff. I just told all the guys on day number 1 that I was there to learn from them. If they were going to do anything, make sure they get me and show me what it was. Fortunately, the MAMS Roadshow from the District came through a few weeks after I reported in and it all started making sense. I then put in for AP School to help out.

Now that I feel I "know it all", I'm transferring back to the SAR/LE world!

Check out NATON's website at Yorktown. They have some great powerpoint downloads to help you learn all the aton stuff. Anything from troubleshooting to abbreviations that we use (that was the killer for me!).

Without a doubt.....get to the ATON side for a few years!

Thanks for the info guys. Hey Brad good to hear from you.

My advice is to get to the ATON side and put in for as many schools as you can. This would help out a great deal.

I came from the multi mission arena and finally got into ATON. Blackhull hit it right on the head, just get in however you can. Most folks don't walk into any new job with all the answers. Learn as you go. I came on board with knowledge of how to navigate aton and that was about it. Get down on deck learn from the guys on deck. SN are eager to show you what they know. Plus you're showing you value their experience, win-win. Good for you for trying to keep yourself well rounded.

I have done LE and ATON. I like both, but the ATON is so much less stress. Physically more demanding yes, but no "legal" worries. It is also very easy to learn.

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but no "legal" worries.

Plenty of legal worries in the ATON world...

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Originally posted by original_ftg:

quote:

but no "legal" worries.

Plenty of legal worries in the ATON world...

Roger that...ATONIS..Messages..lawsuits...so much admin involved in ATON, most could not believe. We have almost 800 aids covering 375 miles of water. Just the ATON gear inventory alone is tremendous, batteries, dayboards, lighting gear, ect, ect...surf sheets galore with constant ordering and reordering of supplies. We have 5 vessels to maintain and train on, seasonals, discrepancies, inspects, RFO's, STANTS..certainly not laid back as some may think who have not tried the wonderful world of ATON that I love so much. I would sign the dotted line today to stay strictly ATON for the rest of my career......dreaming...dreaming..

ATON ROCKS!!!

Shoot the guns, or shoot the tube.

Hey Guys,
The one thing I found out about Aton vs Le is that the level of cofidence with the ATON coxns was way up there. Most SAR boat cowns ( I was on two SAR boat stations) are scared to death of going aground. ATON coxns go were most of the SAR coxns fear to treat. I had the Ist dist cable layer for four years and got to operate in some pretty harey stuff just to land the boat on a granet ledge to do the job. It was fun and challenging. Most ATON operators will get into the most outrageus stuff just to get to the aid. These guys rock.

I wouldn't put that into a generalization.... each coxswain operates a little bit different than the next. I get to see this first hand at my current unit where each and every coxswain that comes through has thier own unique ways about how they do things. Some are great, some are fine, and some I have no idea where they got thier reasoning from.... but they are all coxswains. To compair an ATON coxswain from a Station Coxswain is all depending on the individual.