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Find out what it’s like to be a member of the United States Coast Guard.
Ivan Cholakov/Alamy Stock Photo
The Coast Guard practices for a rescue mission.
Fierce winds whip through your hair. Terrifying 30-foot waves rise out of the sea. You’re flying in the back of a helicopter as it races over the ocean.
Minutes earlier, you answered an emergency call. Someone is out in the open water. They’re alone and struggling to swim. Now you’re on a mission to save their life.
Who are you? You’re a member of the U.S. Coast Guard. And you’re this person’s only chance of surviving.
Grave Danger
The Coast Guard is part of our country’s armed forces. Members of the Coast Guard have many responsibilities. Your job is to find and rescue people in danger at sea.
Every year, thousands of people find themselves in an ocean emergency. Swimmers get swept away in powerful waves. Fishers can get caught in deadly storms. And deep-sea divers sometimes end up lost and far from their boats. Miles from land, these people are in grave danger.
That’s where you come in. Your team rides in helicopters and boats to help others when no one else can.
Courtesy of La’Shanda Hawkins
Meet a Coast Guard Commander!
Commander La’Shanda Hawkins has been a pilot in the Coast Guard for 19 years. “It’s a big, wide ocean out there,” she says. “It can be difficult and dangerous to find people, especially at night. But you put yourself at risk to make sure people make it back to their families safely.”
Long and Challenging
Luckily, you’re prepared for these kinds of situations. You went through an eight-week training program. It took place in Cape May, New Jersey.
Your days were long and challenging. You swam for hours. You ran for miles. You practiced saving people from drowning and jumping out of helicopters. Most importantly, you learned to follow directions from your commander and work as a team.
Emergencies can happen at any time. That’s why the Coast Guard’s motto, Semper Paratus, is so important. It means “Always ready” in an old language called Latin.
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Fast and Mighty
The Coast Guard uses many types of ships and helicopters. Small boats called cutters zip through storms for rescues. The largest ships are called icebreakers. They chop up giant blocks of ice in the ocean so other boats can pass through.
Keeping Us Safe
Back in the helicopter, you’ve located the swimmer. But time is running out. The only way to save this person? You must jump 20 feet into the waves below!
Shivers run down your spine as you gaze at the freezing water. You’ve trained for this though. You pull on your orange life vest. Then you leap!
Wham! You hit the water. It feels like a brick wall. You gasp for air as you swim through the waves. You reach the swimmer just in time. They are barely keeping their head above water!
Seconds later, your teammates lower a rope for you. You clip it to your life vest and hold on to the swimmer. Then your team pulls you both up to the helicopter. Together you fly to safety. Phew!
Serving in the Coast Guard is hard work. The ocean can be dangerous—and anything can happen. Luckily, members of the Coast Guard are there to keep us safe. As their motto says: They’re always ready.
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Special Tools
Coast Guard members use life vests to help people float during a rescue. Radios allow them to communicate with each other. And if an emergency happens in the dark? They use night-vision goggles to see!
THINK AND WRITE
Imagine you’re a member of the Coast Guard. Using details from the article, write a letter describing a search and rescue mission.
Learn more about our country’s armed forces.
Thank You, Veterans!
Learn more about our country’s armed forces.
Can't Miss Teaching Extras
Meet other women with incredible jobs in “Journey Inside a Volcano” and “A Day in Death Valley.” In these Time Machine articles, you’ll meet a volcanologist and a park ranger!
Go on another daring mission—except instead of the ocean, you’re heading to space! Read “Mission to the Moon!” to learn about what it would be like to be a member of NASA.
For another thrilling adventure out at sea, read “Don’t Pet This Shark,” a Mini Read about a woman who gets dangerously close to sharks in an effort to save them.
Table of Contents
5. Differentiate and Customize
Struggling Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers, Creative Writing
1. Preparing to Read
Set a Purpose for Reading
To provide your students with helpful background information about veterans and the armed forces, play the video “Thank You, Veterans!”
Preview Text Features and Vocabulary
2. Close Reading
Close-Reading Questions
Critical-Thinking Question
3. Skill Building and Writing
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