Coast Guard Aviation: Rescue Swim Myths, Missions, and Career Paths _ Natalie

Natalie Hood (the Grit Game) explores the diverse roles and responsibilities of Coast Guard aviation professionals with Nicholas L. Gavin. This includes, but is not limited to myths about AMTs, AETs, and ASTs, and gain insights into their training, missions, and career paths.

 keywords

Coast Guard, aviation, AMT, AET, AST, rescue missions, military careers, aviation maintenance, rescue swimmer, career in Coast Guard


 key  topics

Roles of AMT, AET, and AST in Coast Guard
Training and skills required for Coast Guard aviation roles
Myths and realities of rescue missions and responsibilities
Career paths and opportunities in Coast Guard aviation
The importance of physical and technical skills in rescue operations


 guest  name

Nicholas L. Gavin

 sound bites

"Most of my career has been anything but routine."
"Coordination with pilots is vital during rescues."
"My favorite job was doing search and rescue."


Chapters

00:00 Behind the Scenes of Coast Guard Aviation
04:38 Understanding the Roles of AMTs and ASTs
22:11 The Training and Skills of Aviation Survival Technicians
32:33 Realistic Expectations for Joining the Coast Guard

 resources

Go Coast Guard - https://gocoastguard.com
US Coast Guard - https://www.uscg.mil
Rescue Swimmer School - https://www.uscg.mil/Our-Organization/Assistant-Commandant-for-Prevention-Policy-CG-5P/Rescue-Swimmer/


 guest links

Email - Nicholas.L.Gavin@USCG.mil

The Grit Game
The Grit Game, is not just playing the game, we’re changing it. 500+ years industry experience,

Revdup Apparel
a custom apparel company built for the pool industry. Founded by pool professionals

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Taking that misunderstood theme to a place that people never really get to see, the world behind Coast Guard aviation. Because let's be real, when the public thinks Coast Guard aviation, they picture the rescue swimmer dropping into the water or the dramatic hoist on the evening news. What they don't picture are the people who make that moment possible, the aviation maintenance technicians keeping aircraft mission ready, and the aviation survival technicians whose work extends far beyond the rescue itself. There are huge misconceptions about what AMTs and ASTs actually do, how much responsibility they carry, and what it takes to keep that aircraft and the crews up safe. We're talking about the big picture questions. What does it really take to maintain an aircraft that has zero room for air? What kind of pressure comes with knowing lives depend on your work? And what does the public never see about these roles that they absolutely should? And to help us answer those questions, we're joined by someone who lives this every single day, Nicholas L. Gavin, petty officer of first class with the United States Coast Guard, and is currently serving as an active duty recruiter. And before we jump in, I want to take a moment to say thank you to Nicholas and to everyone serving in roles like this. This is the work that often goes unseen, but carries an extraordinary level of responsibility, and it deserves far more recognition than it gets. So, Nicholas, before we take flight in today's conversation, can you share a bit about your background and what brought you into the Coast Guard?

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Thank you, Natalie. Uh, thanks for having me, by the way. Um, yeah, so well, that's that goes way back. So I've been in the Coast Guard for 18 years now, and what kind of brought me in is I was I had a desire to do be in aviation and uh didn't have a lot of money to kind of get my feet uh or get started. So I was trying to kind of do things on my own, out of college and stuff, kind of ran out of money, and and I was kind of speaking speaking with my father who was in the Navy. He retired uh 25 years in the Navy, and pretty much uh I didn't have a good direction in life to go. So I spoke with my father. I said, Hey, I think I'm gonna join the Navy. You were in the Navy, you had a great career and and uh did very well for yourself. So I think you know that that might be a good option for me. So I think I'm gonna join the Navy. And he's like, you know, that's that's great. I love the Navy. But if I were you, I would consider the Coast Guard. And I did not really know what that was. So I kind of pictured, I I thought Coast Guard, I was kind of thinking um like Baywatch or something.

unknown 2:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Like, you know, wear red shorts or something and run down the beach. Yeah. So uh he's like, no, no, no, they're they're multi branch, and um I think you'd really like them. I've worked with them a lot over the years. I was like, yeah, but I want to be in aviation. And he's like, they're uh they have AB, they have helicopters and stuff. I was like, really? So I went online and kind of started doing my research, and I saw a picture of uh was the MH 65, uh the dolphin is what we call it, the helicopter. And there was a guy hoisting and he was bringing in a survivor into the cabin. Um and I just saw this guy in the door, and I said, I want to be that. I want to be the guy in the door, right? I didn't want to be jumping out of the door. That's the rescue swimmer. You know, I knew I it wasn't like that good of a term, but I want to be the guy in the door. I said, that'd be a cool job. I'm gonna fly around and rescue people. So um I was living in uh Knoxville at the time, and the closest recruiting office to me was in Nashville. So I got my truck and I drove to Nashville and I knocked down the recruiting office door and started the process. A couple months later, I was heading off to boot camp. And it took me a little bit of time. So one of some of those things that we're going to talk about is some of the misconceptions and kind of the process of joining and getting to do what you want to do. But for me, it took about two years to become that guy in the door, which I found out was called the flight mechanic, which can be filled by two positions. It can be an AET, which is an avionics electrical technician, or an AMT, which is an aviation maintenance technician.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Very cool. I actually, for those listening, I mean, they know by now I love swimming. It's a huge part of my background. I actually wanted to be the person that was jumping out and swimming. And you and I had told you this when you and I were originally talking, that when I many moons ago, I probably about 15 years ago, I at one point thought about joining the Coast Guard. And I sat down and I took my exams and they did the whole evaluation of what tattoos I had and where they were and all that. And they had asked, well, what do you want to do after I had gotten scored? And I said, Oh, I want to be a rescue swimmer. And at the time, the recruiter that I had spoken to was like, oh, you know, we'll have to look into that. And so uh, you know, one thing I told my listeners is definitely do your research. So I'm definitely glad that we're talking about this today. But that's pretty cool. So it only took about two years for you to be in that window or in that door. That that that's very cool. I love it. Well, and also just real briefly, you had the chance to talk to Sarah Faulkner, and she was she's known as the uh first female Coast Guard rescue swimmer.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yes. Uh so I met her briefly. She was the first Coast Guard uh female rescue swimmer to graduate from rescue swimmer school. Uh there are other female rescue swimmers before her, but she's known as the first female to pass the our current rescue swimmer school. So don't ask me the date. I don't remember when I won't. No, she came in for uh I was uh recruiting out of Colorado, and she came out there because they had a memorial for all the different branches that they're putting up in a park, and they wanted a statue for someone in the Coast Guard, and they chose to use Sarah Faulkner. So I kind of got to be there for that when they put the statue up and she was there, and it's a very, very fun and cool event. Um, I'm glad that she was able to be honored in that way. But um, yeah, she's out. I haven't spoken to her since. I don't I wouldn't say I know her on a first hand basis, but uh it was great meeting her when I had.

SPEAKER_03 6:00

Yeah, that's very cool. Well, awesome. I love that. And so you're you you're in 18 years, so here's the big question. Are you gonna are you a lifer? Are you uh gonna do your 20 years and then kind of decide what you're gonna do from there?

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Uh yeah, I'm definitely a lifer. I'm not gonna pull out now or pull pull talks. No, I I'll I got at least a couple more years left and I need to get to my 20, but I'll probably stay in a little bit beyond that. Uh plan on uh making chief and and kind of continuing on with my career for a little bit longer.

SPEAKER_03 6:29

Yep, yeah. I think that's where my husband's at right now. He's uh coming up on 18 years, I believe this November, and that's what he's obviously gonna go for 20 years, but he's trying to decide is he gonna stay in or is he you know gonna get out after and what is he gonna do? And I'm like, you you can't get out and not do anything, sir, because I work from home. I love you dearly, but no.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Yeah, your husband and I are on the same same path as I uh he he said November you'll be at 18 years.

unknown 6:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

So with September, I'll be at 18 years.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

Yeah, yeah. And you do you I have to ask this, it's kind of like a side question, but do you see him in the office? Because you guys are you you said that you go to downtown Knoxville.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

Yeah, I don't. So I don't go to MEPS very often. My counterpart, YN1 Coley, he he uh he's at MEPS all the time. So he's that's how I kind of I know about her husband.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Okay. Well, you can always also you sometimes you can hear him just from his laugh in MEPS building small world that we live in. Well, awesome. Thank you for that. I always love learning about people's backgrounds and kind of how they got into where they're at today. So we're gonna um cover a list of myths, if you will. And so we're gonna let's start with aviation maintenance technician, right? And so I think a lot of people they think that, you know, AMTs is what we're gonna say instead of aviation maintenance technician every time for those listening, that they just, you know, they just turn wrenches all day. So can you kind of walk us through what the job actually looks like on a typical day? The job actually looks like on a typical day.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Okay. So on a normal day, you're gonna show up to work at an air station uh that you're assigned to, and you will be turning wrenches. So you'll be fixing aircraft. So that's a good chunk of your day. You're gonna you're gonna come in, you're gonna turn wrenches, you're gonna fix helicopters or or fix wing. We have C-130s as well, and you're gonna do maintenance. A couple times a week, you're gonna be going on training flights because we got to stay proficient on those training flights. It can range from you know pattern beaters to going out and doing practice hoisting and just kind of putting ourselves in those situations that we're gonna find ourselves in in real life. And then about once a week, maybe twice a week, we'll stand duty as a 24-hour shift, and that's where we are there to respond to search and rescue cases.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Okay. And what role do they play when they're actually up in the aircraft, let's say like during a mission?

SPEAKER_00 8:51

So if we're on it, so I'm gonna speak largely on helicopter side, just because I'm a capture mechanic uh by trade uh aviation. You're you're a you're a mechanic, you're an aircraft mechanic, period, but you tend to specialize on a specific type of airframe. Um, I know the most about uh helicopters, so that's kind of what I'll speak to. But as a helicopter mechanic, uh you when you're up in the air and you're a part of the crew, um, you are a flight mechanic. So AETs and AMTs both fill that role um of flight mechanic. And you're helping the pilots navigate and communicate. So you're you're doing radio checks and and maintain communication with sector and keeping our position updated at all times and helping us uh do search and rescue. So a good part of search and rescue is the search part, which can take a lot of time. So you're focused on uh where you are and the water and trying to locate um the object that you're looking for, which is most likely an individual or a boat or a vessel. And so that's kind of what you're doing. You're helping the pilots navigate, you're helping uh with communications, and you're searching.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

And is there a typical time that you're you're up in the air mission, or what what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 10:04

A typical um time in the air is gonna be about six hours total. You can go up to eight hours. Uh and this is for helicopters for first wing, it's it can be longer. You so for like the MH65, we have about a two-hour flight limit because of fuel constraints.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

You can fly up about two hours and refuel. But total flight time generally on a duty day is going to be limited to about six to eight hours.

SPEAKER_03 10:30

Okay. Okay. And you know, I would imagine that some would assume that your job is mostly routine and predictable. Can you share a time when maybe things were anything but routine?

SPEAKER_00 10:41

Anything but routine. Yeah. Um, most of my career's not been routine.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

I have imagined.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Um my career's been pretty different compared to most. I I like chain. I like doing things that are new, so I don't stick to, you know, where some people, like I had mentioned before, like to uh specialize. I get kind of bored and I like to I like to experience new things. So my my experience has been changing on and off throughout the years. Coming into the Coast Guard as a non-rate, uh working on a ship, I was on a 360 um five-foot cutter code called the Jarvis. Wow. A lot of uh maintenance as a as a as a fireman on the Jarvis. And then so kind of going from that world from like going my first underway experience, uh patrolling up in the Bering Sea and and uh going down and uh to Central America, doing like counter narcotics type stuff where we're looking for for drug runners and stuff, and then fishery patrols, and then going into the aviation career where obviously I'm learning a whole new skill set, like Red Wick School, go to my first stew station up in the Great Lakes and kind of learn that job, right? And so, as a part of that job is uh one, doing search and rescue, but two, then uh, you know, about once a year you you go down to Cuba, uh well to um to Gitmo and you and you attach, you know, with a helicopter and a crew, you're you're attached to one another one of our ships or what we call cutters, and again, we're doing some like counter-narcotics type stuff, you know. So it kind of like breaks up the this the everyday just only search and rescue mission. Um the helicopter stays out in there for quite a while and we swap out crews. So we do that mission for a little while. After um I was done with that uh tour up in the in the Great Lakes, I uh I went to North Carolina, whereas uh went to ALC, which is Aviation Logistics Center, and I helped design, well not design, but flight test uh the upgrade to the 65. So prior to um when I was up in uh the Great Lakes and the helicopter was a MA65 Delta, so that's the model that we had, that current upgrade that we had, and we're we're upgrading it to the Echo. So pretty much changing it from all analog to uh 100% wood replacement and and doing um all glass cockpit, modern aviation, um, doing and then doing flight tests to make sure that it functions. So I kind of was out of the search and rescue field, and I was doing um flight tests and uh you know, flight testing and and and doing really heavy maintenance uh on uh MA65. And then it was after that that I decided that I kind of well, it was time to change it up again. And I really liked where the Coast Guard what they had done for me and the kind of opportunities that they gave me. So I figured I would put my hat in for recruiting and then recruiting for about six years now.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

Very cool, very cool. I as you were talking about kind of the different changes, you know, going over to Cuba and like the narcotics and different things. My I felt like my heart kind of like racing as the you know, you had those different options. So that's really cool that you have the ability to change around your job in the Coast Guard. And it sounds like there's a lot of excitement too, right? To be able to change your jobs around. Because I think that'd be really cool to go out and do and you know, have different search and rescues and uh kind of go out and look for the bad guys, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah. So I yeah, I want to be careful with the phrase now, choose your uh change your jobs. You can absolutely change your job. Yeah, yeah, which I did, obviously. I went from um aviation to recruiting. So now I'm uh on set of an AET, which is avionic surgical fitness, and now I'm a uh TA, which is a talent acquisition specialist. So I'm I am now a recruiter. My aviation life is now behind me, and I uh unless I get out, decide to get a civilian job.

SPEAKER_03 14:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Um, but you uh in the Coast Guard, you wear a lot of hats and you do a lot of different jobs. And so one example of that would be so as my previous job as an AET, I would work on avionic systems, communication systems, navigation, aircraft control systems, collision avoidance systems, environmental systems, hydraulics, engines, landing gear, fuel aircraft, uh tow aircraft. I would do all the administrative duties. Um I was a flight mechanic, which a lot of other branches might call the crew chief. Um I say all these different things because uh in most of most other branches, each one of those things is going to be its own specific job. Um you'll have a guy that fuels aircraft and that's what he does, and there's a guy that tows aircraft and that's what he does, right? Um the Coast Guard, we're we're really small. We're we're a little bit larger than the New York City Police Department. We just don't have the manpower to specialize um that many people and that many different things. So what you end up having is a more diverse set of training and and skill sets where you learn um a great many things as far as far as uh so I learn the entire aircraft. I've taken helicopters completely apart and put them back together. So that that just goes for not just aviation, but Coast Guard as a whole. You wear a lot of hats and you do a lot of different jobs that um that that the other branches they do, but usually not by the same person.

SPEAKER_03 15:41

Right, right. Yeah. I mean, I think that's really awesome though, and I think it really allows you um an opportunity, again, because I personally enjoy wearing a lot of hats in what I do. Um, you know, I do education, but then I also have this large background of, you know, health and fitness. And so it allows me to kind of merge that in with what I do in the aquatics. And so I've always really enjoyed the opportunity because it's kind of a rush to be able to wear all those different hats. And I feel like in some of the different hats you were wearing, there's a bit of a rush there, right? Do you think that people underestimate the technical side of your job, like the avionics and the diagnostics? Um, underestimating you like do you like what skills would you say are most critical that people might not expect?

SPEAKER_00 16:30

What for AET is going to be troubleshooting and understanding electrical systems, reading electrical diagrams, and being able to um evaluate and come up with solutions to mechanical failures, right? So we live in on the Coast Guard in a very uh corrosive environment, a salt water environment. And helicopters and electronics and salt water don't go well together. So uh you can't uh if you fix a helicopter, it's not gonna stay fixed for very long. Salt water and corrosion uh really mess up avionic systems, and you'll get a lot, you know, um a lot of issues that just don't make sense. And you have it's your job as an AET to kind of interpret uh what is happening, look at the various systems that it's affecting, and try to narrow down the problem as to where it could possibly be stemming from. Um, it can be quite complex and can take sometimes multiple days of continuous searching to find the problem. And so that is a major component of being an aviation or avionics electrical technician.

SPEAKER_03 17:38

I bet. Would you be willing to share like one of those one of the difficulties that you came up that you were just like, how is how did this happen? I mean, you knew it was probably due to the salt water.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Oh. Uh I mean at this most of my job. So yeah, uh yeah, uh as a mechanic. So you'll do uh routine maintenance as as a mechanic. Uh you have seven-day uh maintenance, 30-day maintenance, nine-day maintenance, heavy maintenance packages, so things that just routinely come up, but then you get the the problems that you know, helicopters that break.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Right.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Uh the the hardest ones are I I think generally when you have uh you got wire bundles that go through a helicopter and they're they're packed really tightly together. And um, of course, you got vibrations and and and things in the helicopter, and and it has even a small vibration can cause you know slowly wearing away at the insulation on those wires. Um all you need is you know two systems to touch that aren't supposed to connect, right? And then you'll have uh ubroneo information on on two different systems, and like those systems shouldn't taught be talking to each other, and that happens a lot. So um it can take and it just takes uh through experience, yeah. Um learning how to kind of diagnose those problems that you're seeing. The Coast Guard Aviation, when you go to school, it's about five months long. It teaches you just about the basics, the you know, the bare minimum. And pretty much you're an apprentice and you're a so on. The rest of it's all on-the-job training. So coming in, you're really you're learning from those who are over you who have experience and have done the job over and over and over again, and have seen similar problems and knows the system inside and out and backwards. And so the the more intimate and the more um knowledgeable you become on your aircraft, the easier it becomes to be able to identify those erroneous issues. And because you'll have seen maybe not that problem, but so many problems like it that you'll be able to identify it easier. But that comes with experience.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

Right, right. Yeah, no, you're right. I mean, I I went to school for business, and but I would say where I really learned was just the hands-on in the field and from learning from you know my mentors, that's where I I I gained quite a bit of my knowledge. Well, awesome. Well, let's kind of move over to um aviation survival technicians, AST. And something that I was reading, and it seems to be a common myth across the board, is that um ASTs are just really strong swimmers. And how would you describe the full scope of what ASTs are trained to do?

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Well, being a strong swimmer is definitely a very important component.

SPEAKER_03 20:15

And so, and those those are rough seats.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

There's a pretty high chance for washing out on that school. That'd be very capable. Um well, school is in yeah, Padaluma. Um, and uh it used to be in in Elizabeth City, the school house is being repaired. I believe it's still the case is that they're trying to fix it. But the physical component and the water component, just like the the physical fitness that you had to have is extraordinary. I mean, you gotta be probably if you're thinking you want to be a rescue swimmer and you're coming to me, you probably want to start off by thinking that you're in the best shape of your life. Um, and we'll move forward from there. Um, because when after you join, you'll you'll probably train for another year and then you'll go to school. And then there's a decent chance of getting washed out from that school. A lot of it has to do with being able to be comfortable in the water and uh being comfortable in stressful environments. But beyond that, uh rescue swimmers are also responsible for all of our life support equipment, maintaining uh the oxygen and in life rafts and our life vests, and so they do all the repairs through all the life life support uh components of an aircraft. And they they're responsible for all the training, uh survival training that the the air crews and the air station receives, and a good chunk of their day is doing either the maintenance on life support equipment or working out and going to the pool and staying in shape.

SPEAKER_03 21:37

So I think a lot of that so it sounds like they're constantly trading for the Olympics, but it's for Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

They they gotta stay in shape. It doesn't stop when you um after you graduate from school, you gotta stay in shape because obviously you gotta jump out a helicopter still and and you gotta be have the endurance to rescue an untold number of individuals that might be in the water. And you don't wanna get you don't wanna be tired more than you have to. Because it's a tiring duck.

SPEAKER_03 22:01

Right. You know, I did, I was a beach lifeguard, and it's obviously nothing like jumping out of a helicopter, but they I remember they I would have to dive off the end of the pier and swim back to shore. And I would have my gear with me. And i I did okay. You know, of course I if there was if it was high tide, I wasn't very fond of it. But I discovered I didn't really like sharks. And I I grew up in um California. There's quite a few large sharks there. And I swear there were a couple of times I felt it. It might have been seaweed, but in my head, I it got wrapped in my head that it was a shark. And so I can only imagine they have to really be zoned in and kind of block out quite a bit to jump in, especially um, you know, jumping in the night and all of that and like high winds, and if there's a hurricane, I can only imagine the stress that they're half that they're having to train. And so kind of talking about the train, I want to talk about that a little bit more if that's okay. What what does the typical training like? Do they have a set a training regimen that they have to follow, or are they just having to make sure that they're in the pool so many times per day to make sure what does that look like? I'm curious. Like, can I get that? What is that? I want to start swimming like that.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

Uh you could probably definitely get um the like a workout schedule as far as what the what ASTs would typically follow. I don't know it um and I don't follow it. I I have my own workout problem and I have no desire to be uh definitely but um You want to live in the routine. Um I can't really speak to what their exact routine is for like um as far as post-training and being an AST versus pre-training. Uh a lot of the the training that you're gonna do uh leading up to going to school um is called the NXX program, where you'll um be stationed at or near an air station. And uh you'll be essentially coordinating with rescue swimmers um and getting the information you need to be able to be effective in your workouts. Um a lot of that's gonna be on your own time and coming over to the air station when you're not working. Like let's say you're assigned to a small boat station that's near an air station. But when you're done with work, um, you know, you have that whole year before you go to school, probably. Um, and you're gonna but you want to spend that time working out and using every moment that you can to train because nothing less than that is going to be successful for you. Uh around the the last couple months of that one-year wait. Now these are approximate times, I'm not giving you exact times, but you will have um some dedicated pairman time with rescue swimmers, and you'll be just training with them solely. And this is all prior to going to rescue swimmer school. And they will do some sign-offs and make sure that they think that you're ready. They think you're ready, they'll give you the green light and you'll go to school. And then school, I believe, is around four to five months. I don't remember um exactly how many weeks it is. And there's a number of tests that you have to pass in order to continue with each phase of the program. And it's very, very grueling. And uh obviously it is even with all all the everything we try to do to help our our members be as successful as possible, it's still a very difficult program. It's supposed to be. So there's still a pretty high watch out rate. But train and yeah, go ahead, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 25:19

Yeah, no, no, no. It it's so like I'm intimidated. I'm a pretty darn good swimmer, but it definitely sounds intimidating. Um, you know, I I went to Olympic trials, but I'm sitting here going, woo, I don't, I mean, definitely not today. I would not be eligible, but it sounds like what you're describing, you'd have to be a super athlete.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Yeah, and so when I got when I have uh individuals come up to me, so I'm a recruiter now, and they they tell me um I got two types. So there's that for the rescue swimmers, and they'll have ones that I'm coming, I want to be a rescue swimmer. They know everything about it, and they can tell me, you know, they've done all the research and they know that they gotta be in amazing shape. And so those that they tend to be a little bit easier. And then I have individuals who don't know much about it, but kind of maybe have heard about it. And I'm pretty blunt. I I don't want to discourage anyone, but I want them to understand um the intensity of the training that they're gonna have to put themselves to. And it's not just a one-time thing, this is a lifestyle that you're dedicating yourself to. So I tell them um that they need to be in the best shape of their life and uh before they even go to boot camp if they want to be successful. And I don't say that to discourage them. I want them to be challenged and to uh motivate themselves to to be able to achieve that, but nothing short of all of your effort will get you in that position. And as far as having a good mindset to be able to pass ASD school, having a backup plan is usually a way to not pass.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

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SPEAKER_03 28:19

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SPEAKER_00 28:34

Yeah, and so when I got when I have individuals come up to me, so I'm a recruiter now, and they they tell me um I got two types. So there's that for the rescue swimmers, and I'll have ones that I'm coming, I want to be a rescue swimmer. They know everything about it. They can tell me, you know, they've done all the research and they know that they gotta be in amazing shape. And so those they they tend to be a little bit easier. And then I have individuals who don't know much about it, but kind of maybe have heard about it. Um and I'm pretty blunt. I I don't want to discourage anyone, but I want them to understand um the intensity of the training that they're gonna have to put themselves to. And it's not just a one-time thing, this is a lifestyle that you see you're dedicating yourself to. So I tell them um that they need to be in the best shape of their life and uh before they even go to boot camp if they want to be successful. And I don't say that to discourage them, I want them to be challenged and to uh motivate themselves to to be able to achieve that, but nothing short of um all of your effort will get you in that position. And as far as having a good mindset to be able to pass AST school, having a backup plan is usually a way to not pass. Okay, so if you're going to be an AST, the guys that become ASTs, that's what they're gonna be. You know, it's a confidence thing. They go, I'm gonna be an AST. What are you gonna do if you're not gonna be an AST? I'm gonna be an AST. You know, so having that mentality, you can have the Coast Guard's never gonna choose a job for you. Uh I won't say never, but we don't like choosing jobs for you. If you did fail out of AST school, as long as you have the an ASVAB score for it, you can choose whatever other job you want, as long as you qualify with your ASVAB score.

SPEAKER_03 30:08

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That you know, I um because I could not go down the road of being a professional swimmer, I started to do aquatics in other ways. And you can see behind me, I actually I did um bodybuilding with my husband for five or six years. Actually, he saw me step on stage and he's like, Oh, she can do it. I'm gonna do it. I prepped a lot of his meals, most 95% of them. And then we figured, well, if we can make it together in bodybuilding, we can make it together. But you're absolutely right. I mean, with bodybuilding, I had to absolutely dedicate myself. Um, and I had to be extremely selfish, but I still had to nurse my rotator cup, is which is what I tore in swimming. I tore it, but I had to be extremely careful. But with bodybuilding, um, you know, by then it had been about probably about four years um since I had torn my rotator cup, but I had to dedicate so many hours in the gym. I think I was spending about three hours alone in the morning while everyone else was still sleeping. I was getting up around 3 a.m. and I was working out, and then I was to work about 7:30. And then at lunch, I was doing things. Then after work, I was doing things and I had to set my mind right with food. I mean, it was just, it was a whole world. And it was, like you said, it was a lifestyle. And I was determined, no, I was going to be a bodybuilder. And so it definitely sounds like with AST and survival swimming, you really have to have that mind frame. And that is actually what I wanted to do when I was much younger. I wanted to be a rescue swimmer. I absolutely loved swimming, but I didn't know anything about it. I just knew I loved swimming. So this is really good, definitely for those listeners that are, you know, in that mindset that they absolutely love aquatics. They want to, they want to be out there. Maybe they've been interested in a Coast Guard. So this is really great information. Let me ask this: how critical, there is another myth out there is that, you know, sometimes the rescue swimmers are um alone. How critical is the coordination with the pilots and during that rescue? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_00 32:07

It's a very complex scene that we uh we train for to um pull off as flawlessly as possible. It's always being the to the being the alone component when the AST is down um in the water after we've deployed the rescue swimmer. He's kind of on his own. I mean, we're there and to assist him. And he kind of directs us as to what he needs. And he has a couple of different hand signals and a radio so he can um kind of coordinate how he would like the rescue operation to go. Um, there is a possible chance because we are working with a helicopter that it could break and we might need to do an emergency landing somewhere and go and leave him. Um, so he uh he um or she, uh the rescue swimmer has to be prepared to be able to be left alone on scene at just random and be able to handle that scene and be able to assist, still be able to assist the people that are in the water. So he's quite he is kind of on his own down there. Um I mean he has us, but there is a chance that he might not.

SPEAKER_03 33:04

Wow. So like let's say there's it's high seas, there's a really bad storm, there's a chance they could be left out there alone?

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Yes. So when we're out you know in a helicopter, you say you get a main gearbox problem. You know, any like you only you have two engines, but you only have one gearbox. Um if you have a gearbox issue, then you need to correct it now, or you everyone will end up in the water. Um there's some problems that are not that emergent. But then as far as aircraft emergencies, and there's some that you need to act upon quickly. And in such a situation where uh we need to leave him on scene, uh, me as the flight mechanic will grab a little raft and throw it out as a little locator light. And that's if he knows if I throw that out there, I'm leaving him. Right? Or we're we are leaving him.

SPEAKER_03 33:44

He's bunkering down.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

And he has to figure out how to make that work for himself um until we can get back, or another asset can come and and finish the job. Now it doesn't happen very often, but he knows it's a possibility. Uh, as far as coordination, it takes uh all of us to be able to get the job done. Me uh myself as the or AETs or AMTs as the flight mechanics, we kind of are in somewhat verbal control of the helicopter. We can as our our vantage point, we can see more, and so we kind of direct the pilots and how we want them to fly and in which directions. They're kind of just looking at their instrument gauges. So I just give them instructions. Um, I have to give them constant instructions and and not break my cadence. So they they expect constant updates from me. Kind of in it's kind of a unique skill to learn, but you're giving constant information to them as you're doing stuff and just kind of like almost narrating everything that you're doing, but there's some uh verbal verbology to it where um we have standardization and and how we're we're saying things. But I'm coordinating with them and telling them where I need them to be, if they're drifting too far forward, if I need them to ease back a little bit or or to to go right or to um to to to lower whatever I need them to do, they'll do that for me. That way I can best manage the rescue, the rescue swimmers' needs. He might need a rescue basket, he might need a sling or just the hook to go come down. So he kind of makes that decision and I kind of figure out how to make that happen for him.

SPEAKER_03 35:16

Mm-hmm. Very cool. I can see the passion in your eyes, and I can hear it in your voice. So that's absolutely I can definitely tell why you've been in for 18 years.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

Yeah, that's it. Yeah, it's my favorite, my favorite job. Uh I miss it. It's um my favorite part of my career was was doing um a search and rescue. It's it was a blast.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

Do you think you'd ever go back to that after recruiting, or you think you're in well, I I made the switch.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Uh for stability purposes. Um also um um medical regions, it was more effective for me to stay um in the recruiting field, and I enjoy recruiting too. Um I do enjoy it's not as as uh exciting as my former position, and I will always miss it and very much value uh that those experiences that I had gained. But I love recruiting. I love talking to kids and telling them about the fun things that they could be doing.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Yeah, yeah. Well, what are some um, you know, that definitely sounds like there are a lot of high stake missions out there. What would be, let's say, some lesser known missions or responsibilities that, you know, ASTs might take on?

SPEAKER_00 36:26

So ASTs are primarily gonna be doing search and rescue. Now they become they're EMT certified.

SPEAKER_03 36:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

Uh so they are the ones that are responsible for stabilizing any patients that we bring on board and doing any kind of trauma or medical care for them until we can get them to a medical facility, like a hospital. So they are they do all the triage for our patients. And then beyond that, I've already kind of listed what um, you know, the the life support equipment and stuff like that that they're responsible for. And then they do all of our water training. Um our you know, we have to pass um uh a swing fitness test um every year. Um we have to do um what's called the dunker, which is where we are inside of a makeshift fuselage and a pool and they drop it under the water and it flips upside down, and you gotta disconnect and bottle and then escape out of a sinking aircraft, you know. So that's some training that we have to do and they orchestrate all that and they train, they help us train for that as the crew members, because we're not rescue swimmers. That's stuff like that for them, is very easy. For the rest of us, a lot of us are okay with it, and some of us don't like doing it at all, and but we still have to do it. So they they're responsible for all that training and making sure that we pass. So every year we do our swim training, they help us get through that and get us qualified so that we can keep doing our job.

SPEAKER_03 37:44

Very cool. Do you still do that as a recruiter or no?

SPEAKER_00 37:48

No, I don't have a requirement to do the dunker. Um you miss it. I probably would for fun. My first couple years as an aviator, I was definitely I did not like it. It made me very uncomfortable doing those, going flipped upside down, trying to breathe underwater with a with uh oxygen. But I grew to be more confident the more I did it. And then it became just like a fun thing that we did every evening. So I would do the dunker again. Um, there's really no reason to send me to the dunker. I'm not an aviation anymore. So if it was offered to me, I would I'd probably do it.

SPEAKER_03 38:20

But at least you have those memories.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:23

Yeah, very cool. Well, this is awesome. I absolutely love all of what we've gone over today. Um, you know, we've covered a lot AMTs, AETs, ASTs. And so for anyone listening, let's say, you know, someone's they're hearing this and they're like, well, hey, the Coast Guard sounds maybe something that I might be interested in. So for let's say for someone considering joining the Coast Guard, what would you say would be the realist realistic expectations? What what would you say? Let's say I I I came in and I was 18, what would you say to me? And I said, you know, I want to join the Coast Guard. What would that look like?

SPEAKER_00 38:58

Well, to join the Coast Guard, um, the the conditions to be able to join are very similar to the other branches. So you're gonna have to have a high school diploma or equivalent, like a GED. You'll need to be able to pass a fitness test, which isn't that hard, which is a mile and a half run, push-ups, and sit-ups or a plank for um a certain amount of time based on your age and your gender. Um, there's also a swim test that you don't do until boot camp. We can't, for I think liability reasons, give you a swim test, uh, which I'm fine with. I don't want to give you a swim test either. But you do have to pass a swim test. It's not very hard. If you're not a very good swimmer, um, that's okay. We can get you to where you need to be in boot camp. Now, I highly suggest you make the effort to become a good swimmer before you go to boot camp. But if you're not very good or you don't do very well in boot camp, we have remedial swim, which we can that you as a recruit will wake up super early every morning and get to go to the pool while you're in boot camp until you learn how to swim. So or at least improve your swimming skills. A very effective, a very good program. Um far as uh from what I'm told, almost no one ever fails that. We have very good instructors. Uh, but beyond the physical component, you gotta be medically qualified. There's many medical conditions that can disqualify someone from military service, ways to get waivers for it for certain things. Uh, the Coast Guard can be pretty stringent on some of these medical waivers. So that can be some of the most challenging things because every people grow up nowadays and there's a condition for everything. And we can see well, not we, but the military can see everything. So um your your medical records and like they know what's wrong with you. And so that can be a very big hurdle for most people is is being medically qualified to be able to join. I would say that if you do end up being disqualified to join the Coast Guard anyway, don't let that discourage you. Other branches can be more lenient on certain things, and we can be more lenient on certain things. Just because you get a no from one branch doesn't mean it's a hard no uh it from service altogether. There's many ways in which you can serve your country. You think about like uh Ben and Jerry's ice cream, there's a lot of flavors out there. Coast guard's one flavor, okay? There's a lot of different ways to serve your country. And maybe it's not the military that is a way that you serve and you you become a firefighter or paramedic or a police officer. There's definitely a lot of ways to serve. Um, so if you do get medically um disqualified, it's not the end of the world. There's still options out there for you. And then there's gonna be the ASBAB component, which is an aptitude test that you gotta take in order to determine what job that you will have when you join military. Um, this is very important because you want to have options. I think the more options we have, the better, right? Uh so the biggest way you can do well in on the ASBAB, say for most of my applicants who are of high school age, is you need to be paying attention in high school. The ASVAP is written about for 11th grade math, English, and science. So you've been studying for this your whole high school career. So um, if you don't do well on that test, there's one of two things. You're a bad test taker, or you haven't really put much effort into your high school career, which you need to maybe reevaluate that and put some more effort into it. Because like I said, those having those options is gonna turn the military or the Coast Guard from a job into a career. Okay. If you pick a job and because you were limited and you didn't, it's not the job you wanted, the Coast Guard's a great job. And you can, you know, you but you'll probably get on four years, and that's fine. Um, there's nothing wrong with that. But the military is um is very beneficial if you can do a full 20 years. And I think you could probably speak to that as to um your with your husband being military, but doing a full 20 years in the military has a lot of benefits on the backside. You're not going to get to that full 20 years if you don't enjoy your job. So I think I put a lot of emphasis on picking a job that you love, that you can see yourself doing for the next 20 years. Maybe you don't stay in for 20 years, but I think the benefit of staying in for 20 years is pretty great. And I think, like I said, it's another option for you.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

Right. Well, I mean, I think too, I mean, I I know my husband, when he was looking at joining the military, he actually he joined, uh, he didn't join when he was 18. I think he joined I'm gonna show his age. He joined a little early 20s or so, and he was actually going through college, but he wanted to get out of his hometown and he was like, man, I I want to do something different. I'm tired of working this job. I mean, I'm in college, but I want something new. And actually, the military does offer, well, the branches offer a lot of support for education. And I I think that's great, especially those that may not have the opportunities to fund education, because education's expensive. And it's sad how expensive education is. I mean, I get it, but the military and all well, all the branches, they offer a lot of different opportunities to get educated.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

A tremendous amount. Um, you could if you maximized the education benefits in the military, uh, you would never pay for any of your college and you'd probably have a doctorate by the end of it all.

SPEAKER_03 43:55

I got it I got my degree through the GI Bill.

SPEAKER_00 44:00

the BI bill, there's tuition assistance, there's a lot of different programs out there to help you um um go to school and and and and continue your your formal education. Coast guard and branches uh have yeah they all have that that available to you so um a lot of people I think too far too often consider the military as maybe a last resort but if you if you just use and went and joined the Coast Guard or the military for four years you're still looking at uh $67,000 worth of college education minimum that you get for that four years of service and you have uh um you have experience right so um if everyone nowadays is going into college and getting a degree what differentiates you from anyone else with a degree well it's experience because what's the first thing that they're gonna ask you when you go to your job after you graduate from college what kind of experience do you have and you're like well I just graduate I don't have any um imagine going into that same position having earned your degree that same degree but you've also been um an experienced leader for four years having joined in the military and uh working for them and and having uh not just military training but your degree on top of that uh you're gonna be way more competitive in the workforce plus the workforce loves military members they love veterans and being able to work with them because they're hard workers.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

No you're absolutely right and again um you know I had said this to you before we even um started recording is that there are a lot of veterans and um there's a lot of children that are in the aquatics industry that have served or are serving. And so I certainly appreciate your service um and you know can't thank you for all you do and you're absolutely right there are so many opportunities that the branches offer. And so you know for you know anyone who's listening and curious about this world, maybe considering joining or just you know fascinate fascinated about what goes behind the scenes. Don't let the misconceptions be the thing that stops you ask questions. And you know Nicholas if anyone had any questions for you how would they be able to get in contact with you?

SPEAKER_00 45:58

They can reach out to me via email. So uh nicholasl.gavin at uscg.mil if they want to reach out to me directly or they can if they want to just reach out to a recruiter in their local area they can go to gocoachguard.com and click start now and they put their information in their phone number, email and a recruiter will reach out to them.

SPEAKER_03 46:19

Awesome. Well thank you again for your time here today and sharing your experience your honesty and your perspective and you know thank you to every AMT, AET, AST pilot, crew member, um, you know everyone who's out there these keeping these aircraft flying and these missions possible it's just what you guys do in and out of every day. It's I it allows me and others to do what they love. So I appreciate you and everyone serving I really do. I can't I can't thank you guys enough. And so for those listening thank you for tuning in and that wraps today's episode of the Talking Pools podcast. Stay curious stay safe and as always keep challenging those myths