Monday, March 19, 2012

Scientiae Cedit Mare

The Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus, always ready; the Coast Guard Academy's motto is Scientiae Cedit Mare, the sea yields to knowledge. Both are appropriate for this fine institution.

With a student body of just over 1200 cadets, the USCGA is the smallest of our country's service academies. It looks and feels like the small school that it is, with both the benefits and the burdens that entails. Every cadet plays a role, everyone fits somehow.

I don't intend for this post to be a marketing gig for the Academy, as they do a fine job at their web site. I will, however, give my school's counselors a thorough briefing so that together, we can steer qualified and interested students into the life of humanitarian service that the Coast Guard offers.

Here I'll just offer a few pictures of this small New England "university" on the banks of the Thames (thaymz, not temz) River in New London, Connecticut:

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The cadet dining hall




The superintendent's quarters



You can see the submarine at the Navy submarine base across the river

It's an impressive institution, and the staff, faculty, and cadets are justifiably proud of it.

Update: It's a very "steep" campus, lots of stairs and slopes--and my knee held up just fine :)
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:13 PM

    If I had to do it all over again, I'd put Coast Guard Academy at the top of my list. (UCLA Grad.)

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  2. Mike Thiac6:01 AM

    That answers a question...so they are cadets and not midshipmen.

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  3. Anonymous8:56 AM

    Just a hop and a skip away, on the Sound in Glen Cove, NY, is Webb Institute. It's probably the smallest college in the country; they admit 25 freshmen, max. Everyone (no dummies admitted) double majors in naval architecture (the hull etc) and marine engineering (the power systems), everyone receives a full tuition scholarship and everyone is off-campus for the winter work term (in the field) in Jan-Feb. It's over 100 years old and, at least as of a few years ago, has had a 100% employment rate (in the field) at graduation. BTW, its sailing team competes against the Coast Guard Academy and its main building was used as the Wayne mansion in Batman Forever; students had lots of fun watching the filming. Few guidance counselors know it exists.

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  4. Darren6:26 AM

    I've never heard of Webb Institute, either. Thanks for the information?

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  5. Unknown12:25 AM

    my dad went there. best years (close) of his life. thanks for the blogpost!

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  6. Unknown12:26 AM

    oops. CGA not Webb.

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