A Pilot's Journey

Last night at 20:00 hours local time I became a member of the US Coast Guard. I swore in and became an E-2 in the inactive reserves and received my orders to report to the Coast Guard Academy in New London Connecticut on January 8 2009 at 07:30. Once at OCS I will take the oath again and immediately be promoted to an E-5. Once I complete OCS I will receive my commission as an O-1 (Ensign) and then hopefully be on my way to Pensacola for flight school. Today I will be heading off to Branson MO to spend Christmas with family and to leave some of our stuff with family while I am gone for 17 weeks. After the Christmas break, I will have 3 more days of work and then the following week I head off to OCS. This will probably be the last post I write until I get to OCS and I will not have computer access for a few weeks once I arrive. Till next time, fly safe...

So I got word back that my blood pressure work was fine and I am officially in. I received a letter from the Coast Guard telling me I made it and have also received a letter with a report date and time for class. I am still waiting on the official Orders which I need to break my lease on my apartment. Hopefully I will get those this week as I am gone all next week for the holiday. I submitted my resignation last week and will officially be done at my current job on Dec. 31. I am running everyday and doing push ups and sit ups to try and get ready for OCS and the physical training that I will be going through. Yesterday I took the Aviation Selection Test Battery which is required to get a flight slot. I scored well above the minimums and have that step out of the way. I am looking forward to the experience and will do my best to try and get a flight slot. Till next time, fly safe...

Well, A while back I mentioned that I was looking into some other career options. One was as an air traffic controller, I had applied with the FAA for that and recently was invited to take the test to determine if I will get an interview or not. I scheduled the test for Dec. 12 in Oklahoma City and have purchased my airline tickets to get there and take it. Sometime later, I decided to submit my packet to the United States Coast Guard for Officer Candidate School and pursue a career as a Coast Guard Aviator. Yesterday I received a call from my recruiter to inform me that I had made it in, I have been accepted into Officer Candidate School. It is contingent on some blood pressure results, apparently when I had my blood pressure taken for my initial physical it was borderline high. They requested I have my blood pressure taken twice a day for three days and send the results. I am on my last day and so far everything looks fine. I should be swearing in next week and reporting to the Coast Guard Academy for OCS on January 8. I am still going to fly to Oklahoma City and take that test so I have a backup plan in case my blood pressure should be a problem (though I am positive it will be fine). I am also now scheduled to take the Aviation Test Selection Battery or ATSB on Dec. 15. This test is used to determine if I can qualify as an aviator in the Coast Guard. Getting aviation is not guaranteed but I figure I have a pretty good chance given my background. I plan on continuing this blog and relaying my experiences as I go through OCS and then hopefully as I am going through Coast Guard flight school (The flight training is actually through the Navy). I know it has been a long time since I posted last, but I had a lot in the works that I did not want to make public yet. When I get to OCS it will be a while before I will be able to post again as I will not have internet access initially, but I will post as soon as I can. Till then, fly safe...