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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Coast Guard
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Question
I was wondering if you can join the Coast Guard at 17 do you have to be a senior in high school or can you be a junior?
Hi Dylan,
You can enlist in any branch of the military (including the Coast Guard) at the age of 17, as long as you have parental consent.
However, the Coast Guard very rarely accepts those who are not high school diploma graduates. What they will generally do is allow you to enlist in the DEP (Delayed Enlistment Program -- see: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/dep.htm), while still in high school, on the condition that you graduate high school before going onto active duty.
However, the maximum time one can be in the DEP is 365 days (one year), so to enlist in the DEP for the Coast Guard, you must be within one year of graduating high school.
For more information about the US Military, feel free to visit my US Military Information website at http://usmilitary.about.com
Hope this helps!
Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com
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Answers by Expert:
Rod Powers
Expertise
Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.
Experience
Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.
Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).
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