The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the United States military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in both domestic and international waters and a federal regulatory agency mission as part of its duties. It is the largest coast guard in the world, rivaling the capabilities and size of most navies.
Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique demands of military employment.
An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Typically, officer candidates have already attained post-secondary education, and sometimes a bachelor's degree, and undergo a short duration of training which focuses primarily on military skills and leadership. This is in contrast with a military academy which includes academic instruction leading to a bachelor's degree.
A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors.
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed, non-military volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the unit on 23 June 1939, as the United States Coast Guard Reserve. On February 19, 1941, the entity was renamed the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Auxiliary's purpose is to bolster all USCG undertakings both at sea and in the sky, with the exception of tasks necessitating "direct" law enforcement or military actions. As of 2022, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary boasted around 21,000 members.
The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Assistant Commandant for Reserve (CG-R).
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Selected Reserve (SELRES), the Training and Administration of the Reserve (TAR), the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), or the Retired Reserve.
Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City is a United States Coast Guard Air Station co-located at Elizabeth City Regional Airport in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, along the Pasquotank River near the opening of the Albemarle Sound. The Coast Guard air station is one of the busiest in the U.S. Coast Guard, operating missions as far away as Greenland, the Azores and the Caribbean.
The Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) is an enterprise-level shore command of the United States Navy with more than 19,000 military and staff personnel at more than 1,640 subordinate activities, sites, districts, stations, and detachments throughout the world, and was established in 1971. NETC recruits, trains and delivers those who serve the nation, taking them from "street to fleet" by transforming civilians into highly skilled, operational, and combat ready warfighters.
A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guard aviators", although they complete the same undergraduate flight training as Navy and Marine Corps crewed aircraft pilots, and are awarded the same aviation breast insignia.
Rescue swimmer is a qualification given to rescue specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. Rescue swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the land, or in the air. This highly specialized position is extremely challenging.
A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve forces are generally considered part of a permanent standing body of armed forces, and allow a nation to reduce its peacetime military expenditures and maintain a force prepared for war. During peacetime, reservists typically serve part-time alongside a civilian job, although most reserve forces have a significant permanent full-time component as well. Reservists may be deployed for weeks or months-long missions during peacetime to support specific operations. During wartime, reservists may be kept in service for months or years at a time, although typically not for as long as active duty soldiers.
In the United States Armed Forces, the ranks of warrant officer are rated as officers above all non-commissioned officers, candidates, cadets, and midshipmen, but subordinate to the lowest officer grade of O‑1. This application differs from the Commonwealth of Nations and other militaries, where warrant officers are the most senior of the other ranks, equivalent to the U.S. Armed Forces grades of E‑8 and E‑9.
Air Reserve Technicians, commonly referred to as ARTs, are a nucleus of full-time uniformed U.S. Air Force leaders, managers, operators, planners and trainers in what is known as the Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force, the ARC consisting of both the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard.
United States Coast Guard Training Center Cape May (TRACENCM) is the home of the Coast Guard enlisted corps and is the Coast Guard's only enlisted accession point and recruit training center, located on 1 Munro Avenue, Cape May, New Jersey.
Aviation Survival Technician (AST) is a rating or job specialty in the United States Coast Guard. Rescue swimmer is the collateral duty or aircrew position of the AST. They are trained at the U.S. Coast Guard's enlisted Aviation Survival Technician/Rescue Swimmer school at Coast Guard Aviation Technical Training Center, Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Training Center Petaluma is a Coast Guard training facility in the northern California counties of Sonoma and Marin. Formerly the installation was the United States Army "Two Rock Station". Approximately 4,000 military students train there each year. It is the only Coast Guard training center or large installation without a major operational component or waterfront.
The Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA) is a United States Coast Guard school located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Charleston, South Carolina. It was created from the relocation and merger of the former Law Enforcement School at Yorktown, Virginia, and the former Boarding Team Member School at Petaluma, California.
The United States Army's Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS), located at Fort Novosel, Alabama, provides training for Soldiers to become a warrant officer in the U.S. Army or U.S. Army National Guard, with the recent exception of U.S. Army Special Forces Warrant Officers. Since 2007, Special Forces Warrant Officers attend the Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course (SF-WOTTC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. As of January 2018, WOCS and SF-WOTTC are the only two training institutions which are authorized to appoint warrant officers in the U.S. Army. Warrant officer candidates are typically drawn from enlisted members and inter-service transfers. In this case, Inter-Service Transfer refers to enlisted members of the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, or U.S. Marine Corps transferring to the U.S. Army to attend WOCS, or civilian high school graduates who enlist for guaranteed attendance as aviation (flight) candidates at WOCS after they complete Basic Combat Training (BCT). Warrant officer candidates without prior enlisted service are informally referred to as high school to flight school or street to seat recruits by warrant officer candidates with prior enlisted service.
The Marine Forces Reserve, also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expeditionary, warfighting organization and primarily designed to augment and reinforce the active duty units of the Marine Corps in their expeditionary role. It is the largest command, by assigned personnel, in the U.S. Marine Corps.
