Anybody out there fly for the Coast Guard?? Looking for some info on the lifestyle and crossing over from the AF via the direct commissioning program.

 

Do a search here: http://aptap.forumco.com/default.asp

They have good info on mil and other gov't flying jobs

 

check under corporate aviation.

 

They just did their first fixed wing Direct Commisioned Avaitor (DCA) board this past winter. I know they picked up at least a P-3 driver and a Hornet driver. Those that got in have to take a pay cut to 0-2 as well. Let me know if you need more info.

 

I've been wondering about the same thing, have heard that they are looking for some Herk qual. guys. But having to wait for a board..... wonder how much of a hassle this would be.

I have known several helo. and Falcon pilots over the years, but no herk drivers to give me their take on things.

 

Talking to some of the Herc guys they seem to like it. As with everything they have their gripes but in the grand scheme of things they are pretty trival.

Their duty stations are Kodiak, Honolulu, Sacramento, Elizabeth City, and Clearwater. Deployments vary on duty station but are usually under 2 weeks and typically less than 5 per year.

The biggest complaint is the aging of the H series birds with the wing box limitations now imposed which is limiting their mission flexibility. That and being sent out on an 8 hour SAR/LE case 2 hours before duty relief. That really kills your day off!! Thank God for Sliders though!!! (comp days)

I recently sat on a DCA board for helo guys and there is a set of 5 or 6 questions. They are really straight forward like briefing an approach and wwyd if the crew wanted to go drinking but you aren't supposed to...........

As for looking specifically for Herc guys I think that they are just looking for either fixed or rotary wing aviators. If you get picked up then you submit a dream sheet for which duty stations you want and that will determine your airframe. As always needs of the service come first.

 

Currently have 15.5 years in the CG and been flying Hercs for the last 7 years.

Last I heard from our assignment officer is that if you are under 35 with 10 or less yrs of service and have some Herc experience they would be interested in you as a DCA. Prior C130J guys stand a good chance of picking up a CG C130J slot due to training cost savings.

Force manager projections as of one month ago had us approx. 100 pilots short for the next decade with DCA's being relied upon to fix the gap.

Unless you're a helicopter CWO (we don't have any warrants flying), you will take one reduction in rank when joining the CG. The theory is if you transferred from another service at the same rank, you would not fair well on a promotion board due to lack of Officer Evaluation Reports. We get promoted off of our collateral duty accomplishments, not flying abilities. We just expect you to be a good aviator.

We only have 3-4 Herc's with significant center wing box limitations. They are all in Elizabeth City, NC and will be retiring within the next couple of years as 6 C130J's come online. Furthermore, a fleet of CASA 235's will also be coming online in the next few years to replace our current fleet of Falcon jets. Current HQ study figuring out if it's cost beneficial to upgrade our fleet of C130H's or buy more C130J's.

My unit deploys 11 months out of the year and we average 2-3 two week deployments per year. We usually average 500 hours per year and log approx. 100 hrs on each two-week deployment. However I did fly 630+ one year.

I've done a few DCA/DCO boards and we focus some on flying, but also hit the officer leadership qualities fairly heavy.

 

Hi!

The Coast Guard is awesome! I didn't go, because the recruiter didn't know what he was talking about-he said I could never do SAR. I didn't go.

Years later, I found out I could've moved to SAR after 1 tour!

Too bad for me!

cliff
YIP

 

Hey fellas, thanks for the good info. Always good to hear some information from guys in the know. I swear that dang rank reduction kinda sucks, hell I'm only an O-2 as it is starting my 9th year in service(prior E)

Wow, I didn't realize the CG had any restricted tails.. thought all of the H models were newer.

 

BTW: what kind of deployments are you referring too? Sand box?