United States Coast Guard?

Question

Is the coast guard a branch of the military. I was under the impression that a lesser rank of the army, nay, etc still have to salute a senior officer. Is this true. Do coast guard boats carry weapons? What is thier role during wartime. Can they be sent overseas

Answer 1

Yes, they have ranks equivalent to other services. An enlisted man in the Army would have to salute an officer in the CG.

Yes, they are armed. They have sidearms, M16s, and other personal weapons as well as crew-served deck guns. They use them so they can do more than just tell drug runners and pirates to "STOP!".

They see more action than most people think, and yes, they do some duty patrolling the coasts of countries where we have land troops stationed, but that's more limited.

Answer 2

The Coast Guard is not part of the Military because the Military is not permitted to do law enforcement. The Coast Guard can be placed under the Department of Defense if necessary in wartime.
They are now part of the Homeland Security Department. Before there was a Homeland Security Department they were under the Department of the Treasury.

There is the Regular Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Reserve and the Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Answer 3

It's the military but in the Department of Homeland Security. Of course they have weapons. What do you think they use against drug dealers and Mexicans swimming up the Pacific coast?

Its core roles are to protect the public, the environment, and U.S. economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways.

Your liklihood of getting killed in the Coast Guard is less than Army or Marines but about the same as Navy and Air Force. You'll have to work and put yourself in some risky situations to earn that GI Bill money for college.

Good luck.

Answer 4

The coast guard is under Department of Homeland Security, but they are considered to be part of the the seven (yes, there are seven) uniformed services in the US. Since they are an armed force, I'd suspect that their boats carry weapons. Yes, they have to salute senior officers. Yes, they can be sent overseas, although this is rather rare. (I think two coast guard troops have been killed in Iraq. Maybe three.) They have roles in in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intracoastal and offshore aids to navigation.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Yes, we are all on the same pay scale and ranks are the same but with different names-Ensign vs 2nd Lieutenant. same courtesies and customs apply. the only difference is that the USCG is under the Dept of Homeland Security and not Dept of Defence. If we are at war here we fall under the dept if the Navy. We carry weapons-we do drug interventions....just imagine the FBI but in charge of the waterways and shores. Very rarely is anyone sent overseas, the ones that are go voluntarily and there is a waiting list-and when there their they don't do combat they set up security routes for the other braches. Its a lot of fun...its like free cruises to the Carribean/Alaska/Hawii/PR etc!

Answer 6

Coast Guard is a branch of the military and they do deploy sometimes, but not often. There was Coast Guard deployed with me to Guantanamo Bay. They had guns on their boats (its awful, I don't remember which ones specifically). Most of what they did was patrol the bay and they caught a lot of drug dealers. Their biggest mission outside of the states, as I understand, is dealing with drug traffickers.

Answer 7

I think there in Iraq right now, and I believe they have been in every major combat the U.S. has entered into. I think they might be under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security right now. Check out www.uscg.mil to get the answers. Not sure though. Hoped that helped a bit.

Answer 8

http://www.uscg.mil/

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