USCG INVESTIGATOR (IV) RATING BADGE

Enlisted Coast Guard personnel serving in the Reserve Investigator (IV) rating work alongside Active-Duty CWOs and petty officers and civilian criminal investigators (GS-1811 Series) in the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, or USCGIS. The USCGIS’ areas of operation include crimes related to Coast Guard missions and the maritime realm (defined by the U.S. Department of State as encompassing oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, coastlines and harbors), felony violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, protective services, law-enforcement task forces, and collection of information related to law enforcement. Among the task forces and organizations that the USCGIS works with are INTERPOL, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (formed in 1982, the same year the IV rating was established), the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign against human trafficking.

Candidates for entry into the Reserve-only IV rating must have graduated from either a police or criminal investigator academy and have three years of experience serving as a law-enforcement officer. If accepted, they will attend the Direct Entry Petty Officer Training (DEPOT) Course held at Training Center Cape May in New Jersey. The three-week training regimen can be described as nothing less than a crash course in all things related to serving in the Coast Guard and the U.S. Armed Forces, from general military subjects (supervision and leadership, drills, ceremonies, uniforms, ranks/rates, military protocols, military justice, etc.) and specific Coast Guard expertise (assets and missions, history, tradition and values), to nautical skills (damage control, seamanship, watch standing) and personal character and fitness (physical training, code of conduct, personal finances, administration).

Since all IT candidates will have substantial law-enforcement experience, rating-specific training is handled through distance learning and on-the-job guidance. Upon assignment, IT personnel will conduct or assist in criminal investigations and background security checks, carry out intelligence gathering and analysis, and provide protection services for both Coast Guard officials and VIPs. Some assignments may require additional, highly specialized training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia.