I know what your trying to say but i am still going to join the USCG Scuba Team because i want to serve my country and be in or on the ocean... I am a SCUBA Freak, Scuba Steve and Scuba Brett i am ether called those three names at school depending on the day and i love it. But does anyone know if its a well paying job working in the USCG Scuba Team or should i continue to keep going at school till 12th grade i am only in 9th and try to become a Marine Biologist?? I just would like to have a high paying or pretty well paying job .... Well wouldn't everyone in the world =)
Not trying to talk you out of it by any means, I think it's great, just laying it out for you. Thanks for your willingness to serve our country at such a young age.
You need to talk to a recruiter, both Navy and Cost Guard, the 2 may have very different diving opportunities. I met a Navy diver on Cozumel last year that does something around oil rigs and I think working mostly on scuba rather than a hard hat rig. When I was in the ONLY Navy SCUBA divers were safety divers and I don't think that was a full-time job. You can always loose your mind and become an EOD or SEAL...they get to dive
First of all, stay in school as long as you can. A collage degree before going into the military would give you a HUGE advantage and higher pay grade from the beginning. You can still be a diver and an officer, many are.
There is A LOT of math involved in hard hat diving, take as much as that as you can. Also the more you know about the human body the better, health, physics, kinesiology; understanding the way your body is supposed to work and what can effect it can save your life at 200'+. Get your body and mind in top physical shape and keep them there.
Marine Biology is a great field that is ever expanding with new concerns of the ocean's health. Scientists generally work off grants and don't make a lot of money. The big payoff is, depending on your reasearch, you can get some really great gigs in very beautiful parts of the world.
Military pay isn't great no matter what job you have, compared to similar civilian positions. Divers of course make more because of training and hazardous duty pay, but it's nothing compared to commercial divers.
If you are looking to make money as a hard hat diver, there are several very good commercial diving schools around the country.
If you go to the Coasties, after you get out, you may want to give up the "muck & yuck" diving and go into "tourism diving", another option to think about. Although that necessarily isn't a high paying job either.
If you are serious about making diving a carreer in one way or another, I'd suggest continue moving up in certifications and work towards an Instructor's cert...just don't move up too soon, taking one cert after another just to have them, get some experience in between classes...it will make you a better diver.
