Coast Guard

[copcop1447]

Is the Coast Guard a good place to gain some experience in law enforcement? I want to be a cop after my 4 year enlistment. I was thinking about joining the Airforce but i really want to join the branch that I can get law enforcement experience and be able to get a college education is the Coast Guard the place Im looking for? Also will police department's count the Coast Guard as being in the Military most people dont look at the Coast Guard as a branch of the Military. Any retired Coasties out there that know first hand of being in the Coast Guard then being a Police Officer?


Thanks

[Norm357]

Barenaked is active duty CG, but he wont be back online for two more weeks since he is off to SAR school. Try dropping him a PM.

[Recondo]

The CG is a very good place to get some real world experience in related LE positions that you can apply later. They have a few seperate units task with maritime LE, such as Port Security Specialist (PS), Investigator (IV) or the newly formed Marine Safety & Security Teams (MSST) all of which are task with homeland security and have police powers, investigation missions & enforcment duties. The trouble in most cases however, is these are Reserve positions only for what ever reason and they (the CG) latley are looking for long term enlistments, such as 6 or 8 yrs for these positions. Why is this a concern.. well many PD's will not entertain your application if you are currently a reservist, others will & many state police agentcies will as well, so do your homework on the dept's which you may one day want to apply with, so you dont get stuck waiting for your reservist status to expire before you can apply. Yes CG is considered a branch of the military and your service there would count as such & the training gained is unequaled even if it is not as widley appreciated or recognized. They are 1 of 5 branches of the military, but they operate under the Dept of Transportation & not Dept Of Defense (such as Army,Air Force,etc), this has to do with the international waters which they often operate in & boarding rights they have when Not under the D.O.D. ( long story) My best advice is do your home work with your dept's of interest, then talk with your local CG recruiter, etc. this will clear up any concerns you have, or may not have realized. In some cases, guys get in the CG and never leave for something else, they like it so much, it is what you put into it. Regardless, any experience is better then none, best of luck to you!
Recondo

[Norm357]

The Coast Guard is now under the Dept of Homeland Security.

[mcsap]

The Coast Guard is now under the Dept of Homeland Security.

100% corect, Joe corrected me as well some time ago. The CG USED to be under the Sec of Transportation. They are considered military. You should go interview AF and CG recruiters and than try to locate some active duty troops on the net or elsewhere to compare. I was A SP in the USAF but got out in '82 so I won't claim to be much of a resource.

[sbrad]

It gives you good experience if the department you are applying to often encounters boat loads of Hatians.

[Recondo]

Norm357, your correct, my slight mistake, sorry for any confusion. I was going off older information I knew previous to 9-11. I believe U.S. Border Patrol & U.S. Customs are now folded into Homeland Security as well, hopefully one day they will standardize the training & entry process's to reflect the 1 dept..be a great benifit to those trying to apply. Recondo

[Group9]

The Coast Guard is definitely a better place to work to make law enforcement contacts than the regular military. This is especially true now that the Coast Guard is under the DHS. They also conduct law enforcement missions with other agencies. See the below link for an example.




www.uscg.mil/d7/d7o/ole/opbat.htm

[copcop1447]

Thanks for all of your replys I will be using all of your advice.

Thanks again :cool: