The Claw of Knowledge

I used to be in the Coast Guard, and no one thought we were dangerous. But that’s just a clever act we put on. Beneath our candy-coated (sometimes literally) exteriors beat the hearts of true warriors: an unstoppable force that’s scoured the seas since the days when sailors fought with sword and musket. We’ve been there in every war, in a hundred different capacities, with our unique weapons, brash ingenuity, and rare skillsets, to make sure the job got done and America stayed safe. To show you what I mean, I made another list. FIVE EVEN AWESOMER FACTS ABOUT THE COAST GUARD

Despite the fact that it travels all over the world saving lives, stopping smugglers, and improving the safety of the seas, the Coast Guard still operates on less money than the New York City subway and with less manpower than Disney World. Here's a couple charts to put the small size of the Coast Guard in context: (We used to have an adage that the Coast Guard was smaller than the New York City Police Department. This used to be true, but in the mid-2000s, the NYPD went through a round of budget cuts that pushed its uniformed officers down to around 35,000 - well below the CG.) My Kickstarter is over, but you can still help me write my book ! Donate $25 or more and I'll add you to the list of people receiving a copy! Donate $60 or more and you'll also receive a Challenge Coin! Like me on Facebook to see more of what I post < Previous Post  |  Main Page   |  Next Post  >

I joined the Coast Guard thanks to a woman (well, many women, but one in particular): my older sister. Four years before I showed up at the Coast Guard Academy, she did the same. All throughout high school, I watched her endure the training: the push-ups, the marching, the heavy course load, the loss of the most basic privileges. I saw her excel in spite of all of it, saw her grow even stronger than she was before, and I thought to myself: Holy crap, I am never doing that. Still, it sucked me in like an undertow. A mere two months after she received her commission, I began Swab Summer at the Academy: a grueling introduction to a grueling four years. It’s not something I ever would have considered, that I ever would have thought to do – if my sister hadn’t done it before me. In that spirit, I’d like to take a moment to honor the sacrifices of some of the women who served as pioneers of the Coast Guard. Of course, none of them signed up just to be the ‘first woman’ to do so...