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Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Enlistment requirements US Coast Guard
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Question
Can a young man age 17, beginning his senior year
in high school,enlist in the US Coast Guard before finishing high school with the written
consent of either or both parents?
Hi RayKostiuk,
You can enlist active duty in *any* branch of the U.S. Military (including the Coast Guard) at the age of 17, with parental consent. However, if you haven't yet graduated high school, you may only enlist in the Delayed Enlistment Program. You cannot go onto active duty, until after you have graduated high school. The services do not accept non-high school graduates (Note: The Army Reserves and Army National Guard will allow a high school senior to attend paid-drills before they complete high school, but if they drop out of high school, they will be discharged).
At the age of 17, you would need the consent of *both* parents to enlist in the DEP, unless there is only one parent, or one parent has given up all parental rights.
For more information about joining the United States Military, feel free to visit my 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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