Also called: Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter Pilot, MH-65 / MH-60 / HC-130 pilot
Flies Coast Guard helicopters and planes on search-and-rescue missions, drug interdiction, and hurricane response.
Coast Guard pilots hover over stormy seas while rescue swimmers drop into the water, search for missing boaters, and chase smugglers. They train at Navy flight school in Pensacola.
RMC (base pay + housing/food allowances + tax advantage) for officers O-1 (2nd Lieutenant/Ensign) to O-5 (Lieutenant Colonel/Commander), 2026 estimate. A 20-year career also earns a lifetime pension starting right after retirement. Includes aviation incentive pay.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's degree plus a commission through ROTC, a service academy, or Officer Candidate School, then Navy/Coast Guard flight school (about 2 years). Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Aerospace Engineering, Marine Science, Any major.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. Drones help search, but hovering over storms for rescues stays human.
Classes: AP Physics, PE / swimming, Earth science.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.