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Only thing that sucks about the direct commission program is that [I still think] the CG will commission you as an O-2, regardless of what your previous military grade was.
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MikeD
Yep, that sucks big time!! And when I was in the CG the promotions were very slow. I was a DCA from the Army. I had been a Captain (O-3) for several years and had to take a cut in rank when I came in the CG. I was getting out of the Army anyway to continue flying, so the CG was a flying job with the hope of getting into fixed-wing, something that was not possible in the Army. I was an infantry officer in the Army. At that time they did not have an aviation branch for the commissioned officer pilots in the Army, so I kept getting sent back to infantry assignments, but I wanted to fly full time.
It worked. I got to fly fixed-wing aircraft (almost 2000 hours instructing for the Navy in the T-34C and a couple thousand more in the HU-25 version of the Falcon 20 bizjet) and got with the airlines when I retired. I had 12 years in the Army and 8 in the CG and retired as a LT O-3. After being commissioned into the CG as a LTjg, I spent 4 years at that rank and then 4 years as a LT. At that time I had 20 years total military active duty and decided to retire and try to fly for the airlines.
BTW, if you are an Army Warrant Officer aviator in the Army and get selected for the CG DCA program, you come in as an Ensign (O-1, which is like a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army/Air Force/Marine Corps).
Overall, the US Coast Guard is a great service!! My only regret about my career in the military is that I didn't switch over from the Army to the CG earlier so I could have spent more time in that great service.
Bob