Unless you've seen the Coast Guard's uniformed men and women in the café or the fitness center, you may not have known that the U.S. Coast Guard has a presence here at the Aeronautical Center. Located on the second floor and in the basement of the Multi-Purpose building is the U.S. Coast Guard Institute (USCGI).

For nearly half a century, the USCGI has been an Aeronautical Center tenant. Prior to having a location in New London, Connecticut, the USCGI established a presence here at the Center due to its central locality. The Institute's mission has evolved over the years but it maintains a long, proud history of assisting Coast Guard Active Duty, Reserve, Civilians and Auxiliary members in meeting their respective education and career advancement needs. The USCGI operates currently under the command of LCDR Lisa Garcez and is comprised of four divisions. LCDR Garcez asserts "that the Coast Guard Institute aspires to provide excellence in Education and Training Services 24/7, 365 days a year." The divisions utilize a small staff of 17 active duty members and 10 civilians. The Institute provides an unwavering commitment to customer service and support, directly contributing to a more prepared and educated organization under Homeland Security.

Here's a glimpse of each of USCGI's divisions:

The Registrar's Office (RO) provides Coast Guard members with a variety of educational resources to assist members in achieving their educational goals. The RO provides assistance for Coast Guard course accreditation with reviews from the American Council on Education (ACE), Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) examinations, degree plans from the Service members Opportunity College (SOCS) and Quality Assurance reviews for transcripts through the Joint Services Transcript system (JST).

The Tuition Assistance and Grants Division (TAG) is designed to assist eligible personnel with professional development by providing funding for off-duty voluntary education through either Tuition Assistance or various Grant programs. Annually, TAG provides over $5M in Tuition Assistance to over 3,900 members and over $200K in grants to 700 members.

The Course Support and Testing Division (CST) serves as a conduit between the Coast Guard's Enlisted Rating Advancement process and the Education Service Officers (ESOs). CST verifies and implements policies and requirements for all End of Course and Rating Advancement Tests, while also creating and distributing testing resources to over 800 ESO's throughout the Coast Guard.

The Information Technology Division (IT) provides technical support to several critical areas: the Coast Guard Institute's essential database and test tracking systems, the Training and Academia Customer Care Tracking System (TACCTS), and Questionmark Perception (QMP). The Division's commitment to mission critical testing enables Education Service Officers throughout the Coast Guard to successfully test and qualify members for advancement.

Currently, Oklahoma City is home to three U.S. Coast Guard facilities: the Container Inspection Training and Assistance Team (CITAT), the USCG Training Institute, and a recruiting office. For more information about the U.S. Coast Guard Institute visit: http://www.uscg.mil/hr/cgi/ .