“My name is Commander Shigi Tanaka, of the Japanese Coast Guard. I have been in the Coast Guard for 19 years, 3 as commander of this short-endurance cutter. I have rescued everyone from pleasure boaters to whaling ships, and worked on oil tanker leaks.”
“But every time I feel I’ve seen the gamut of human idiocy, someone comes along and gives me something new to laugh about. “
“I love my job”.
The world’s Coast Guards vary as much as the world’s nations. Some are branches of their nation’s navies (the US, South Korea, Norway) with a paramilitary mission. Others are more civil in nature (the UK, Japan), and still others are basically maritime police forces.
In most cases, a Coast Guard’s missions are:
Rescue and lifesaving
Law Enforcement (both criminal and commercial)
In wartime, helping patrol and defend a nation’s coastline and trade routes
Coast Guard characters undergo Coast Guard basic training, and then select an appropriate branch of service - surface or aviation. Coast Guard characters can also select Naval Support skills.
Entry: No prerequisites
Basic Training: The character receives the following skills as part of naval basic training:
Small Arms: 0
Seamanship: 2
Small Boat: 1
Swimming: 1
Firefighting: 1
As noted in the section on Naval Ranks, sailors in most of the world's navies pick a specialty - their "Rating" - and direct their career accordingly.
I'll present a number of the most common "ratings" for Coast Guard characters below:
Entry: No prerequisites.
First Term Skills - Select one of the following sets of skills (and note its title - this will be the "rating" that become part of the character's rank).
Boatswain's Mate: Seamanship or Small Boat Handling: 3, Observation 1
Builder: Construction 2, Mechanical 1
Gunner's Mate: Autogun, Small Arms or Heavy Artillery: 2, Mechanics 1.
Radioman / Radarman / Fire Control Technician: Computer 2, Electronics 1
Coxswain: Small Boat 2, Observation 1.
Machinist: Machinist 3
Engineman: Mechanic 3
Electrician's Mate: Electronics 3
Meteorologist: Meteorology 3
Hull Technician: Construction 2, Metallurgy 1
Hospital Corpsman: Medical (Trauma Care or Diagnostic/Therapeutic) 3
Damage Control Technician: Firefighting 3
Master At Arms: Small Arms 1, Unarmed Melee Combat 1, Persuasion 1
Quartermaster: Seamanship 1, Navigation 1, Observation 1
Subsequent Term Skills:
Autogun
Computer
Construction
Electronics
Language
Machinist
Mechanic
Medical
Scrounging
Small Arms
Watercraft
Swimming
Promotion: 6+, DM +1 if INT 7+.
Contacts: One per term, military 1D10 for 8+ for the Contact to be loreis
Special: Characters with Education of 7+ may enter OCS. They receive a level 1 Leaderships skill and are commissioned as ensigns. They then resolve their term as officers.
Entry: OCS, National Military Academy or commission.
First Term Skllls:
Seamanship: 2
Navigation: 2
Subsequent Term Skills:
Hovercraft _
Instruction
Leadership
Navigation
Persuasion
Scuba
Small Arms
Small Watercraft
Swimming ‘
"My favorite thing about being a Naval Aviator, besides flying a plane that can level whole blocks at a touch of a button, is the ship.
"I mean, look at those destroyers and cruiserswhen the sea gets rough, those puppies ROLL!"
"Sure, I can roll my F/A 18.. But I'm in control of it. Do you think the captain of some destroyer can stop rolling when HE feels like it?
"That's the life, man—fly for a living, and come home to a 90,000 ton home that doesn't hardly roll at all!"
Naval Aviation includes maintenance crews, airtraffic control people, and all of the dozens of support specialties that keep the carrier and groundbased aircraft flying.
Naval pilots fly a variety of aircraft from many different types of bases, ranging from the American F14 pilot on one of our supercarriers to the Soviet Helix antisubmarine helicopter pilot based on a frigate, to the Dutch P3 Orion patrol plane pilot flying from a land base.
Entry: No restrictions
First Term Skills: The player's choice of any ONE of the following skills or groups of skills are received during the first term. The term in the parentheses is the character’s rate, as explained in the section on naval ranks:
Electronics 3, Computer 1, Aircraft Mechanic 1 (Aviation Electronics Tech)
Aircraft Mechanic 3, Mechanic 1, Electronics 1 (Aviation Mechanic)
Electronics 2, Computer 1, Pilot 1, Parachute 1 (Aircrew)
Medical (Trauma Aid) 2, Swimming 1, Climbing 1, Small Watercraft 1 (SAR Specialist)
Computer 2, Electronics 2 (Air Traffic Controller)
Machinist 3, Aircraft Mechanic 2 (Aviation Machinist)
Meteorology 3, Computer 2 (Weather Specialist)
Second and Subsequent Term Skills:
Aircraft Mechanic
Instruction
Firefighting
Ground Vehicle (wheeled)
Machinist
Mechanic
Pilot
Seamanship
Scrounging
Small Arms
Warhead
Contact: One per term, Military. Roll 1D10 for 8+ for contact to be foreign.
Special: The titles in parentheses are the character's "Rating". See the section entitled "Rank", below.
These are highly specialized rescue paramedics, capable of deploying via helicopter to rescue ill or injured crew from ships, or to swim to rescue survivors of sunken or sinking vessels.
Entry: Strength + Constitution + Agility 16+
First Term Skills:
Swimming 3
Mountainteering 2
Survival 1
Medical (Trauma Aid) 1
Second and Subsequent Term Skills:
Aircraft Mechanic
Instruction
Small Boat Handling
Swimming
Medical (Trauma Aid)
Survival
Seamanship
Scrounging
Small Arms
Warhead
Entry: Agility 8+, and OCS, Military Academy or Commission.
First Term Skills: THe character receives the following skills in the first term:
Pilot 4 (Fixed or Rotary-wing)
Parachute 1
Observation 2
Survival 1
Navigation 1
Subsequent Term Skills:
Aircraft Mechanic
Instruction
Leadership
Meteorology
Navigation
Observation
Parachute
Persuasion
Pilot
Small Arms
Contacts: Two per term, Miitary or specialist (Pilot). Roll 1D10 for 7+ for the contact to be foreign.
Use the Naval Support tables for all Coast Guard support careers.