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A Home Away From Home

Joshua Orbe

By November, I began to really feel the rigors of academics. I started longing for a break and it came with my first ever leave in my cadet career, Thanksgiving leave. I spent my first Thanksgiving at my sponsor family’s house. We ate a lovely meal and watched movies in Mystic where we ran into a celebrity! After enjoying that much needed break I looked back and reflected on how much of an impact my sponsor family has had on me. I really feel at home with them and consider them to be my extended family. I cannot begin to imagine how much harder of a time I would have had adjusting to life here were it not for their support and encouragement, and for them opening up their house and family to me and my sponsor brothers. I truly believe that it is crucial to the success of cadets that live far from the Academy to get that support that the Sponsor Family Program offers. It is good to have a place outside Chase Hall where you can relax and take care of yourself more. It is also beneficial to international cadets in particular because we get to experience the culture and see what the daily life of an American family is like.

My sponsor family brought me to see all the movies I missed, helped me get a phone, joined me shopping for school supplies, got me in touch with my parents, delivered my letters to them for me, and of course gave me lots of snacks. I was able to survive Swab Summer largely because of their help. Homesickness, the biggest threat to the morale of an international cadet, was barely an issue for me. To this day, my sponsor family continues to accompany me on my cadet journey, through the highs and lows.

I highly encourage international cadets and anyone else far from home to consider getting a sponsor family. The bonds you form with them will be one you carry beyond your cadet career.

Sponsor Family Application

Thank you for submitting your application to be part of the Sponsor Family Program. Your application will be processed in the upcoming week. Coast Guard Academy’s policy on background screening now requires all adults (everyone 18 and older living in the home) who volunteer to mentor, teach, coach or sponsor cadets, whether on or off Coast Guard Academy grounds, to be screened every 5 years. They are required to provide personal information (name, birth date and social security number) for the purpose of conducting a criminal background check.

The Security Officer at the Coast Guard Academy, CWO2 Gina Polkowski, is overseeing this process. Her email is: Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.

Sponsor Family designations fall into several different categories. Below are the guidelines to help you determine how best to meet the background screening requirement:

If you are Coast Guard active duty you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
If you are a Civilian working for the Coast Guard you do not need to apply for an additional Background Check. You will be vetted through the Coast Guard system by CWO2 Polkowski.
If you are non-Coast Guard Active Duty, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
If you are non-Coast Guard civilian who has a current security clearance or National Agency check, you are required to provide proof of your current security clearance or National Agency Check that is to be emailed by your Command Security Officer (CSO)/ Security Office to CWO2 Polkowski at Gina.M.Polkowski@uscg.mil.
All civilians in the families who are 18 years or older and do not have a security clearance or a National Agency Check are required to be vetted through Mind Your Business, the third party vendor hired by the Coast Guard Academy for the vetting process.

After you complete your application, please e-mail the Sponsor Family Program Coordinator at CadetFamilySponsorProgram@uscga.edu. In your e-mail, you must include the e-mail address and phone number of every adult living in the home. The Sponsor Family Coordinator will then initiate the background check process and you will receive an email with further instructions.

Important things to note:

There is a Sponsor Family Training that is a one-hour training which we ask sponsors to attend once every four years. This training is designed to give you an overview of the program, what is expected of you as a sponsor, and what you can expect from your cadets. This training will also help familiarize you with the cadet regulations onboard CGA. You will be notified via e-mail once the training is scheduled.

The matching process of swabs to families will occur during July and August. Please bear with us and remain flexible through this process. There will be a meet and greet scheduled on Campus, typically in late August. This will give families an opportunity to formally meet their cadet if they have not already done so. Details on this will also be via email.