USCG Recruitment Woes
Every branch of the U.S. military is struggling to meet recruiting goals, as noted in any of several articles posted here by the usual suspects. Stands to reason the malaise has reached the smallest service, too. Mick sends us an article on what lengths the Department of Homeland Security is willing to go to fill the Coast Guard’s ranks.
Coast Guard offering ‘unheard of’ $50K signing bonuses as recruitment plummets, ‘readiness’ in jeopardy
The Coast Guard admits COVID-19 vax mandates have ‘exacerbated’ critical shortages in recruitment, retainment
By Kelly Laco | Fox News
EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. Coast Guard is offering up to $50,000 signing bonuses in an effort to bolster recruitment, after the number of guardsmen has plummeted, in large part due to the military’s strict COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
According to internal USCG documents obtained by Fox News Digital from October detailing fiscal year 2023 workforce planning, “Culinary Specialist,” or “CS,” level recruits could receive bonuses up to $50,000 each.
Active-duty Coast Guard Lt. Chad Coppin called the $50,000 CS-level bonuses, which would involve positions such as cooks, “absolutely unheard of.”
Coppin, who is stationed in Juneau, Alaska, and is seeking religious accommodation to the vaccine mandate, told Fox News Digital that the miliary is suffering from low recruitment and retainment, in large part due to its own restrictive policies, including the vax requirement.
LT Coppin is hardly an impartial source. There is a perfect storm of reasons for the failures to meet recruitment goals with the self-inflicted vax mandate a large one. The typical Big Government knee jerk reaction is to throw tax dollars at the problem, rather than fix root causes.
Every job is important and folks gotta eat, but offering cooks monetary incentives more in line with those meant for nuclear power technicians is unheard of, and is indicative of massive rot.
Thanks Mick.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Coast Guard, Guest Link, Reality Check, The Stupid is Strong
Knee deep Navy making it rain!
Those guys earn their money though. Maybe not a cook but the ones in Alaska or working the Columbia river bar are amazing.
That’s how deep a frogs pond is.
If the services can just tough it out for two more years, until we get a real President in who will toss out Milley the queer hugger and Lloyd the Lameass, and real men and women can serve proudly again. And then we can return to being real warfighters who can defend our country and not focus on worrying how many fake genders there are.
I’d be very surprised if we can walk back all (any?) of the administrative missteps of the last few decades over the course of a single administration (short of a very publicized TF Smith, v. 2.0).
Just look at the debacle of the ACFT… all attempts to make requirements gender-neutral are undermined by the Gillibrands who insist both that women are every bit as capable warfighters as men and that gender-neutral standards are sexist.
I’d reenlist.
I can’t, due to longevity, but I miss the military and would love to apply my experience while learning a new field. In better shape than I was, 25 years ago.
Given how many vets struggle with finding new purpose, it seems there’s a talent pool being willfully overlooked.
First, are you Jabbed?
If you’re not Jabbed, the services likely won’t take you (all else being waivered).
If you ARE Jabbed, $50k ain’t gonna do you much good from the grave.
Riiiiiight. Recruiting and retention problems.
Gee. I wonder why?
When you take a young Puddle Jumper, and call him a hero for actions rendered.
Then you call him a zero and kick him out ’cause he didn’t take the Jab.
Your actions are screaming so loud, I can’t hear you speaking.
Obviously their recruiting efforts are being stymied by eligible individuals being worried that they may be assigned to a state that restrict their right to an abortion.
The preceding statement is applicable to male and female candidates, because this administration has taught us that men can get pregnant.
Yeah, cuz if I get pregnant, I am definitely getting an abortion. Although I have the time and could afford it, I am done raising kids. The ones I have are in their 40’s and they are still a PITA sometimes.
Hey, here is a new idea for the left. Let’s convince the brain dead masses that men in their 70’s can get pregnant, so we need free abortions too.
$50k is more than even nukes get these days. Hell, that’s more than I made for enlistment and TWO reenlistment bonuses.
Kinda makes it sound like the cooks are the most dangerous folks on the ship doesn’t it…
Well, if the movie “Under Siege” is any indication…
Why don’t the Puddle Pirates just recruit some cooks from the SEAL Teams? Isn’t that what Big Navy did?
I’m in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the regular CG has been relying on Culinary Specialists from our ranks to fill the need there.
If we didn’t exist they would have an even harder time meeting their mission goals each year, and they are very grateful for us being there. But we can’t fill every slot they need filled, and you can’t expect a largely over 50 group of men and women to be tapped for search and rescue missions, let alone law enforcement, or drug and border interdiction duty.
Geez, I was considering the CGA last year and decided to pass as the group pretty much just did voluntary boat safety inspections and not much else. They also have a strict no firearms policy that didn’t work for me.
Read the entire package!
https://www.dcms.uscg.mil/ppc/news/Article/3196658/coast-guard-announces-fy-23-monetary-enlisted-interventions-bonuses/
Ah, they have to have a culinary degree already. That makes 10% more sense.
A few years ago if you were stuck in fast food your best bet was about $12/hr after a couple of years to manager making maybe $30k. McD managers now start at 36k+.
Successful completion of BUD/S in lieu of a culinary degree, right?
Well, that apparently worked for a certain cook portrayed by Steven Seagal.
My son graduated USCG basic in a week. He should have waited to get this larger bonus. LOL
Seriously though it’s been 25 years since my service but having watched him go through the process is significantly more arduous then when I went through it. Better or worse? I’m not an expert just seeing it from this perspective. Yet there’s little wonder IMO why 20% can’t serve.
THEN the educate standards of the typical US student make passing the ASVAB with a decent score difficult.
I’m not arguing for lower enlistment standards. Just bringing up what I saw. My youngest is considering the Air Force.
**Graduates