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Home / Careers / Flight School
flight school

Flight School

A High Calling

Coast Guard aviators fly in the most challenging environmental conditions, often when others cannot. Our pilots and flight crews are renowned worldwide for saving those in peril.

Coast Guard pilots are also critical players safeguarding our nation by disrupting drug trafficking, illegal migration and terror. Aviators and their crews work together with other Coast Guard units, federal, state and local agencies to carry out every mission performed by the Coast Guard, and to support other governmental agencies. The U.S. Coast Guard has more than 800 qualified pilots.

Learn more about extraordinary Coast Guard aviators

Preparation

As a cadet, you have the opportunity to explore Coast Guard aviation before it’s time to apply to flight school:

  • Participate in Aviation Career Week. Active duty aircrews land at the Academy or nearby Groton Municipal Airport and meet with cadets.
  • Join the Aviation Club and train on the simulator.
  • Earn your pilots license in your spare time.
  • Join the Flight Team and practice or compete to hone your skills.

Selection for Flight School

Currently, up to ten percent (approximately 20 cadets) of the graduating class may attend flight training immediately upon graduating from the Academy. Even more go to flight school within three years.

Performance and qualification determine who is selected for flight school:

  • Grades and military performance at the Academy
  • Score on the Flight Aptitude Test taken as a First Class Cadet
  • Results of the flight physical exam taken before graduation

Earning Your Wings

Aviators of all U.S. sea-going services train at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida, in fixed and rotary wing trainers, and land-based simulators.

On completion of basic flight training, you will report to Coast Guard Aviation Training Center (ATC) Mobile, Alabama, and learn to fly a Coast Guard aircraft.

On completion of training in Mobile you are designated as a Co-Pilot and are ready to report to your first Air Station. Besides having earned your wings, you will receive your Aviator Number and join a distinguished line of aviation pioneers and heroes, which started with CDR Elmer Stone, Aviator Number 1, in 1920.

Aviation Assignments

Aviators are assigned to Coast Guard Air Stations and may fly multiple aircraft types during their career. Helicopter aircrews may deploy to Coast Guard cutters equipped with a flight deck for part or all of a patrol, depending on the mission.

Assignments to graduate school and aviation program management, logistics centers and training centers are part of the process of developing a broadened specialty in aviation.

Coast Guard Aviation Facilities

Coast Guard aviation facilities are all located in the United States and its territories.
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Flight School Gallery

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ONeill
LTJG Ryan O’Neill

HH-65 Co-Pilot, Air Station Miami FL

LT Nicole Webber
LT Nicole Webber
MH65 Dolphin
HH-65 Rescue

Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay

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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:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

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