Coast Guard Officer
name: Joshua Lambert
age: 23
hometown: All over (Air Force family)
career:
I am currently a Deck Watch Officer onboard a 270’ Coast Guard cutter. I run a bridge team to steer and direct the ship where it needs to be and additionally manage 20 personnel in my department to ensure the ship is maintained on the outside and that training is conducted for the 100-person crew to be qualified for our operations. We are gone for the half the year to the Caribbean or Eastern Pacific conducting counter-narcotic patrols.
education:
I went to the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut, and started out as a Civil Engineer major but switched to Operations Research and Computer Analysis. I went in very motivated at first but struggled as I adjusted to reality versus what my expectations of the academy were. I had to lean heavily on my friends, mentors, and God after I almost got kicked out of the academy for grades. I graduated and learned that failure is not the end of a thing but rather an opportunity to gain experience and learn.
growing up:
Growing up, I always wanted to fly in the Coast Guard. My dad served for 23 years in the Air Force as a pilot and in command. My father definitely wanted us to follow in his footsteps, and my mom considered it the best way to start out in life. I grew up in the world of military aviation, going to airshows and being surrounded by upstanding and motivating men and women in the military.
secret to success:
First and foremost, prioritize a personal relationship with God in your life, otherwise there is no point to the work you do. Find mentors who you can be completely honest with in your life and humbly go to them. Mentorship is severely underrated these days and was crucial to survival at the academy. Don’t play the game that the world wants you to play. Act upon the world, don’t let it act upon you.
major influences:
My mom would read the Bible with us every single morning growing up, even through high school. That grounding in God’s Word is something I have grown to appreciate even more because that’s what this life is all about. My dad taught me and my brothers team mentality; my brothers mean the world to me, and I wouldn’t be the same without them. I truly would not be where I am now without my wife, Ashley.
advice for parents:
Focus more on trying to develop your children’s character than their future career. Encourage your teens to find mentors in the fields that they’re interested in, and facilitate meetings as best as you can. The experience and honesty from a mentor can really provide valuable insight to future careers, and develop and shape character.
advice for teens:
Don’t be satisfied sacrificing hours of your day to a screen! Establish good morning and evening routines to bookend your day. Above all, seek out the Truth.
Top 5:
- Reading
- Cooking
- Woodworking
- Hunting
- Surprising my wife with flowers.
Fun Fact:
I am the third of four brothers. All of us joined the military: the oldest is a pilot in the Air Force, the next is a Marine Infantry Officer, and the youngest graduates from the Air Force Academy this summer.
