Coast Guard recruiting in the CNMI

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Academy are currently looking to recruit high school students from the CNMI.

Since last Monday, a group of recruiters from the Coast Guard Academy and enlisted Coast Guards are making the rounds in the CNMI in hopes of sparking the interest of students to possibly pursue a career as a Coast Guardsman.

According to Christine Torres Igisomar, a recruiter from the Coast Guard Academy, people of the CNMI have proven to be some of the perfect Coast Guard recruits because individuals from the islands are strong-willed and were raised to respect the ocean.

“Pacific Islanders are well-suited for the Coast Guard. We have grown up in a remote part of the world and I believe that makes us very resilient and, when I look at people who have joined the Coast Guard, they’ve gone on to do at least 10 years, if not more, and complete a whole career…I think that has to do with the culture, the way we were brought up to respect the ocean…and in the Coast Guard, that is what we are asked to do,” she said.

For students who think they cannot cut it, Igisomar said that that couldn’t be less true. “We’ve done it and we were raised on the islands and we did just fine, so that should never discourage students,” she said.

Freddy Hofschneider, another recruiter from the academy who was born and raised on Tinian, said that one of his most memorable experiences since leaving his home and joining the Coast Guard is the number of places he was able to visit as part of his job.

“Traveling around…when I was stationed [n] Guam I got to travel to around the islands [in Micronesia] …you get to travel to other places too…and I think that is the best part,” he said

Angelo Pangelinan, an enlisted Coast Guard, said that the group will be on Saipan until Thursday afternoon and will fly over to Rota to continue their recruitment. The group already conducted a recruitment outreach on Tinian last Monday.

The group has been to Tinian High School, Grace Christian Academy, Saipan Southern High School, Mt. Carmel School, the Northern Marianas College, and more.

According to Mark Prijic, the group has sparked some interest in about 10 individuals as of Wednesday but expect to see more students apply as the school year nears its end.

Pangelinan said the group aims to recruit at least 500 students from the CNMI.