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Anyone interested in an in-person USCG DCA info panel in Texas?

samlobo

New Member
pilot
None
I am trying to get an idea for how many folks at Fort Hood, TX and the surrounding area would be interested in an in-person USCG DCA informational panel discussion if we were to host it there? Specifically, I am looking to bring 4 USCG aviators (3 DCA's, 1 academy-grad) from USCG Air Station Houston to Fort Hood sometime in November or December and host a lunch-time discussion group on base in a neutral location (a buddy suggested the Oveta Culp Center where they typically host college classes and ACAP briefings) . We want to give those pilots interested in the DCA program a chance to ask some USCG aviators questions about the process and perhaps give those information that never knew it existed.
I know that when I was going through the DCA process back in 2006, I knew no one in the USCG to go to in order to ask questions. We have Coasties here in Texas that would love to help those considering this program. Those of you at Fort Hood....do you think there is enough interest for us to come and do this? Would lunch-time work for ya'll? Do you feel as though the Olveta Culp Center is a "safe" enough place that you could attend in confidence if your command is not supportive of your intentions? (I know my commander hated the fact that I was switching services....I was treated like a traitor by some in my command...such a shame.) Let me know if there is enough interest in this, not only for yourself, but if you think some of your colleagues might be interested, too.
Looking to have this locked into the calendar by August and the event date will be early November or early December 2014.

Jen
Houston, TX
 

highside7r

Member
None
Where were you guys 5yrs ago? I have tried to help a few fellow Army guys that meet the requirements to see the light of what the USCG/DCA program has to offer. Most are looking to not do back to back deployments. I'm still at Hood and can ask some friends if anyone is interested, sadly many like myself are outside of 10yrs TIS.

Have you posted on the "green" sites: KiowaPilots, Hawkdriver? Hit baseops.net as well.
 

samlobo

New Member
pilot
None
highside7r,
Please do ask around and see if anyone would be interested. We want to canvas as many people as possible in one day's event. I am going to go ahead a reserve that meeting space anyway to ensure we have it. I believe that kiowapilots.com has gone away, but I will also post to hawkdriver.com and baseops.net as well...thanks for the suggestions.

Kow-aka....who is Zach???

Jen
 

zVo

New Member
Vertical Reference has a military forum full of Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force types as well.

As DCAs -- if you were currently active duty when you applied -- did you or anyone have branch service obligations or did your branch manager / command essentially 'waive' it? I'm Army and have a few years remaining on my current active duty service obligation. In the interest of maximizing opportunity to apply before my 10 years TIS, I'd like to afford myself to ability to apply early and often if necessary.

I'd like to know I can actually apply with an ADSO before possibly pissing of my command. ;)
 

highside7r

Member
None
samlobo, going to post it up for my previous unit. Do you have the mins/requirements (TIS, flight times,age) for the current DCA program?
 

samlobo

New Member
pilot
None
zVo, Regarding waiving ADSOs, that typically will never happen. Your ADSO is for your current service and is not "transferrable." What you need to do is time it right so that you get picked up no earlier than a year of your commitment being up so that you can roll right from one service to the other. I applied in the fall of 2005, was accepted in January 2006,signed out of the Army on 30APR, and signed into the USCG on 01MAY. You can stretch out your arrival date only so far, so again, the timing has to be right. You can still be fulfilling your ADSO when you apply...just make sure that it will be almost up by the time you actually have to report. They'll give you about 6-8 months after acceptance to actually report in, but that is not an official number. It is merely what I have seen.

Highside7r, the max TIS/max age/min flight times are all listed on the website. Very rarely are waivers granted because they have enough candidates fighting to get in.

Hope this is helpful for you all. I am going to get up on those other forums and get the word out about our gig at Fort Hood in the fall. I am leaning more towards a December event so that will give those applying for the Spring board (#06-15) time to prepare. It's NEVER too early to start preparing your packet, though. It took me a year to get everything together. You could do it in 6 months, but you'll be rushing. I will gladly help anyone that asks...let me know.

Upcoming DCO board dates that include the DCA program:
03-15 DCO, deadline to recruiter: 22 Sep 2014, Deadline to recruiting command: 20 Oct 2014, Panel convening date: 1 Dec 2014.
06-15 DCO : deadline to recruiter: 16 Mar 2015, Deadline to recruiting command: 13 Apr 2015, Panel convening date: 18 May 2015.

-Jen
 

zVo

New Member
zVo, Regarding waiving ADSOs, that typically will never happen. Your ADSO is for your current service and is not "transferrable." What you need to do is time it right so that you get picked up no earlier than a year of your commitment being up so that you can roll right from one service to the other. I applied in the fall of 2005, was accepted in January 2006,signed out of the Army on 30APR, and signed into the USCG on 01MAY. You can stretch out your arrival date only so far, so again, the timing has to be right. You can still be fulfilling your ADSO when you apply...just make sure that it will be almost up by the time you actually have to report. They'll give you about 6-8 months after acceptance to actually report in, but that is not an official number. It is merely what I have seen.

-Jen

Jen, thanks for the response.
Sounds like that's the best way to make it happen then.
 

samlobo

New Member
pilot
None
Great session yesterday at Forrt Hood, though I expected to see more guys there. If you'd like to see the event held again in the Spring, let me know a good time/date/location that would would better for everyone's schedules. I didn't know that you are not allowed to take lunch before 12 noon on Fort Hood (who the hell makes up these rules?)....in the Coast Guard, if you are hungry, you take lunch....it's just that simple.....just another reason to make the change!
 
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