34 RESERVIST . . Issue 2 • 2021 The waves less traveled Many reservists come from varied career paths, but more and more, there’s interest in getting underway—going to sea. The operations officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, Lt. Will Singletary, started his education at The Citadel in South Carolina before entering the Coast Guard Reserve in 2011. His enlisted years were spent as a boat crew member at units in South Carolina and California; in 2014, he became an officer and accepted orders to the command center at District 11. On the civilian side, Singletary had worked in different fields between logistics and port operations; he said while he learned a lot about the industries, the work wasn’t fulfilling. What was, though, was a tour with the Port Security Unit 307 and his subsequent deployment. Singletary began leaning toward the deployable specialized forces community, and he chatted with his assignment officer about active duty opportunities with his diverse background. After three years at the PSU, the officer’s rich history of experience split between the blue guard and green guard made his next choice even more unusual: he took a billet afloat on extended active duty. “I’m a complicated individual when it comes to my career path,” joked Singletary, “But I’m a prior BM, and I love being underway.” He started out in a high-paced job as the combat systems officer on the Coast Guard Cutter Waesche, and Singletary fell in love with being underway. When a chance to be stationed aboard the Eagle came up, he jumped at it. “Our focus is training the next generation of Coast Guard officer in navigation, engineering, and seamanship,” he said. “Plus, I think it’s really cool to walk down the pier and go to a tall ship every day for work.” Though he’s halfway through a tour that was complicated by the pandemic, Singletary loves his work. His favorite part is training new cadets and officer candidates in traditional celestial navigation and seamanship; he loves explaining a concept to cadets, and seeing a light go on in their eyes as it clicks for the first time. There’s so much more to the job, though. “Our mission [on the Eagle] is training and public affairs,” he said. “We have the honor of representing America in any foreign port we pull into.” He’s looking forward to getting back to the traditional summer cruise for cadets; there’s a possibility of stopping in the Azores, Iceland, and Bermuda, but the pandemic planning is keeping him on his toes as countries dance in and out of opening their borders. However, Singletary said when the trip happens, it’ll likely have a few more reservists on board besides himself, and he knows not to underestimate them. “There’s a lot of skill out there that’s definitely untapped,” said Singletary. “I tell people that when you see a reservist come in, you probably have no idea what they do on the outside. They bring a lot of extra life skills and experience to the table that people sometimes don’t recognize.” . Lt. Will Singletary, the operations officer aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, enjoys serving afloat on extended active duty.
