Administer and support Coast Guard telephone, computer, and network systems needed for missions.
ASVAB MK+EI+GS: 162, with AR: 52 minimum; alternate AFQT: 65
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Information Systems Technicians run the networks, servers, radios, and communications gear that keep Coast Guard units connected. Aboard a cutter you maintain satellite and radio links, shipboard networks, and the equipment watchstanders depend on for distress calls and for law enforcement coordination. At a shore unit the work looks more like enterprise IT, with help desk tickets, account administration, cabling, and system patching. Since this Department of Homeland Security service operates across US coasts, rivers, and the Great Lakes, you are supporting rescue and enforcement traffic where a dropped circuit has immediate consequences. Watch rotations and after hours outages are simply part of the deal in this rating.
You learn networking fundamentals, server and client administration, routing and switching, and the troubleshooting method that separates diagnosis from guesswork. Radio frequency communications, antennas, satellite systems, and cryptographic equipment add a whole dimension that most civilian IT people never touch. Cybersecurity practice is built into the rating, including account control, patching, and incident reporting. Documentation, change control, and configuration management are enforced habits here rather than the optional extras they become in many shops. You also learn to support frustrated users calmly under a deadline, which is its own professional skill and a rare one.
You develop systematic patience, isolating a problem one layer at a time instead of restarting things at random and hoping. Working through outages builds composure and the willingness to stay with a problem until the thing is actually fixed. The rating teaches you to explain technical situations clearly to people who are neither technical nor in a good mood. Responsibility for network security makes you careful in a way that carries over into your personal habits and accounts. You get comfortable being the person everyone turns to and expects to have an answer within the hour.
Network and systems administration is a broad, portable career and this rating is a direct on ramp into it. Help desk, network administration, systems administration, and network engineering roles are all reachable, and certifications earned while serving speed the transition up. A clearance plus federal IT experience makes contractor and agency positions straightforward to land. Telecommunications, satellite services, and maritime communications providers hire specifically for the radio and satellite side of the rating. Many veterans move toward cybersecurity or cloud engineering within a few years, building on the networking fundamentals this rating drills into you.
Your morning begins at the help desk queue, checking overnight tickets and the health of the unit's servers and network. You spend the day imaging laptops, patching cybersecurity gaps, running cable, and restoring access for users across the command. Between tickets you back up systems, monitor the firewall, and document configuration changes in the network logs.
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$43,902–$74,948
2026 basic pay only; the same grade and service time pay the same across jobs. Promotions are assumed, not promised. Excludes allowances, bonuses and special pays.
For Coast Guard IT Information Systems Technician, official service-wide guidance and any exact feeder-list matches are distinguished below from unverified specialty-specific requirements. Ranks are not separate jobs, and these possibilities are not guaranteed promotions or available contracts.
Examples of higher service ranks
These are service-wide rank names, not a verified promotion ladder for this specialty. Examples are not exhaustive; appointments sharing a pay grade are not additional promotion steps.
Official military rank referenceThe October 2026 Reserve Servicewide Examination announcement makes advancement conditional on rating/pay-grade qualifications and command recommendation, with rating-specific examination exceptions. Its scope is Reserve E-5 through E-7, not every grade or active-duty cycle. It does not establish a promotion ceiling for this listing.
Coast Guard October 2026 Reserve advancement examinationService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
Officer Candidate School is a separate competitive commissioning pathway open to Coast Guard enlisted members. This general program does not establish individual eligibility or a transfer to any particular officer specialty. Warrant appointments have separate requirements; no rating-to-warrant feeder match is asserted here.
Coast Guard Officer Candidate SchoolSpecialty-specific advancement, senior assignments, and eligibility for a different personnel category have not been verified for this listing. No feeder eligibility or automatic transition to another specialty is implied.
Advancement depends on current service rules, performance, required education, qualifications, selection, and authorized positions—not simply years served. Confirm current requirements with an official recruiter or career counselor.
Related military jobs below are for exploration, not promised progression or confirmed transfer paths.
Sources reviewed 2026-10-03. This is a partial evidence review, not verification of every advancement route for this specialty. Source retrieval dates do not replace policy effective dates.
Career-field mappings, not automatic qualifications. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024 national medians). O*NET links explain each occupation; military experience does not guarantee a job or salary.
Administer and support Coast Guard telephone, computer, and network systems needed for missions.
Information Systems Technicians run the networks, servers, radios, and communications gear that keep Coast Guard units connected. Aboard a cutter you maintain satellite and radio links, shipboard networks, and the equipment watchstanders depend on for distress calls and for law enforcement coordination. At a shore unit the work looks more like enterprise IT, with help desk tickets, account administration, cabling, and system patching. Since this Department of Homeland Security service operates across US coasts, rivers, and the Great Lakes, you are supporting rescue and enforcement traffic where a dropped circuit has immediate consequences. Watch rotations and after hours outages are simply part of the deal in this rating.
You learn networking fundamentals, server and client administration, routing and switching, and the troubleshooting method that separates diagnosis from guesswork. Radio frequency communications, antennas, satellite systems, and cryptographic equipment add a whole dimension that most civilian IT people never touch. Cybersecurity practice is built into the rating, including account control, patching, and incident reporting. Documentation, change control, and configuration management are enforced habits here rather than the optional extras they become in many shops. You also learn to support frustrated users calmly under a deadline, which is its own professional skill and a rare one.
Network and systems administration is a broad, portable career and this rating is a direct on ramp into it. Help desk, network administration, systems administration, and network engineering roles are all reachable, and certifications earned while serving speed the transition up. A clearance plus federal IT experience makes contractor and agency positions straightforward to land. Telecommunications, satellite services, and maritime communications providers hire specifically for the radio and satellite side of the rating. Many veterans move toward cybersecurity or cloud engineering within a few years, building on the networking fundamentals this rating drills into you.
ASVAB MK+EI+GS: 162, with AR: 52 minimum; alternate AFQT: 65. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
This specialty can be pursued through an initial enlistment, subject to eligibility and available contracts. Confirm the current status of this specific classification with an official recruiter.
Catalog sources consulted: 2026-09-26. This is not an entry-by-entry verification date. No record-specific verification date is recorded. Occupation audit evidence reviewed: 2026-09-26; this does not re-verify every requirement.
Official branch occupation evidence
Occupation identified. This occupation was identified in the cited source. This does not verify requirements, benefits, or a current opening.
Official occupation evidence · reviewed 2026-09-26
Confirmed. Catalog evidence is not an inventory of open contracts.
No dated public inventory confirmed a currently open recruiting contract for this role. This does not mean there are no openings. Confirm current eligibility and offers with an official recruiter.
Advertised — Coast Guard, as of 2026-09-28Deployment likelihood: Moderate*
* Estimated. Rank progression and specialty-pay eligibility are illustrative assumptions. Deployment likelihood, when shown, is inferred from similar specialties in the branch and career field, not a published specialty deployment rate.
Descriptions may change. No military role is free from risk of injury or death, including non-combat work. Catalog review dates do not establish current openings or re-verification of every requirement.
Recruiting signals reflect what each branch published on the dates shown. They are not offers, and they do not mean a contract is open for you. Eligibility depends on your ASVAB scores, medical qualification, security clearance eligibility, and ship date. Confirm everything with an official recruiter. See our Disclaimer and Terms.