Overwhelmingly I've been told that going to a sector as a response officer is the best route to take, if you're wanting to be involved in Law Enforcement and the DSF side of the Coast Guard (LETDET, MSRT). However I'm not so sure I want to cut out the possibility of going afloat either. From what I've gathered, if you don't go afloat your first tour, youre pretty much locked out of afloat billets going forward, as you wont have the necessary qualifications (DWO, etc). With that said, is it possible for someone, over the course of a career, to alternate between command billets on board a Cutter (DWO, OPS, XO, CO) , and Law Enforcement/SAR/Incident Response at a sector (or in the alternate, commanding a LEDET or MSRT)? It's my understanding that officers are expected to have at least two specialties. So I guess in a broader sense, I'm trying to see if one can have specialties both in afloat and ashore response. I've been told that many response officers are able to alternate back and forth between intelligence and response so i figured the same can be true for Officers who start in the Afloat arena.
A second, and maybe unrelated question is what do Afloat officers do when their ship isn't at sea?
Lastly, in light of the changes coming down the pipeline regarding the Officer Specialty Management System, is all of the above still valid? I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks.