Jayman,
we do have a few pilots that are under the Don't ask, Don't tell umbrella but they are all former AF fixed wing guys. Go figure. By the way, your son is right.
I have been flying in the Coast Guard for about 8 years now after flying in the Army for about 10. I have worked with pilots in every service and have to say from the stories I have heard form them, this is the best gig going.
I will give you as much info as I can about CG aviation. Just ask any specific questions you want answered. I will start with some basics for you and your son.
The Coast Guard Academy is the only Service Academy that doesn't require a congressional recommedation. It is a pretty small campus. I did not go to Academy, I went there for other training but from all Academy graduates I know, it is a good school. Like the other service academies, the students have to go through the "plebe" phases and have to deal with more than an average college student. However, They also get some great opportunities like riding the oceans in a tall ship sailing vessel the "EAGLE" and getting intro flights in aircraft at the Coast Guard's Aviation Training Center.
The graduate then incurs a five year obligation of service and flight school is not guarateed. As a side note, we also get pilots through Officer Candiate School and the Direct Commission Aviator program for pilots from other services so the Academy is not the only option.
After the Academy, graduates can now go directly to flight school if they are selected. There used to be a mandatory two year ship tour but no longer. If a graduate doesn't get selected to flight school right away, he can continue to apply for about four years to the selection boards while the job he was sent to and while beating down the service obligation.
Once selected to flight school, the new officer will attend flight school in Pensacola, FL along with Navy, Marine Corps, and even a few Air Force flight students. Upon graduating flight school the new pilot incurs a six year service obligation that is tacked onto his Academy obligation for a total of 11 years of obligated service.
The new pilot then goes to his T (Transition)-course in Mobile, AL which will teach him how to fly CG aircraft. Then it is off to his duty station where he will immediately be on the duty schedule as a Co-Pilot. I mean immediately. One of my former students left her T-course on a Friday and was Flying in Hurricane Katrina the next Tuesday.
Pilots get four year tours (with a few exceptions) and fly about 300 hours a year. We work a regular five day work week with 24 hour duty rotations thrown in. For example I may normally work Monday through Friday from 0800-1600 but I could get a duty on Tuesday where I come in at 1500 and cannot leave base until 1500 on Wednesday when I am relieved from duty then it is back to work as normal. Or I could pull a weekend duty as well. We pull about 4-6 duty rotations a month.
While on duty you stand alert ensuring you are airborne within 30 minutes of notification. It sounds like a long time but try putting on a dry suit, checking weather, especially on those nights where the ceiling is one hundred feet, the mountains are six thousand feet, and the freezing level is to the surface, plus ensuring you have a proper assessment of the situation unfolding. The time seems to slip away quickly.
We also deploy on Coast Guard Cutters. Deployments range from two weeks to six months. The norm is about 2-3 months. You might get the opportunity to see some great locations or you might be stuck in the Bering straight, which can be great in its own way I suppose. You might even be on patrol in the Persian Gulf. It is all luck of the draw.
Long drawn out reply but I hope it helps.
The following link cuts through having to navigate the Coast Guard site but you have probably already been there so disregard at will.
http://www.gocoastguard.com/officerindex.html
http://www.cga.edu/
