Joining USCGR for AVCAD or stay in the USMC IRR?

[sodajones]

First off, a little about me.

USMCR E-5 Combat Engineer
1.5 years left of a 6 year obligation.
24 months of active duty time
Meritorious promotion to E-4 and E-5 as well as other personal commendations
I'm in my sophomore year and I would project a GPA of 3.2-3.5 BS Biology

My goal is to be a naval aviator with either the Navy or preferably with the Coast Guard. I'm 23 and I should have my bachelor's degree finished no later than 26. That means OCS would be in the 26-28 age range depending on how quick I can be picked up by a USN or USCG board. Let me lay some ground and then I'll state my questions - please bear with me.

I am aware that you can take your chances with CG OCS and apply for SNA at the end of OCS or at the end of your first tour. My concern is that if I take that route and if I don't get SNA out of OCS I'll be too old to re-apply later down the road. I do have 24 months of active duty time from two deployments but I don't think that would line up with a tour and the age limit extension to 29 years.

So, at this point, I'm looking for options that will either guarantee SNA with OCS or will extend my possible age limit for applying. My understanding is that the Navy can guarantee you a slot as an SNA prior to making a commitment. I also understand that if I transfer to the USCG-R I would be eligible to apply for AVCAD. I'm aware of the Wilkes Initiative; however, that blatantly racist flight program isn't an option for me since I go to a school that is not listed under the new CSPI guidelines per gocoastguard.com.

I am not interested in staying in the Marine Corps even if they do give flight slots. Let me also say that I do understand that I would be an officer first and a naval aviator second but that doesn't mean I won't do everything I possibly can to ensure that I serve as a naval aviator. If, for some reason, I am not able to swing NA or NFO with either Navy or CG, I would place priority on becoming a Coast Guard officer in whatever job they give me. Life is too short to be a Navy SWO.

Now to the meat of the issue.

Let's say I transfer to the USCGR with 2 years of obligated service. I'm sure my USCGR command would allow me to leave for AVCAD but what if I get my foot in the door with the Navy while I'm in the USCGR? Are Coast Guard Reserve commands friendly with allowing their members to leave to serve as officers in other branches? I know if I tried to go officer in any other branch than the Marine Corps before my obligated time is finished with the USMCR my USMCR command would tell me to eat @#^!.

Would it be wiser to stay in the IRR and try to play both fields and see which one bites or should I jump headfirst into the USCGR and hope I get picked up by AVCAD? Are there any other major factors or routes I'm not seeing?

 

[sardaddy]

Good questions. I can't answer all of them but I will try to answer some. Let me first tell you that the AVCAD program is a great program but very few get selected for it.

The AVCAD boards are usually done when OCS boards are completed. Very few get selected for OCS and even fewer get selected for AVCAD. I have never seen more than 2-3 selected for AVCAD on any board.

I do know you have to be at least an E-4 before you can apply for that program. I don't know what rank you would be able to come into the CG as since we don't have any combat engineers. So you may have to wait for selection to E-4 at a minimum before applying so add that time along with anything else you would be waiting for such as your degree.

You won't be an NFO in the CG as we don't have any.

I don't know how "friendly" the reserve would be to let you leave to go into the Navy before your obligation was up. That is probably case dependant. Of course you would have to get into the USCG Reserve first. That certainly isn't guaranteed these days. I believe at a minimum you would have to wait until your USMCR obligation was done before you could even apply.

What should you do? It is all your call. Just remember that if you try to keep all of your options open you may not end up with anything. Find out what you would be happy with doing and go that direction.

 

[texags]

That's a lot of acronyms

 

[sodajones]

"that's a lot of acronyms"

Just wait 'till you deploy and attend a mission brief. Todo, we ain't in kansas anymore!

@Sardaddy

I didn't think about not being able to retain rank. Looks like I would likely be demoted to E3 if I went reserve. Since there are only 2-3 picking up per a year then AVCAD and USCGR are not my golden tickets.

Guess I'll have to stay in the IRR and try and get my foot in the door with both branches. Thank you for your time, Sir.