Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/boyfriend joining the coast guard

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Expert: Rod Powers - 11/16/2007


Question
Right now I am 18 years old. when my boyfriend gets out of basic training and reports to his first assignment I will be 19 and he will be 21. We have been dating for two years and right now we are talking seriously about getting married, but from what I have heard so far from the recruiters my boyfriend has been talking to, the chances are pretty high of him being placed on a ship for his first assignment, in which case I know I could not go with him. My question is, is there anything that he or we can do so that I can stay with him or lessen the chances of his placement on a boat?  We are young, so marriage is kind of a really big step to take within the next sixth months, so I just wanted to see if there were any other options for us.

Thanks you so much for your time and consideration
Meg

Answer
Hi Meg,

The chances are very good that he will be assigned to a Coast Guard ship for his first assignment. However, all Coast Guard ships have "home ports" (bases where the ship is assigned when it is not out at sea).

If you are married, you would be authorized to travel to, and live at the "home port," at goverment expense. Your husband would be allowed to reside with you, at anytime his ship is not deployed at sea. In other words, if you were married, he would be living with you, at the "home port," during periods when his ship was not out at sea.

Generally, the Coast Guard is not like the Navy, who's sea deployments last six months (or longer) at a time. When a Coast Guard ship deploys to sea, it's generally for a much shorter period of time (one week to a month), followed by a period of time at the "home port." There are exceptions to this (depending on the mission and the type of ship), but -- chances are, his "sea time" will be short in duration, followed by a period at his "home port."

For more information about the U.S. Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military Information Site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com  

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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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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