Resident Training: Join us for Training in the United States

Coast Guard Academy

The U.S. Coast Guard accepts a limited number of highly qualified international military students to attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, one of the most selective universities in America. International cadets at the Academy will earn a college degree, receive military training, and build a foundation of leadership and nautical skills to better serve in maritime organizations in their home country.

The Academy, a resident military campus, has a four-year undergraduate curriculum heavily oriented to engineering, math, and the sciences — all graduates earn a Bachelor of Science degree.

Through hands-on training, cadets learn maritime concepts including piloting, nautical terms, shipboard communications, ship handling, marine and environmental response, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, commercial vessel safety, marine investigations, operational risk management, and much more. Cadets will spend their summers at operational units throughout the Coast Guard, including at least a six-week period on USCGC EAGLE, the only active-duty sailing ship in America's military and one of the Coast Guard's most-recognizable vessels.

The Academy also offers a Non-Reciprocal Semester Exchange Program to cadets from foreign partner naval and military academies.Arriving on or about 10 June every year, the exchange cadets will participate fully as members of the Academy Corps of Cadets (Second Class Cadets/3^rd Year Students).Combining academics, military training, and extracurricular activities, this fall semester program supports the development of international maritime leaders to address the long-term challenges of our times—those requiring interoperability and the cultural competency of participating forces.

For more information on the U.S. Coast Guard Academy International Cadet Program, please visit https://www.uscga.edu/international-cadets/, or call the Office of the International Cadet Coordinator at (860) 235-0047.

Officer Candidate School and Officer Indoctrination Course

Officer Candidate School (OCS) trains students with little to no prior military experience for entry-level maritime security leadership positions. Through intense, rigorous, and challenging military and academic training, candidates learn basic military principles, discipline, and fundamental professional skills to become effective commissioned officers.

The academic curriculum includes leadership, administration, maritime core topics, and USCG missions. Through hands-on training, officer candidates learn piloting, nautical terms, shipboard communications, ship handling, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, commercial vessel safety, marine investigations, and operational risk management.

The Officer Indoctrination Course (OIS) is for candidates with previous military experience and are already commissioned officers in their home service. OIS shares the classroom curriculum with OCS but does not have intense military indoctrination.

International Maritime Officers Course

The very popular International Maritime Officers Course (IMOC) provides an in-depth overview of maritime organization planning, management, and mission execution. Students attend the course with an international peer cohort at the USCG Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia.

IMOC is for international mid-grade officers or civilians with seven years to a decade of maritime experience. The 15-week series of seminars, classes, and field studies covers maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, marine safety prevention and response, international rules of law, port security, and more. The program also includes the International Crisis Command and Control curriculum and the popular Leadership and Management Seminar.