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Boatswain's Mat Essay

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Advanced Education for Boatswain’s Mates
There is currently no advanced education or degree completion opportunity available specifically to Coast Guard Boatswain’s Mates. The Coast Guard should implement a two-year Bachelor’s Degree completion program in Maritime Studies. By the time a Boatswain’s Mate reaches the Pay Grade of E5, they have potentially earned over forty-four credits of lower level courses which because of the maritime-specific nature of the earned credits can only be used as “electives” at most institutions. There are six state sponsored maritime academies in the United States (Massachusetts, Maine, Great Lakes, Texas A&M and California and New York) which offer Maritime and Transportation degrees as well as opportunity for US Coast Guard Deck Licenses. Allowing selected Boatswain’s Mates to attend one of the six maritime academies full time after completing a total of at least sixty credit hours through the US Coast Guard and either traditional college or College Level Examination Program (CLEP) tests in the core Math Sciences, English, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Physics courses would …show more content…

The member will be a valuable asset to the class as an Active Duty Coast Guardsman. The knowledge and operational experience the member will bring will enhance learning for other students and bring visibility to the US Coast Guard. By attending one of these academies, the member will act as an ambassador to the service and be able to offer positive perspective to students/ cadets thinking of applying for a Coast Guard Commission. Whether fellow graduates pursue a career as a military officer or as a merchant mariner, they will likely have interaction with the Coast Guard in their professional future. Having that ambassador attending class along side will bring a positive light to our

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