#jenson bartlett

Did a lot of research on watch a few night back when I was on duty. I probably should have been scanning the cameras we have set up in our various main spaces for signs of trouble... For us trouble is fire. Fire on a ship is death. That or watching the brow to actually identify the people who come aboard. But in all honesty our ship is a mess, it's moored up at a shipyard being repaired, there are no weapons on it and I'm making it sound like my job as a non-rate in the Coast Guard is actually more important than it is. I mean. It IS important. Sometimes. But not at 3 in the morning on a Thursday night when all the shipyard workers have knocked off their hot-work and gone home to their families... or booze.

What's good about mid-watch is it gives me lots of time to think. Or in this case, research. I did a lot of delving that night. Came across a lot of stuff like; "Ensure all applicants are processed in accordance with AR 601-210," "AR 135-100," "AR 351-5," or "and this regulation." I mean, I came across a lot of cross reference material. And I spent nearly four hours doing just that. Cross referencing. I had the security watch stander coming up to bring me printouts every 30 minutes, at least that's how it felt. You see, I would have retrieved them from the printer myself but I can't leave my post! He was a good sport and it was keeping me awake. Him too for that matter. 

I made a lot of sense out of a huge portion of stuff that looked like technical mumbo-jumbo at a glance. It took a huge chunk of time, err, made the time fly by! Felt pretty good. Had all my printouts read through and through. Highlighted for key points... Just felt pretty good about the whole damn mess of papers I had made sense of. It was late and I think I went straight to bed.

The next day on my own time, I saw something that threw me for a loop. But at the same time, fit with things I had seen earlier. I kept seeing the acronym, "PS" meaning "Prior-Service." Hey! That's me! Okay, I saw that acronym several times. What it meant was that whatever it was attached too would be applying to me. Well on a USAREC HQ (United States Army Recruiting Head Quarters.. I think) page pulled up by google when I was trying to figure out just how many times I can apply for WOFT before I can't apply anymore I stumbled across some red lettering that said, "WOFT is for civilian applicants only!"

Wait?! WHAT!

There's no way. I mean, the Army pulls Warrant Officers up from its own ranks ALL the time. But that's the thing. They're in the same branch. How does it work when you're coming over from another branch? I know that I need whats called a "conditional release" so I can simply even speak to a recruiter from another branch. Otherwise they won't talk to me when they find out I'm in another branch already. It's considered stepping on toes. So I've contacted my Yeomen in regards to that and she said she was going to research it for me before she sends any paperwork my way. Should be next week some time, though next week is holiday routine, yay for Christmas stand down! So I don't know how she's going to relay the information to me. Perhaps it will end up happening after the new year. That's fine. Time is on my side right now and I don't need to rush into anything.

Once I get this conditional release, I can go talk to an Army recruiter and see what has to happen for my WOFT packet since I'm in a different branch of the Armed Services. Based of what I saw on the USAREC HQ web page, I'm going to be out of luck for at least the next four years. If that's the case, it will be a lot of time to build a good resume/packet for WOFT. All about attitude, patience and persistence. It doesn't matter how slow you go, as long as you don't stop!

In the mean time, I scheduled a first class flight physical with a Coast Guard flight physician. This will tell me if I even qualify medically to fly as a Warrant Officer in the Army. I don't know if I'll be able to forward the results to the Aeromedical center for the US Army without some direction from an Army recruiter... But that's of no concern right now. As it stands, I'm medically qualified to be air-crew (non-pilot), that was my 3rd class flight physical I took in order to put myself on the AMT A-school list. The first class its a bit of a step up from the third class and it determines if you are healthy enough to fly the aircraft as a military pilot. They may tell me, 'No, you need to correct your vision!' in which case my glasses obviously wouldn't be enough and I could apply for PRK surgery (for free baby!) and correct the vision issue. Or whatever it may be. Taking the physical now, will give me plenty of time to correct any issues that may be brought to light before I try and get a flight physical approved through Fort Rucker. Preparation is key to anything in aviation, even when you're not actually flying. 

Growing up I was one of those kids who always had his eyes to the sky. Elementary, Middle, and High School I spent dreaming about flying. Graduated high school in 2007 and earned a pilots license (fixed wing) within a few short years. I was 20 and on top of the world flying home that first night as a licensed pilot. The taste of success lingered in the mouth of my soul for nearly a year afterwords...

Didn't take long before I was feeling the stagnant pressure of a dead-end job weigh in around me. Despite the benefits it afforded me; good, no, great pay, health coverage, being around people I enjoyed, doing a job I loved in an environment that brought me as close to aviation as possible, I couldn't continue on that path. I was lucky to have the job but it was a one track path with no room to branch out and "spread my wings."

I've always had a desire to help people. Ever since my junior year in high school I have had an interest in joining the Coast Guard because I couldn't think of a better way to combine my inner humanitarian with flying.

Unfortunately I had spent nearly 3 years since graduating high school with nothing to show for it but a pilots license. Not much in the way of college but a few scattered college credits at a junior college with no real focus. The realization that my life was going nowhere scared me. I had gotten complacent. I jumped into action in late 2009 to amend my situation and arranged to speak with a Coast Guard recruiter. The overwhelming thought in my mind at the time was that I would enlist, then work my way up from within, making it to OCS (Officer Candidate School) in a few short years so that I could fly as a pilot for the Coast Guard. To my dismay the recruiter told me he had no openings for the foreseeable future.

It was a blow... But then it wasn't. I still had a job. I still had a roof over my head (thanks dad), and the Coast Guard wasn't going anywhere. I kept at it. I kept bothering the recruiter... TO ENLIST! Anyone who's joined any branch other than the Coast Guard who reads this would likely find it absurd that I had to actively pursue followups with my recruiter. But that's how it was, and still is. The Coast Guard is a small service and selection is limited. Nearly a year later I was shipping off to basic training in Cape May, New Jersey on December 7th ("... a day that will live in infamy." Ring a bell?) of 2010. I was lucky, and my best friend, James Ahlberg whom also was looking for a little forward movement in his life had decided it was in his best interest to enlist with me. He joined as a reservist so he could return home and continue to pursue a career in law enforcement. We attended basic training together. Every day he and I overcame whatever it was they threw at us along with the rest of my company.

James and I had been friends since 3rd grade, best friends since 7th. I had grown up with him and we were essentially attached at the hip through our youth and even into early adulthood. I'll never forget attending basic with my him. It would be our last "hoorah" before the menacing claws of life wrapped its fingers around us, moving us on our separate ways to cut our own paths as our own men. I miss my youth but look forward to the future with an unquenchable thirst. Graduating basic with James, whom was the last vestige of my up-bringing ushered in the newest chapter of my life. I recognized it. I felt it. I embraced it. The moment was bittersweet.

I was ready to move forward again.

I was assigned to the USCGC Polar Sea, a polar class icebreaker with home port in Seattle, Washington as a non-rate. Due to the Coast Guard's small numbers, and the slumping economy the Coast Guard is experiencing a high retention rate amongst it's rates. What that meant for me was attending A-school straight from boot camp was not an option because there was no room for me to move up to fill vacancies in a rate.

Reporting aboard the ship I didn't understand just how exactly this would impact my life. Just that it would slow things down. I had decided before joining that I would sign up to become an AMT (Aviation Maintenance Technician) which is essentially both mechanic and crew chief. I knew I would be waiting up to 22 months before an opening in A-school would await me. But, as three months turned to half a year and I began to gather a greater sense of my surroundings career-wise. I found that with my current tenure on the AMT A-school list, combined with the slow pace of advancement within that rate would combine, and eventually conspire against me and my dreams. I had known that the age cut-off for pilots in the Coast Guard is 26. Going in this had meant I needed to obtain a bachelors degree before I made second class, and that I would have had to have applied for, been accepted into and passed OCS. I needed to have either been accepted into flight training before graduation of OCS, or if not, applied for and accepted for flight training before my 26th birthday.

As I write this, a year ago from this month - December, I was in boot camp. A lot has happened. But as it stands, I am 23 years old with a little over half a year left before I even make it to A-school and start my career in earnest. Before I can even start ascending the ladder. Combined with the two years it takes before I'm even eligible to make second class Petty Officer I won't make the cut-off. I won't be a Coast Guard pilot. . . At least, not yet. The time constraints are stacked against me. Perhaps if I had decided to join a different rate that advances faster, joined out of high school, or actually obtained a degree in the 3 (would have been 4) years before I actually did join I could have made that happen.

Eh,

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"

But I've always been about making things happen. Some times I'm slow off the start but I don't stop. Flying has been a burning passion since I can remember and this flame won't be extinguished.

At the suggestion of my father I looked into WOFT (Warrant Officer Flight Training) offered by the Army. I have decided that if I am to make my dreams a reality that this is my golden ticket. With an age cut-off of 32, my future is looking as bright as it did nearly a year ago when the possibilities laid before me. Ha! What am I saying, they still do! And they're ripe for the picking.

I started this. . . blog, so that I could keep a running diary of my life as it unfolds for the next few years. So that I can share it with whomever wishes to follow me in my journey. So that if anyone who seeks what I seek has questions for someone whom has been before them, they have a place to ask. So that if all goes well and as hoped I can turn back the pages and re-trace my steps. Wish me luck.

Jenson