Is ET (Electronics Technician) a Good Rating?

AIT / Training

20 weeks

Training Location

TRACEN Petaluma, CA

Career Field

Operations Systems

What the Recruiter Says

As an Electronics Technician, you'll maintain and repair the most advanced communication, navigation, and surveillance systems in the Coast Guard fleet. You'll gain expertise in radar, satellite communications, and computer networking — skills that command top salaries in the defense electronics and telecommunications industries.

What It's Actually Like

You fix the electronics that keep the ship talking to the world — radios, radar, satellite comms, navigation systems, electronic chart displays, and whatever classified box the intel folks won't let you open but expect you to fix anyway. If it has a circuit board and lives on a boat, it's your problem, and the boat's salt air corrosion has been methodically destroying your work since before you reported aboard. You will develop an intimate personal relationship with a soldering iron, a multimeter, and the specific brand of frustration that comes from troubleshooting a radar system using a technical manual that references components the manufacturer stopped making in 2003. When comms go down in the middle of a SAR case and the CO can't talk to the helicopter, you are the most important person on the entire ship and everyone is standing behind you breathing. When comms are working perfectly — which is 99% of the time because you're good at your job — nobody knows you exist. You will explain the difference between your job and IT approximately eleven thousand times in your career. They will never, ever remember. 'So you fix computers?' No. You fix the things that keep the ship from being a floating deaf-mute. The civilian telecom and defense electronics markets pay very well for your skillset, and nobody will ask you to fix a radar at 3 AM in 15-foot seas.