Academy Dreams
Hamilton Hall, a brick building with a white clock tower, on a summer day

USCGA · Life at the academy · Year 3 of 4

Second class yearU.S. Coast Guard Academy · Second class

What year 3 of 4 at USCGA looks like: milestones, training, privileges and the service commitment, from official USCGA pages.

Hamilton Hall at the Coast Guard Academy, July 2008. Photo: US Coast Guard Academy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

What this year is like

Second class cadets run Swab Summer as cadre, hold their first formally assigned leadership positions and receive the signet ring in April.

Duties
Second class cadets "serve as Assistant Division Officers, mentoring, leading and supervising third and fourth class cadets"1. It's "the first time cadets lead in formally assigned positions"2.

Key milestones and events

  • Swab Summer cadre
  • Assistant Division Officer
  • Signet ring in April
  • Ring Dance
Rings
"In April, 2nd Class Cadets receive the signet ring." The Ring Dance, on the Saturday before graduation, is "the first official opportunity" to wear it3.

Academics and training

Summer training
You serve as Swab Summer cadre in two-week "makes"2. Other summer options include a two-week coastal sailing cruise to New England ports, a week in Mobile, Alabama, exploring aviation, and time at other Coast Guard units2.
Academics
more time in shipboard simulators to prepare for licensing2.

Privileges

USCGA’s public pages don’t publish privileges for this class year, so we don’t list any. Ask the academy.

Service commitment

When it becomes binding: We didn't find this point stated on the official pages we reviewed. Ask the academy.

Sources

  1. USCGA: Mission (uscga.edu)
  2. Second Class Year (uscga.edu)
  3. Traditions (uscga.edu)

Official pages change. Confirm details with USCGA before you plan around them.

Still in high school?

See what to do each year, from freshman year to reporting day, for USCGA.

High school, year by yearUSCGA overview