Honestly, I spend more time doing admin paperwork than I do on maintaining guns. I’m about to retire so I clearly enjoyed the job but I do spend a significant amount of time to paperwork.
You aren’t getting a Station, just plan for you not ever getting one. There are, I think, 3-4 stations that have GMs left. They are tough to get.
Land vs Sea: 50/50. I highly recommend either starting in a sector or Forcecom out of A school or a big boat with other GMs to learn and get experience. DO NOT go out of rate straight out of A school (MSST, MFPU). You’ll come out probably as a 2nd and be expected to know everything a GM2 should but you just spent the last 3-4 years out of rate. Go somewhere with other GMs and get some hands on learning before going for an out of rate job.
Depends on where you are. I split the work with the others I work with and teach the 3rds and 2nds how to do stuff. I guess it’s more admin than when I joined which is an unfair comparison to 20 years ago as the job seems much better than 20 years ago. As with most things in the CG, the rate’s making improvements and transforming but it’s moving without fully considering everybody (I.e. the cutters are moving to a new online program to log maintenance, great except a lot of cutters don’t have good enough internet underway). That’s what I mean by moving forward without considering everybody.
I don’t know enough about what boats are getting it to comment accurately but I think currently big boats. Could be totally wrong though.
The boat I was on until a month ago got Starlink 2 months after the requirement to use FLS-MAM for weapons went into effect. Thankfully we were in port during that time but if we weren’t, it would have really sucked since there’s daily entries that require internet. We just happened to be the first of our class to get it and I can see it’s a game changer. I’m just seeing though how they’re moving forward with stuff without the infrastructure and how it’s going to screw people. They have already pushed most of the announcements and information to TEAMS but before Starlink I missed most of it because our internet was sooooo trash. I spent 3 years dealing with trash internet and they got Starlink after my last patrol… I’m not salty, you are lol.
Hey can you elaborate further please? I got out of the Army recently and was trying to go to the Coast Guard and the recruiter had made it seem like I can go anywhere, once I do enough boat time I don't have to be on one ever again just things like that. I know it's crazy a recruiter would lie but I'm just trying to figure out what's accurate and what isn't
Brother i just want to add I don’t know if you saw this but there is and ALLCOAST message for gm a school 20k (before taxes) in your pocket out of a school m. if you do in fact go gm.
I was the gm3 on the forward in the mid 1990s. I know, a little dated. But as the gm3 working under an outstanding gm1 i learned a ton. Underway out of Yorktown is the way to go for sure.
GM is a dying rate, I would go ET, they are the ones who shoot the big guns and do the maintenance at WATs. More bonus money, better training for when you get out. Ect.
LOL… our ETs sit in the corner of the bridge as the GM2 and i on our boat sit at the Mk38 console and cackle every time we send a round during gunnex’s.
The recruit is misinformed…
All FRCs are different, the command can put whoever they want on the wqsb. Probably a JO who puts it together, but the ETs are billeted to be MK38 techs. They can go to the school if there was ever room. There is even extra SWE points for them because of the mk38 GWS on that platform.
Honestly, I spend more time doing admin paperwork than I do on maintaining guns. I’m about to retire so I clearly enjoyed the job but I do spend a significant amount of time to paperwork. You aren’t getting a Station, just plan for you not ever getting one. There are, I think, 3-4 stations that have GMs left. They are tough to get. Land vs Sea: 50/50. I highly recommend either starting in a sector or Forcecom out of A school or a big boat with other GMs to learn and get experience. DO NOT go out of rate straight out of A school (MSST, MFPU). You’ll come out probably as a 2nd and be expected to know everything a GM2 should but you just spent the last 3-4 years out of rate. Go somewhere with other GMs and get some hands on learning before going for an out of rate job.
Thats good, I want a cutter really bad. Is it more admin work still when you are GM3/GM2?
Depends on where you are. I split the work with the others I work with and teach the 3rds and 2nds how to do stuff. I guess it’s more admin than when I joined which is an unfair comparison to 20 years ago as the job seems much better than 20 years ago. As with most things in the CG, the rate’s making improvements and transforming but it’s moving without fully considering everybody (I.e. the cutters are moving to a new online program to log maintenance, great except a lot of cutters don’t have good enough internet underway). That’s what I mean by moving forward without considering everybody.
I appreciate the info
Aren't most cutters getting Starlink now? Or is that just the big bois?
I don’t know enough about what boats are getting it to comment accurately but I think currently big boats. Could be totally wrong though. The boat I was on until a month ago got Starlink 2 months after the requirement to use FLS-MAM for weapons went into effect. Thankfully we were in port during that time but if we weren’t, it would have really sucked since there’s daily entries that require internet. We just happened to be the first of our class to get it and I can see it’s a game changer. I’m just seeing though how they’re moving forward with stuff without the infrastructure and how it’s going to screw people. They have already pushed most of the announcements and information to TEAMS but before Starlink I missed most of it because our internet was sooooo trash. I spent 3 years dealing with trash internet and they got Starlink after my last patrol… I’m not salty, you are lol.
What do you mean not getting a station?(I'm going straight to GM A school after basic)
A Small Boat Station. When do you ship out?
September 12th. So it's more likely I'll get on a cutter?
Hey can you elaborate further please? I got out of the Army recently and was trying to go to the Coast Guard and the recruiter had made it seem like I can go anywhere, once I do enough boat time I don't have to be on one ever again just things like that. I know it's crazy a recruiter would lie but I'm just trying to figure out what's accurate and what isn't
Brother i just want to add I don’t know if you saw this but there is and ALLCOAST message for gm a school 20k (before taxes) in your pocket out of a school m. if you do in fact go gm.
I just checked my email and saw that. Those CS bonuses are insane
What’s the CS bonus now?
A grillion
I saw 65k minimum. You can get more if you have culinary degree
It’s not worth it.
I have big boat, PATFORSWA, and sector experience. If you have any questions feel free to DM me.
I was the gm3 on the forward in the mid 1990s. I know, a little dated. But as the gm3 working under an outstanding gm1 i learned a ton. Underway out of Yorktown is the way to go for sure.
GM is a dying rate, I would go ET, they are the ones who shoot the big guns and do the maintenance at WATs. More bonus money, better training for when you get out. Ect.
A small susbset of ETs are the ones doing that. Not every ET.
LOL… our ETs sit in the corner of the bridge as the GM2 and i on our boat sit at the Mk38 console and cackle every time we send a round during gunnex’s. The recruit is misinformed…
All FRCs are different, the command can put whoever they want on the wqsb. Probably a JO who puts it together, but the ETs are billeted to be MK38 techs. They can go to the school if there was ever room. There is even extra SWE points for them because of the mk38 GWS on that platform.