Sea Legs for Coast Guard spouses and families.

Personally, when my husband joined the Coast Guard I felt a little overwhelmed. Trying to figure out all of the different pieces of information involved in this complete change of lifestyle was difficult. I would have really benefited from having this new booklet given out by the Coast Guard.

This edition of Sea Legs for the Coast Guard Family contains information and tips that can assist you as you begin life as a military spouse. I have been a Coast Guard spouse for seven years and as I read through this the other day I still found some information I didn't know. Be sure to follow this link and click on the first item entitled Sea Legs for Coast Guard spouses and Families PDF file.

It really is a useful tool. It lists information about everything from reenlistment to insurance information, relocation and Mutual Assistance. Check it out, and keep it handy for future reference.

The Ombudsman

WELCOME!!!

I would like to say hello to everyone and introduce myself, and this site to everyone at
USCG Station Channel Islands Harbor.

My name is Melissa Cook, wife of BM2 Kenny Cook, and I am the Ombudsman for USCG Station Channel Islands Harbor.

For those of you who don't know what an ombudsman is or does, the USCG website states this......
An Ombudsman serves as a link between a Coast Guard command and the families of the members of that command. An Ombudsman can assist families in locating resources, communicate information from the command to the families, and take concerns of families to the command.

An Ombudsman is a volunteer (who may be a Spouse, Reservist, or Auxiliarist) that is designated by a Command to serve as a link between the command and families, assisting the command in its functions of providing information and related services to families regarding sources of assistance available to them, Coast Guard and command policies, and activities of interest to family members.

After living here for a while now, I realized that it would be great if our station had someone who could be a link between the command the families. I know I personally have had questions, and needed information that I ended up having to find on my own, or wait for my husband to be available to ask. Hopefully, now I will be able to help where I can for any of you who may have that sort of need, which will then allow our spouses to focus more fully on their duties at work and know that we are all being taken care of on the homefront.

I know more than once I have been "pleasantly" surprised to find out that instead of my husband coming home on his off going day......he had to stay for training. I wanted to be able to plan ahead and know what was going on and help work around that. This site allows for just that. We can all go in and see what is coming up and what things we need to plan for.

I have a lot of plans for this site and it will be updated on a very regular basis with new links and pertinent information. I am working on putting together a new welcome/relocation packet for those coming to our station as well. I have also been working with Lt. Gherardi on planning an upcoming party for all of us that should be a lot of fun so stayed tuned for more information on that.

Basically - I wanted to let each of you know that this site is here, and it is for all of you. Check out all of the features including; links to information/websites that you might need, interesting posts about things that are happening at our station, news and upcoming events in the command calendar, pictures of the goings on at the station, as well as a weekly spotlight of a spouse or CG member.

If you have any questions or comments (or if there is something you think should be on this site but isn't) please contact me at uscgombudsman@gmail.com.

I look forward to getting to know each of you better and becoming more connected as a unit. So.....ENJOY AND COME BACK OFTEN!!!

also - please feel free to leave comments on the daily posts!

Navy League Coast Guard Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was the Navy League's annual
Coast Guard Birthday Luncheon.

I didn't have the pleasure of going this year, but wanted to post a thank you to the Navy League. It looked like it was a very pleasant afternoon.

Happy Birthday USCG.

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

I am still working on updating and posting all the pertinent information that needs to be on this site, and I am really excited about all of the ideas I have. Plus, the collective introduction email will go out to everyone this weekend. But, while I am still working on all that I thought I would post something a little fun.

The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard has a website with a bunch of interesting information on it. Each month they have a "question of the month" with a fun trivia question about something Coast Guard related. I'm not sure what you win- if anything (maybe you could petition for a day of leave if you win - ha ha) but I thought it might be fun to see if anyone knows the answer to this month's question. Besides it never hurts to know a little bit more about the Coast Guard so here goes.....

What famous Marine was on the island of Guadalcanal the same day that Douglas Munro risked all to save them? Why is his name revered in the annals of Marine Corps history?

Good Luck! - you can post your answers here.

Check back next month for the answer!

GET SMART!

I hope that by now most of you have heard of the SKILLSOFT TRAINING SYSTEM. This amazing resource has only been available to active duty personnel in the past. Just recently the Coast Guard has made this resource available to spouses and dependents as well!!!

SEE THE COMPLETE MESSAGE HERE: ALCOAST 164/08


This features an online training format with many courses to choose from including courses in leadership, project management, computer applications and more. The best part of the program is that it is all self paced and it allows access to online books as well. Once you are in the system, you can check out their catalog of courses and find out what might interest you.

I am pretty sure some of the courses will count for college credit as well. I will be checking into that.

To access the system you will need to go to this site.... http://learning.uscg.mil/

Once you are there, you can click on the "skillsoft for spouses" area and follow the instructions to register. You will need the active duty member's emplid (employee ID number) to obtain a username and password.

The main goal of giving spouses and dependents access to this system is to help alleviate the challenges we face in finding employment after relocation. This tool is specifically designed to help you acquire and enhance your professional development skills.

What a great opportunity for all of us. Be sure to check it out and expand your mind!

There is also now a permanent link to the SKILLSOFT website on the sidebar.

FREE CONCERT!!!

If you haven't heard already there is a free concert at Port Hueneme Needham Theater this week. The Spirit of America Tour presents.....


DIAMOND RIO country band, performing for NBVC on Tuesday, August 19th, 1900 at the Needham Theater 1900. Tickets are still available at the Hueneme & Mugu ticket offices (ITT). Open to all NBVC personnel including, Active Duty & Family members, Reservists, Retirees, & DoD Civilians.

Military in uniform and families accompanied by active duty member in uniform will receive preferred seating. Doors open at 1800. Tickets will hold seats until 1845 at which point any unclaimed seats will be given to persons without tickets waiting in line.



ENJOY!!! - anyone who goes - be sure to comment and tell us what you think.

UNTUCKED ODU

The new untucked ODUs are coming out next month and I am sort of on the fence about whether I like them or not. They seem like they would be more comfortable but I've heard it may cause an issue with wearing a gun belt or any other equipment.



Personally, they are both great, but I think the tucked in uniforms just look more put together. There is a long history of interesting changes to the Coast Guard uniforms through the years.

My grandpa served in the Coast Guard during WWII and his uniform looked like this one. I can't imagine seeing these around today.




It's a fun read if you are interested. Check it out here

Though the new uniforms are coming.....the tucked in uniforms can still be worn all the way through December of 2012! That being said, the old uniforms are on SALE!!! right now.

Here's some information posted in a recent email to the guys!!!

TO PAVE THE WAY FOR THE UNTUCKED VERSION OF THE ODU, THE UDC IS OFFERING CERTAIN SIZES OF THE CURRENT TUCKED ODU AT FOUR-FOR-THE- PRICE-OF-ONE. INVENTORY LEVELS OF CERTAIN SIZES MUST BE LIQUIDATED TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO STOCK THE UNTUCKED ODU SCHEDULED FOR
DELIVERY IN SEPTEMBER.

INFORMATION ABOUT ORDERING FOUR TUCKED ODUS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE AND AVAILABLE SALE SIZES IS SHOWN ON THE UDC WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.USCG.MIL/UNIFORMS.

CURRENT COST OF THE FOUR-FOR THE-PRICE-OF-ONE ODU COAT IS 27.55. COST OF THE FOUR-FOR-THE-PRICE-OF-ONE ODU PANTS IS 31.52


Tucked or untucked? Anyone have a preference....I'd love to hear!