Port security units comprise a significant part of the Coast Guard Reserve, and recruiters are helping bring understanding to the “blue” guard of what their “green” guard counterparts do. Life at a Coast Guard PSU: Recruiters interview Cmdr. Faith Schultz, Executive Officer of PSU 309 Editor’s note: The Coast Guard Recruiting Command’s podcast, Fair Winds and Following Seas, covers stories, career paths, and programs available to current and future Coast Guard members, both active duty and Reserve. The podcast is hosted by Petty Officer 1st Class Nathaniel Romeo, a recruiter from Cleveland. Below is just a (shortened) excerpt of his interview with Cmdr. Faith Schultz of Port Security Unit 309. Welcome to the Fair Winds and Following Seas Podcast. I’m your host, Petty Officer 1st Class Nathaniel Romeo. This podcast is for all those interested in having a larger appreciation of the Coast Guard or those that may have an interest in joining. We will be sharing stories, Coast Guard programs and career paths. Today I have Cmdr. Faith Schultz on, who is currently the executive officer of Coast Guard Port Security Unit 309 located in Port Clinton, Ohio. I have her here today to speak about her career, what the PSU's purpose and mission is and what it's like to be assigned to one in the Coast Guard. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your current position and your Coast Guard career? I joined the Coast Guard in 2005. I was a couple of years out of college, looking for something different to do. I found out that the Coast Guard has a huge presence here in Cleveland, Ohio, which is where I live. I put in a package to be an officer. The first round I was selected as an alternate, 34 RESERVIST � Issue 4 • 2021 and they resubmitted my package and I got picked up. I went through Reserve Officer Candidate Indoctrination. It’s a whirlwind of Coast Guard training where they tell you everything about the Coast Guard, the military, and how to be an officer. For the first few years, and even still today, it’s been a real learning experience. They assigned me to Marine Safety Unit Cleveland, and I was there for five years. They do all marine safety, pollution, facilities inspections, investigations—I learned a lot about the marine safety side. I went over to the Sector Detroit for a short time, doing many of the same things. I took some active duty [orders] at the Ninth District in Cleveland as an operations planner, then I went over to Base Cleveland as the senior reserve officer. Then, I took another active duty [assignment] as the admin branch chief of the Ninth District, where I learned a lot about the admin side of the Coast Guard. I heard a lot about the Port Security Units, but I didn’t know a lot about it. Everyone just said, ‘If you go there, you’re gonna deploy.” I thought, ‘That’s not so bad,’ but I didn’t know what I didn’t know… so I did. I went to Port Security Unit 309 in Port Clinton. I spent the first nine months just learning about the unit, getting my PSU qualifications signed off and just learning as an officer, doing all-around kind of jobs. Then I got assigned as an engineering officer where you manage the engineering division and the weapons division. I loved it. I realize I loved the expeditionary community. Then I got assigned to a Navy Coastal Riverine Squadron, now called the Marine Expeditionary Security Squadron, in Jacksonville, Florida. I was a Coast Guard person embedded in a Navy unit. I was there for two years, and they deployed me with the Navy to Djibouti, Africa, which was a great experience—I learned a lot about the Navy culture. Fast forward one year, I got reassigned back to PSU 309 as the executive officer, and I was very excited about that. I love the unit, I love the people, I love the mission, and here I am today, 16 years later.
