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Wells ‘absolutely’ making career of Coast Guard
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Vu, 23, joins Coast Guard for stability, service to country
BY CHRIS DAY Multimedia Editor
Khois Vu is a native of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and an avionics electrical technician (AET) student at the Aviation Technical Training Center.
He holds the enlisted pay designation of E-3, which means he is one rank below petty officer 3rd class, or E-4.
Enlisted personnel E-3 and below are also referred to as “non-rates,” which means they have not completed the requirements to earn a job rating specialty. When Vu completes training for the AET rate he will be promoted to petty officer 3rd class.
Vu, 23, joined the Coast Guard in January 2018 “because of stability and I wanted to serve,” he said.
He was previously assigned to a small boat station on the Outer Banks and chose the AET rate because he prefers aviation to being underway.
“I joined this rate because I knew the boat world is not for me and I grew up with a mechanics background,” Vu said.
He also wanted “to pick up new skills as an electrician.”
While stationed in the Outer Banks he was part of a crew that rescued several people whose boat had run aground.
“One of the cases was where the boat had a hard aground and the people on board were badly injured,” he said. “When we showed up and saw a smile and felt a sense of relief from them reminds me of why we do what we do.”
It’s the community-service focus of the Coast Guard that Vu likes most about serving.
I like the mission of Coast Guard and to know that your actions directly impact somebody in need,” he said.
Vu has earned a Good Conduct medal so far in his young Coast Guard enlistment. As for making the sea-going service a career, he is still deciding, he said.
Airman Khois Vu. Submitted photo
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Suleiman: Service offers chance to travel, good for raising a family
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BY CHRIS DAY Multimedia Editor
Ruby Paul is an aviation maintenance technician (AMT) student at the Aviation Technical Training Center. She holds the enlisted pay designation of E-3, which means class, or E-4.
Enlisted personnel E-3 and below are also referred to as “non-rates,” which means they have not completed the requirements to earn a job rating specialty. When Paul completes training for the AMT rate she will be
Paul is 21 years old and is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“College wasn’t the right path for me,” said Paul, about why she joined the Coast Guard. “I was drawn to the Coast Guard because of its life-saving mission.”
has been to Elizabeth City as a member of the Coast Guard. She chose the AMT rating for the chance to participate in search and rescue operations helicopters.
“We’ve been learning a lot here at AMT “A” school,” she said of her training. “It’s a great learning environment.”
Paul also has underway experience as she was previously assigned to an 87-foot patrol boat out of eastern Florida. In that tour, she took part in one missions of her young career. While underway, the boat crew rescued four people from the water. The stranded sailors’ boat had capsized and they were not wearing life jackets, she said.
Paul also completed a stint at Air Station Atlantic City, in New Jersey. So far she has earned a Coast Guard sea service ribbon and a Commandant’s Letter of Commendation.
She’s undecided whether she’ll make a full career of the Coast Guard but likes that she still has choices.
“It’s great to have the option to either stay in the Coast Guard or to use my GI Bill to go to school,” she said.
Airman Ruby Paul. Submitted photo
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BY CHRIS DAY Multimedia Editor
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BY CHRIS DAY Multimedia Editor
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