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Assignments Are In: Class of 2024 Billet Night

Stefanie Senkow | March 25, 2024

The wait is over for 1/c cadets at the Academy. It’s Billet Night!

One of the defining moments in a cadet’s career, Billet Night is the unveiling of a cadet’s first assignment as a Coast Guard officer. Months prior to this ceremony, cadets submit their “dream sheet” of billets, hoping to get their top choice. As cadets approach the stage and receive their envelopes containing their assignments, their energy is electric and comradery undeniable.

“You may now open your billets!”

Whether it’s a Coast Guard cutter, sector or flight school, the billets are opened and cadets cheer as they discover their post-graduation assignments while their classmates erupt with applause.

A dream come true for 1/c Karagan Bulger who received her billet to Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, Florida.

“I feel so lucky and grateful to have this opportunity and I could not have gotten to this point without my parents, sisters, friends, and my entire family!! Both my mom and dad were enlisted in the Coast Guard and are my biggest motivation and inspiration to keep moving forward!! Special shoutout to Air Station Savannah for showing me first-hand this summer what the aviation community is like,” said Bulger, who has been working towards this goal since high school.

To live in Alaska has been on 1/c Cheyenne Waters’s bucket list, and that’s where she’ll be headed after graduation, stationed on Coast Guard Cutter JOHN WITHERSPOON in Kodiak.

“I am so excited! This was my first choice! The Fast Response Cutters are not commissioned yet. There are three of them that are going to be stationed in Kodiak. We will have the opportunity to do the sea trials with the boats! It feels like it’s been a long time since Swearing-In Day. I’m very excited to enter the next phase of my career and life,” said Waters.

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.