Coast Guard vs Navy: Are the ratings the same?

1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:26:33 -0400

Being that the Navy and Coast Guard are both on ships, are the ratings the same and are the schools similar?

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 2 at 2015 11:31 AM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:31:50 -0400

There are a ton of similarities, (rank and many ratings) but of course a lot of differences. They are culturally as similar as any of the two services, but each has their own uniqueness.

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Oct 2 at 2015 11:41 AM

MCPO Roger Collins — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:41:11 -0400

Pretty much as the good LCDR said. Many of my schools had Coasties as students. The big difference is the mission, and occasionally that blends.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Oct 2 at 2015 12:01 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:01:42 -0400

"Sort of."

Think Infantryman in Army v. Marines. Lots of similarities, but slight differences. I imagine a BM(X) [chose rate at random] in the USCG would be very similar to one in the USN.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Oct 2 at 2015 12:19 PM

LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:19:56 -0400

There are differences. In the navy HM is hospital corpsman, in the CG it's HS, or Health Services Technician. In the Navy we have MM - Machinist's Mate, EN - Engineman, and GS - Gas Turbine Technician. In CG they have MK - Machinery Technician.

There are also similar ratings, such as BM - Boatswain's Mate.

Each service also has unique mission specific ratings like AST in the CG - that is the Rescue Swimmer Rating...

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 2 at 2015 12:54 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:54:23 -0400

I do know that the Coast Guard does (did) not recognize our quals on the O-side when attempting to join as former Navy. Shortly after the IRAD, I attempted to cross-deck to the Coastie side while still holding a Reserve commission and an OOD underway qual. The offered me PO3...which, depending on one's point of view, might be a promotion :)

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Oct 2 at 2015 12:58 PM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:58:40 -0400

CAn I ask a question with a question,? Why doesn't the Coast Guard go to Navy Schools?

Response by Sgt Spencer Sikder made Oct 2 at 2015 2:16 PM

Sgt Spencer Sikder — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 14:16:53 -0400

Navy is DOD and Coast Guard is DOT, now Homeland Security, no?

Response by PO2 Jonathan Scharff made Oct 2 at 2015 9:21 PM

PO2 Jonathan Scharff — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 21:21:05 -0400

Is there some reason why when a question is asked about the Coast Guard we feel a need to post a Meme like this?

Response by PO2 Skip Kirkwood made Oct 3 at 2015 8:48 AM

PO2 Skip Kirkwood — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 08:48:23 -0400

No. The two that come right to mind: the Navy has Hospital Corpsmen (HM), the Coast Guard has Health Specialists (HS). The Navy has Machinist Mates (MM), while the Coast Guard has Machinery Technicians (MK).

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Oct 3 at 2015 7:54 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sat, 03 Oct 2015 19:54:48 -0400

Agree there are similarities but I've seen much more crosstraining in the CG as the cutters have fewer in numbers, hence some more jack of all trades. Also given different mission like maintenance of aids to navigation and science support, there're a number of additional unique skill sets.

Response by CPO Amy Bartholomew made Oct 4 at 2015 11:02 AM

CPO Amy Bartholomew — Sun, 04 Oct 2015 11:02:28 -0400

The Navy has a lot more ratings than the Coast Guard (they also have a lot more people). A Coast Guard petty officer will typically do the job of multiple ratings in the Navy. We have Boatswain's Mates (BM), while the Navy will have a BM for operations, one for aviation, etc.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 5 at 2015 7:01 PM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 19:01:12 -0400

The Coast Guard is notoriously stuffy about recruiting, even from the Navy. I went to boot with a former coastie. He got out with a knee injury, tried to come back when it healed and they sent him our way. As far as I know he is still in.
As for the ratings, yes, many are the same (or similar). I understand that a lot of them cover more than one of our rates (fewer different rates), and they have a few extras, such as ME (Maritime Enforcement).

Response by SP6 Anthony Castaneda made May 19 at 2018 8:35 PM

SP6 Anthony Castaneda — Sat, 19 May 2018 20:35:02 -0400

The ratings are adapted to the Ships. In the Navy, a Boatswains mate is somewhere in that whole crew crowd over there, in the Coasties, a Bosun is the Boss.

Response by PO1 Kevin Dougherty made Mar 31 at 2021 12:19 AM

PO1 Kevin Dougherty — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 00:19:29 -0400

The ratings that the CG has are similar, (BM, ET,GM etc), but they are far less specialized, with only 22 ratings, one of which is reserve specific. For instance, my rating ET handles everything from Radar, to Sonar to Radio to Navigation, to fire control and gun control and firing circuits, etc. While I was in, I was also small boat crew, JOOD, MA-2, MK-19, MAA, and Boarding Party Qualified. I was also a part of the Nav Team for special sea detail, prisoner guard, etc. Many ratings like ST, RD, RM, and QM were absorbed into ET, OS or BM ratings depending on the specific rating, and/or in some case, individual's choice.