Coast To Coasties

In this episode of the Coast To Coasties Podcast, I sit down with MST1 Gavin Kline and discuss the highly requested episode of what the job of being a Marine Inspector involves. Marine Inspections is a highly sought after career to get into for the Coast Guard because of the plentiful career opportunities after the Coast Guard and for the amazing work-life balance the job provides while in the Coast Guard. We list the pathways to become a marine inspector and what we do in the day to day life of an inspector. While there are a lot of technical terms in this field we break down the job into an easily understandable language so everyone can understand and make a mental picture of what we do out in the field. This is an amazing job that is highly competitive to get into however, once you gain the skillsets inspectors develop, you will be highly marketable in the maritime field the rest of your life, so I highly recommend anyone looking to make themselves marketable or interested in making the Coast Guard a career, listen to this episode and check out why we love working as Marine Inspectors! Thank you!

By special request, in this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I do a deep dive on my Coast Guard Career so far and share my personal journey through the United States Coast Guard. I discuss my influences growing up that led to me joining the Coast Guard and milestone influences that have shaped my career to this point. Many listeners have requested I do a comprehensive episode of myself so you all can learn more about me as the host of the show delivering the content to everyone. I was honored to receive so many of these requests and am ecstatic to share with you all my story. I go into depth on my influences growing up, why I decided to enlist, and what fueled my motivation to get to the point I am at now in my career. I have personal bias giving an opinion on this episode but I think it's a great one to listen to and I hope to inspire some listeners by telling my adventure. Please reach out with any questions you have for me!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, I have the privilege of sitting down with my guest, Chief Petty Officer Vicent Bucaneg, to talk about his Coast Guard career and why he loves working as a company commander for recruit bootcamp at Training Center Cape May! He has such a passion for what he considers to be the most fulfilling job in the Coast Guard, as it gives you the ability to make an impact from day 1 of a new Coastie's career and equip them with the tools needed to flourish and be successful once they leave training and head into the fleet. Chief Bucaneg's love for this mission is so great that he is preparing to return to Training Center Cape May as a Company Commander for a second tour this upcoming Summer and he is here to share his thoughts and experiences as to why others should also come back to Cape May as a Company Commander (CC)! We discuss CC School, Work Schedule, Job Benefits, and the impact you get to physically see in shaping our future Coast Guard in our newest seamen recruits! He also gives advice for people preparing to ship out to Cape May, so anyone heading to bootcamp in the future or considering coming back to Cape May as a CC, Tune in to this awesome episode!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast I go in depth on the Olmsted Scholarship Program which is a graduate school program enhanced with language learning opportunities that Coast Guard Officer's can apply to take part in. Founded in 1959 this super selective program involves one year of intense language learning followed by two years at graduate school university in the selected country the committee deems most needed for the scholar. The selected scholar is able to pick a university within that city based on the graduate degree they want to pursue. This immersive program is a very cool opportunity to get paid to learn a language and earn a graduate degree while getting paid by the Coast Guard to benefit the mission in the future. Language learning enthusiasts and graduate school pursuers, tune in this episode is for you!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I sit down with retired Coast Guard Pilot, Aaron Sanders, to have a discussion about the VA Loan. The VA Loan is an attractive 0$ down payment loan that enables Coast Guard and other military members active, reserve, and veteran to compete for housing they otherwise would be unable to afford in competitive real estate markets Coasties often get transferred to. Aaron and I discuss how the VA Loan works to obtain and what types of properties qualify for utilizing this attractive home loan. For anyone interested in renting some housing out for income good news, you can use the VA Loan to purchase up to a Quad Plex 4 housing unit! I recommend everyone listen to this episode as we often get stationed in lucrative housing markets that are always worth considering buying a home in, and the VA Loan enables us as Coasties to do this!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, we dive into 2024 with an exciting episode featuring one of the smallest rates in the Coast Guard, highlighting the Diver (DV) Rate with only about 70 active duty divers in the entire U.S Coast Guard. I sit down with (DV1) Diver first class Andy Murillo who walks us through his day to day life as a diver as well as a detailed discussion on the process it takes to become a diver in the Coast Guard regarding career timeline and physical requirements. We also cover the extensive travelling to all the cool places the dive rate has enabled Andy to travel in during his career and his personal advice for those interested in pursuing a career as a diver. This rate was super awesome to get to learn about from Andy and I strongly encourage everyone interested in learning about what our Coast Guard divers do check out this episode.

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, I discuss the programs available to active duty and reservist members that we can utilize in pursuing a bachelors or masters degree while serving in the U.S Coast Guard. I cover various opportunities available for both enlisted and officers including the "Post 9/11 GI Bill", and the "Tuition Assistance Program", as well as the "Coast Guard Graduate School" program for officers. Education is a huge benefit to being apart of the service and I feel it's important that we all utilize these avenues when the timing is right for us, so I am thrilled to be able to share my personal knowledges and experiences with learning about these paths that lead to earning degrees while serving in the Coast Guard so you can maximize the provided benefits. I recommend everyone listen to this episode to gain a better personal understanding on these programs, or to be able to share to someone who you believe can benefit from listening. Thank you!

In this episode of the Coast to Coasties Podcast, I sit down with my guest who is my mother, Jeannie Giacomuzzi and ask her for advice and tips she can give to other parents who are currently or soon to be embarking on the journey of having their child serve in the United States Coast Guard. We discuss great ways to support your children in the Coast Guard whether that be facetiming, care packages, or special vacations to help make your loved one's new career transition go as smoothly as possible with the support of their loved ones helping in some unique and creative ways along the way. This episode is definitely a great one to listen to for any parent looking to understand and figure out how they can best support their Coastie loved ones partaking in the amazing world of the U.S Coast Guard!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I go in depth on a comprehensive discussion of places and regions you could potentially get stationed in the United States Coast Guard. Often times one of the first questions that's going to come up on deciding whether you want to the join the Coast Guard or pick a particular rate is "Where could I potentially get stationed in the Coast Guard?" This is a common thing to ask as you will be spending years of your life somewhere the service assigns you too. For a service such as the Coast Guard where we have a lot of smaller units in more civilian community based areas, it is especially confusing at first to figure out just everywhere we could potentially go! That's why we cover in this episode areas by district and geographic region in and outside our country the Coast Guard could send you. This is an episode you do not want to miss!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I'm sitting down with my good friend Reservist Chief Boatswain Mate, Michael Gould, on our travel back from a high school community outreach event where we talk about the unique camaraderie gained in the military service as well as the importance of community awareness and outreach about what the Coast Guard is, and what we do as an organization. Chief Gould has had a career spanning from the Navy, Army National Guard, Several Fortune 500 Companies, and finally ended up in the Coast Guard where he and I share a passion to inform communities how awesome of a career we have and to give people an opportunity to learn about a paths they may have not known existed to them prior to meeting us. I am thrilled to have an hour to discuss these topics and much more on this exciting episode! I encourage everyone listening to get out in their communities and help make people aware of the Coast Guard and all the cool stuff we do in our very unique work lifestyles!

New Episode! Thank you all for your patience and reaching out for when season 2 would officially launch and it is now! In the long anticipated return of the Coast to Coasties Podcast, I talk about my experience of becoming a Direct Commission Officer from application process to reporting at my unit and attending the Direct Commission Officer school at the Coast Guard Academy and we get into deep detail on what exactly the DCO program is. As being a very unknown program to a lot of Coasties and civilians, it is a great topic to cover as it is an amazing opportunity to apply and become a direct hire officer at a time where the Coast Guard is in great need to hire a lot more officers in the next few years. Direct Commission is a direct hire program looking for niche specialists in their field where if you're accepted, you put on bars and start working as an officer in your specialty field your skills got you hired for and start performing as an officer in the Coast Guard instantly before even attending DCO school! Check it out to see if you'd be interested and if DCO is the right path for your career progression!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I sit down with Senior Chief Thompson who is a Coast Guard Reservist on Active Duty Orders with the Portland Maine recruiting office. We discuss everything going into being a reservist in the Coast Guard including all the benefits and opportunities reservists can take advantage of and how they can balance their Coast Guard time with their civilian career time no matter what field your civilian career is in. The process of going through your career as a reservist is very different from active duty and that is why it is great to have Senior Chief come on and tell how his career as a Marine Science Technician has differed from what an active duty career would look like, and how serving in the Coast Guard and a member of the local Fire Department has benefited the integration of both careers with the transferable knowledge and resources the reserves has provided him. For anyone interested in joining the Coast Guard Reserve or going from Active to Reserve, tune into this episode to get all the information from Senior Chief Thompson!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, we continue to build upon our previous episode highlighting the Marine Science Technician Rate, and take a further in depth look at the pollution and response side of the job. Our guest today, MST1 Justin Basham, has been a Marine Science Technician in the Coast Guard for 12 years with a majority of his career and interests focused on the pollution response side of the rate. We discuss the various positions and job opportunities you could potentially find yourself in while working in a pollution shop, as well as the roles, responsibilities, and authorities an MST has on a pollution case at various stages of your career. If you are interested in pollution response and environmental protection this is a great episode to turn into to further your knowledge on the life of an MST assigned to a pollution shop billet in the Coast Guard!

To Scrub...Or Not To Scrub...In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast I sit down with MST-A School, school house chief Senior Chief Kristin Gray and School Instructor MST1 Lewis Register as we cover a high demand topic the listeners have been asking for. The work life of a Marine Science Technician in the Coast Guard. This rate is one of the most encompassing rates with a dual purpose of prevention and response. We discuss the varies jobs you will work in as an MST if you are interested in the rate as well as career advice and opportunities that can come about by taking advantage of all the potential the rate has to offer. In addition we cover how well sought after MSTs become after transitioning from Coast Guard to the Civilian world. This episode features 2 of the best Marine Science Technicians in the Coast Guard so if you have any interest or curiosity in the rate, this is an episode you have to tune in for!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties Podcast", I sit down with Carl Boehmer and Tyler Mleczko who both run the Coast Guard Mentorship Program. This program was created as a way for current Coasties serving in Active, Reservist, Auxiliary, and Civilian capacities to have the ability to network and connect with one another from any time and any place in a mentor mentee relationship with the goal of furthering both personal and career development. Carl and Tyler walk me through the history of why the program was founded and the important role it has today as it continues its rapid growth in the Coast Guard today. This program is pioneering the way for Coasties to connect with one another and I highly encourage everyone to become apart of it as it gives you both the chance to learn valuable knowledge from other Coast Guard members and pass on valuable knowledge to other Coast Guard members!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, I sit down with Seaman Sterling Opsahl for the my first episode recorded at A-School. We discuss his time as a non-rate at station Umpquaw in Oregon working at a surf station and highlighting the Surfman community in the United States Coast Guard. The surf community is specialized in heavy weather surf training to rescue people in heavy wave conditions and Sterling does an excellent job describing day to day life and rescue procedure at these unique units We also discuss his ownership and hobby of being a snake keeper and talks about caring for his green tree pythons and how other coasties can get started in owning and caring for snakes and other reptiles of their own. If anyone is interested in hearing about the amazing work the Coast Guard Surfmen are doing, this is a great episode to tune in for!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I sit down with future Coastie and super fan of the podcast Eric Slutsky, who is currently working as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist in high school and has interest in becoming a Maritime Enforcement Specialist (ME Rate). I ask him what interested him in joining the Coast Guard and why he's so passionate about making this a long term career for himself. We then discuss questions that himself and many other prospective Coasties have been waiting to ask on the show. Tune in to this first ever sit down with a prospective high schooler looking to make the Coast Guard a long term career for himself!

In this second part of our interview with special guest commercial mariner Elan Silver, we discuss in depth our 4 year experience attending Maine Maritime Academy to earn our 3rd Mates Unlimited Gross Tonnage Licenses. We walk you through our journey year by year and all of the challenges we faced along the way from high school kids to professional mariners in a very competitive maritime industry. Our time at Maine Maritime Academy was full of glorious adventures and rigorous academics along with a regimented lifestyle and we're here today to retell our story to the listeners. Many people have interest in both the United States Coast Guard and the Commercial Mariner Industry upon graduating high school and this is where Elan and I talk about our experience going the commercial route immediately after high school. This podcast is for anyone who wants insight to help them decide which path is right for them or anyone generally curious about what it's like to attend a Maritime Academy for 4 years!

In this special episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, I sit down with Elan Silver, a civilian mariner who sails as a third mate for one of the commercial merchant vessels responsible for delivering goods to our country. 90% of all commercial goods trading is done through the waters of the world and Mr. Silver is here to tell us how important the U.S Merchant Marine is to our country as well as work schedules, travel/social life and pay as a Merchant Mariner. We talk back and fourth on how commercial mariners and the United States Coast Guard have quite a few similarities and differences in our missions to achieve the ultimate goal of serving on our oceans for the greater good of society. Anyone interested in hearing about what our great Merchant Mariners are doing out in the deep ocean, this episode is for you!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, we sit down again with BOSN Fonville to discuss in depth the world of ATON in the United States Coast Guard. Black Hulls of all sizes are responsible for servicing and maintaining our buoys and aids to navigation throughout the U.S coastal waterways and rivers. Many people have called the world of ATON the hidden gem of the Coast Guard and now is your chance to here a first hand account from the BOSN Fonville who has served on multiple different platforms and districts in the ATON world. We're here to walk you through every step and detail of how we get the buoys out in the water and why they're essential for our civilian mariners and marine transportation system. To everyone interested in joining the Black Hull Mafia, this episode is for you!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I sit down for the first of a two part episode with CWO3 BOSN Matthew Fonville and discuss his legendary career in the United States Coast Guard. BOSN Fonville has sailed on polar security cutters, worked as a quarter master 3rd class when the rate still existed, and has been stationed in Patrol Forces Southwest Asia to list a few of the amazing accomplishments of his career. We cover all of these adventures and get in depth into what his job entailed being a Boatswains Mate at each of his duty stations throughout his time of service. We also discuss the process of how he went from Chief to Warrant Officer. This episode is jam packed with content and one you definitely are going to want to hear if you are interested in the Boatswain Mate rate or traveling around during your Coast Guard career! *(Golden Shellback if someone who crossed the equator at the international date line)

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, I sit down with New England's District 1 Command Master Chief Michael Ingham to discuss his 24+ year journey from starting out as a Seaman Recruit (E1) at bootcamp, all the way to becoming district master chief and working with the District 1 Commander Admiral Mauger. Master Chief Ingham discusses how he came to join the Coast Guard and walks us through his personal career milestone moments that lead to this position including his time as the IT Rating Force Master Chief, and being in charge of the newly formed Cyber Command. We also discuss what the roles and responsibilities are of the Command Master Chief and the great things Master Chief Ingham is doing on a weekly basis to improve the lives of all the Coasties he represents!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast I sit down with Tidas Dixon, a Petty Officer 3rd Class Damage Controlman aboard the United States Coast Guard Cutter OAK. We discuss his life as a fisherman prior to joining the Coast Guard, Important skillsets you can develop as a DC, and ideas for improving public transportation systems to benefit members of the Coast Guard on a daily basis. DC3 Dixon has an incredible amount of foresight as to why the Damage Controlman rate provides people with great skillsets for a post Coast Guard transition to the civilian workforce and also has a lot of knowledge on how the individual commuter can benefit from taking advantage of more public transportation opportunities as they grow around the communities we serve. This is a great episode to tune into to hear DC3's words of wisdom and what serving as a Damage Controlman is all about!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, I have the privilege of sitting down with long time Coast Guard Auxiliary member and United States Navy Veteran Mr. Scott Campbell. Mr. Campbell tells us the vast amount of roles and opportunities people can partake in by volunteering in the Coast Guard Auxiliary along with some of his personal experiences he has had with his time apart of it. This is a component of the U.S Coast Guard that plays a vital role in maritime safety as well as search and rescue and I am delighted to produce and share an episode with the audience detailing this group of outstanding people who not everyone has heard about. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy our discussion!

In this episode of the Coast To Coasties Podcast, we sit down with Senior 1st Class Cadets Andy Schad and Mark Stutts as they tell us about their experience with the U.S Coast Guard Academy, which is a four year military college program that leads to serving as an officer in the United States Coast Guard. We discuss what majors the academy offers as well as how to prepare for your first year at school, and what our cadets like to do for fun. Anyone looking into attending the Coast Guard Academy is going to want to watch this episode!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, I sit down with Operations Specialist 3rd Class Steph Deravel to discuss her 2 years so far in the U.S Coast Guard. We discuss her transfer from enlisting as a reservist to switching to active duty while in bootcamp, her time as a non rate on a buoy tender, and now her career as an Operations Specialist at a shoreside Sector. She has great insight on the life of an OS at sector for day to day operations and how command structure works in the OS world. Anyone interested in Buoy Tenders or the Operations Specialist rate, tune into this episode to hear Steph!

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, we sit down with Health Service Technician Petty Officer 2nd Class Yates, who talks about his journey into joining the Coast Guard and becoming an HS. We cover day to day working life of what a Health Service Technician does both in shore side positions and on a cutter. We also cover ways to transition your Coast Guard career into a successful civilian career using your training and skills acquired as an HS. Anyone who has thought about being an HS is definitely going to want to tune in to hear HS2 Yates personal take on life as a Health Service Technician.

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" podcast, we travel to Coast Guard Recruiting Station Providence Rhode Island to talk to Senior Chief Boatswains Mate Monyhan, Marine Science Technician Sandoval and Public Affairs Specialist Majala. We cover important topics on what current Coasties can do if they want to get more involved with recruiting new members by getting involved with public events and local community visits. We also have some helpful advice for civilians who are considering joining the Coast Guard and would like some more information on who some of the awesome recruiters of the Coast Guard are and how you work with them to join. This is a great detailed episode with very knowledgable personnel from our local recruiters from Providence who are excited so share their knowledge with all of you! We hope you enjoy and please reach out to any of us if you have further questions after listening to this episode.

In this episode of the "Coast To Coasties" Podcast, we continue our conversation with Storekeeper Second Class Hurley in Part 2 of 2 in our two part series. We continue into a detailed discussion of Sean's life as a storekeeper in the U.S Coast Guard and some of the interesting jobs and opportunities he has had with this rating. We further go into discussing his recent trip up to Greenland for Joint Operations with Denmark and France. Many sailors have had an interesting journey during their time in the Coast Guard, but SK2 has truly a one of a kind adventure you do not want to miss hearing! Anyone interested or thinking about going storekeeper is definitely going to want to turn on this episode.

In this two part episode series we sit down with Storekeeper 2nd Class Sean Hurley to talk about his career as an Army Infantryman and life between services before rejoining the military and switching over to the Coast Guard to become a storekeeper. Episode Part 1 of 2 covers all of his Army adventures and transitioning from military to civilian lifestyle before discussing the process of entering the Coast Guard as a prior service member and the extra circumstances people in his similar position people have to considering when starting out in the Coast Guard as a prior service member. Part 2 will cover his time as a storekeeper and will be available soon to follow

In this episode I discuss the duties and responsibilities of performing as a cutter surface swimmer which is the collateral to being the rescue swimmer on a Coast Guard Cutter. Cutters are all required to have surface to swimmers so this role is essential to introduce to the viewers and hopefully increase interest in some of you becoming cutter surface swimmers as well. We talk about fitness requirements and roles/responsibilities of the swimmer.

In this interview we sit down with Electricians Mate 3rd Class Sprock and talk with him about what it's like to be an Electrician's Mate in the U.S Coast Guard. He gives us great details about the rate and what A-School was like for him. We also get the bonus privilege of hearing his detailed experience of living as a non-rate in Alaska and what expect for anyone who has prospects of living in Alaska. Great interview with a great guest, be sure to tune in!

In this episode we sit down with CS2 Grace Muchler who is a culinary specialist (CS) serving in the Coast Guard on the Coast Guard Cutter Oak. She provides us with great details on the day to day life of a culinary specialist in the Coast Guard and walks us through what it's like going direct from Bootcamp to A-School and then reporting to your first unit. Tons of valuable insight and anyone who wants to know more about the culinary specialist rate and appreciate good cooking will love listening to this episode!

In this episode I discuss in detail all the paths available to becoming an Officer in the United States Coast Guard. Many of these options are lesser known to people and my goal is to promote them so that people know every option they have at their disposal. The application process for these programs is very tough, so I have also included a segment in this episode where I give advice on how to give yourself the best chance during the competitive application process of becoming a Coast Guard Officer. Enjoy the show!

In this episode I talk about going through Coast Guard Bootcamp as a Seaman Recruit (E1). What to expect from your 7.5 weeks at Training Center Cape May, and how to make the most of your time to make it go as smoothly as possible.

In this episode, I give insight into the financial strategies I use to make the most of every paycheck while serving in the Coast Guard. I walk people through how I lay out and set up my budget as well as advice on how to make the most of all the perks and benefits you get for serving in the military.

In this episode, I talk about how to pick your job / rate in the Coast Guard and some important advice that I would recommend for anyone joining and in the process of making a decision for what job they would like to do within the fleet.

In this episode we sit down and talk with Fireman Luke Campbell from Cody Wyoming and ask him about his journey of joining the Coast Guard and his experiences he's had his first year serving as a non rate fireman aboard the United States Coast Guard Cutter Oak. FN Campbell gives us perspective on the challenges of recruitment from an inland state, going through bootcamp during the coronavirus, day to day life of a fireman on a buoy tender, and his quality of life while serving in the Coast Guard. 

In this episode I go over the process of deciding to join the Coast Guard and what steps you need to take in order to maximize your offers available to you enlisting as a recruit to get the most out of your contract. We walk through the process step by step and address various tips and tricks you can use along the way to taking the Oath Of Enlistment.

In this episode I go over why I'm starting this wonderful podcast and why if you have any interest or curiosity about the Coast Guard or Maritime Industry, you should definitely download this podcast series. I'm very passionate about what I speak about and very proud to share this wonderful career and advice with as many listeners as possible.