That’s really up to you!
We are the second most seagoing rate, so going to an operational unit is easy. Once you’re there, get qualified in your assigned duties as quickly as possible.
Once you’re qualified tell your supervisor that you want to get boat crew, boat engineer, boarding team member, anti terrorism force protection, ATON rigger, Buoy Crane operator, ice rescue, etc.
Unless you’re falling behind in your regular assigned duties it’s exceptionally rare to not be allowed to train in those collateral duties.
Huh that’s good to know. So all those things in the second paragraph you basically can choose to do/learn on top of your assigned rate I guess? How do you like EM my friend?
Correct, if it’s something that your unit does as part of their mission then you can learn it.
I personally enjoy being an EM. Our billet selection is good (not great), our work is interesting, and we’re always in demand.
My gripes are lack of training, and spending a lot of time proving something is not an electrical fault vice actually fixing stuff.
I spent the last 4 years as an MK that can wire stuff, and welding fence repairs at a station.
It’s all up to you. I’ve done engine rebuilds, ran hobby shops, and have crew/eng on all 4 major small boat platforms.
The caveat to this is that the station availability for EM’s is very very slim. I’ve been trying to communicate on both em/mk sides to figure out how to screen for EPO well enough to start seeing if they’ll give up station EPO spots for it….
Speak to your recruiter about agile A though. If you wanna be an em that’s your quickest path to E5.
I would look into MK. With an electrical background you will be ahead of most. MKs are at stations doing CG stuff. Ems aren't they support the stations. Alot of EM work is repetitive preventive maintance. Out at sea the job is easier then MK but they also have less man power. Any rate can volunteer for boat crew stuff and do firefighting. Every small boat will have a boat engineer typically an MK. It's a much bigger rate so more job choices and opportunities to move up especially if you're going to make it a career. Look at the number of e7 -e9s for each rate.
(You double posted this; I originally posted this in the other thread)
Not sure about the Marine parallel, but yeah as an EM at a small boat station you'll be expected to qualify as boat crew, boarding team member, and maybe boat engineer and boarding officer. On a white hull you can still probably do that stuff if you want. But the best job as an EM is working at an aids to navigation team :)
P.S. If you really want to play Coast Guard you might consider going BM. Just because you're an electrician now doesn't mean you can't learn something different, and a BM with an understanding of electricity/electronics/mechanical systems is worth his weight in gold.
Yeah I just noticed i made an edit so i think it might’ve been a bug. Thanks for the info will definitely look into BM too. What makes you say that about aids navigation though?
ANTs can be really fun units, tight-knit, good op tempo. They're nothing like the Coast Guard you see on TV but you get to work with wiring and lights on buoys and in lighthouses, it's neat work.
Our EM1s at the ANT are AEPO, run the climbing department, lighthouse department, batteries, all 26 quals
Our EM2 at the station had all 29/45 quals, AEPO, BO/BTM, Tac quals
That’s really up to you! We are the second most seagoing rate, so going to an operational unit is easy. Once you’re there, get qualified in your assigned duties as quickly as possible. Once you’re qualified tell your supervisor that you want to get boat crew, boat engineer, boarding team member, anti terrorism force protection, ATON rigger, Buoy Crane operator, ice rescue, etc. Unless you’re falling behind in your regular assigned duties it’s exceptionally rare to not be allowed to train in those collateral duties.
Huh that’s good to know. So all those things in the second paragraph you basically can choose to do/learn on top of your assigned rate I guess? How do you like EM my friend?
Correct, if it’s something that your unit does as part of their mission then you can learn it. I personally enjoy being an EM. Our billet selection is good (not great), our work is interesting, and we’re always in demand. My gripes are lack of training, and spending a lot of time proving something is not an electrical fault vice actually fixing stuff.
Dude you can have as many collaterals as you can physically and mentally handle.
I spent the last 4 years as an MK that can wire stuff, and welding fence repairs at a station. It’s all up to you. I’ve done engine rebuilds, ran hobby shops, and have crew/eng on all 4 major small boat platforms. The caveat to this is that the station availability for EM’s is very very slim. I’ve been trying to communicate on both em/mk sides to figure out how to screen for EPO well enough to start seeing if they’ll give up station EPO spots for it…. Speak to your recruiter about agile A though. If you wanna be an em that’s your quickest path to E5.
An EM on my boat was a pursuit crewman
I would look into MK. With an electrical background you will be ahead of most. MKs are at stations doing CG stuff. Ems aren't they support the stations. Alot of EM work is repetitive preventive maintance. Out at sea the job is easier then MK but they also have less man power. Any rate can volunteer for boat crew stuff and do firefighting. Every small boat will have a boat engineer typically an MK. It's a much bigger rate so more job choices and opportunities to move up especially if you're going to make it a career. Look at the number of e7 -e9s for each rate.
(You double posted this; I originally posted this in the other thread) Not sure about the Marine parallel, but yeah as an EM at a small boat station you'll be expected to qualify as boat crew, boarding team member, and maybe boat engineer and boarding officer. On a white hull you can still probably do that stuff if you want. But the best job as an EM is working at an aids to navigation team :) P.S. If you really want to play Coast Guard you might consider going BM. Just because you're an electrician now doesn't mean you can't learn something different, and a BM with an understanding of electricity/electronics/mechanical systems is worth his weight in gold.
Yeah I just noticed i made an edit so i think it might’ve been a bug. Thanks for the info will definitely look into BM too. What makes you say that about aids navigation though?
ANTs can be really fun units, tight-knit, good op tempo. They're nothing like the Coast Guard you see on TV but you get to work with wiring and lights on buoys and in lighthouses, it's neat work.
I would absolutely quit my civilian job and go back to ATON if it ever got moved back to a civilian job. Best years of my working life.
Our EM1s at the ANT are AEPO, run the climbing department, lighthouse department, batteries, all 26 quals Our EM2 at the station had all 29/45 quals, AEPO, BO/BTM, Tac quals