I am considering joining the coast guard reserve for a few reasons, maybe bad ones. I'm actually posting this under a sockpuppet because my friends in real life were completely revolted by the notion that I could even consider this. Here are my thoughts...

- I'm not going to get shipped to afghanistan in the coast guard.

- I like boats and the ocean and would be able to get paid (minimal amounts) learning more about them. Normally, this hobby can be very expensive.

- a while back the sfbay craiglslist actually had many job listings for the coast guard. This makes me think that I'd be able to stay in the bay area, rather than shipping off to a base in west virginia or somewhere else far away.

- I would be able to get health insurance through the coast guard

- I'd meet new people.

- It sounds like fun...

and lastly: I just read an article about a guy in brooklyn who joined the army reserve and received a $150,000 small business loan only available to people in the armed services. he then used the loan to open two really hip bars in Williamsburg.

This seemed like an interesting way to get funding, and if the guy got $150K to start a BAR, surely I could get funding for a technology business.

I'm not sure if I can even do this, I may have a physical condition that disqualifies me from any military service.

But, I was wondering if anyone on HN was in a military reserve unit, or was in the past, and can offer any insight.

edit: here's the link to the small business loan, and an article about it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/13/AR2007061301116.html

http://www.sba.gov/patriotexpress/

Any comments are appreciated. Especially appreciated if you've been in the armed service and can say why this is or isn't a good idea.