Dan Piazza Accepted to the U. S. Coast Guard Academy

2007 Pawling High School graduate will begin "Swab Summer" in June, and will continue his Cross Country career at the Academy

Dan Piazza of Pawling has gained admission to the U. S. Coast Guard in New London, Connecticut. Dan is the eldest child of Jim and Shelly Piazza, and graduated from Pawling High School with the Class of 2007.

His is one of only 300 commissions granted among more than 6,000 applications received annually by the Coast Guard Academy.

Piazza told the Herald in an interview this week that his long-term goal is to become a pilot of the U. S. Coast Guard H-60 Helicopter, and that he plans to make a full career as a member of the U. S. Coast Guard.

Dan told the Herald, “Yes, sir, and I am quite excited. It is a four-year college program, and I will graduate with a degree, after which I will have a five-year commitment to the Coast Guard. If I go on to flight school, it will mean an additional four years of commitment, for a total of nine years commitment. I want the Coast Guard to be my overall future, and I plan to put in 30 years or more, so I expect to serve beyond my nine-year commitment.

“The Coast Guard Academy offers five majors, and they are all in the areas of mechanical and engineering majors. I am going back and forth between mechanical engineering and naval architecture.

“The Coast Guard Helicopter is the H-60. The crew is the pilot, the co-pilot, the flight mechanic and the rescue swimmer, a total of four members in the helicopter. For flight school, once I graduate from the Academy, I would go down to Pensacola, Florida.

“I would like to be assigned to Florida and the Key West area doing drug interdiction and illegal immigration, along with search and rescue, and that is what the flight training would be for, to serve as a helicopter pilot in that area for the Coast Guard.”

Piazza also knows that he might be assigned to any of the many Coast Guard deployments around the world, and as he said, “Yes, there is Coast Guard in Iraq now, patrolling the waters and doing security checks in the different ports on the water. The Coast Guard is in places all over the world. And, of course, there is Coast Guard here in the United States, doing search and rescue and security checks and protecting our borders.”

Like so many young people from Pawling, Piazza is blessed with a strong and close-knit family, and as he said, “My family is very strong and close, and we support each other in everything we do. It was actually my mother who encouraged me to re-apply to the Coast Guard Academy while I was at SUNY Maritime, and it is certainly working out for me. I am really excited about attending the Coast Guard Academy. This is what I really wanted to do. My mom and my dad have always been great, have always been there for us, and we kids are very lucky to have them.

“I have three friends and classmates from Pawling High School who are already in the Coast Guard, Gunther Daley, Stratton Leo and Ryan Brogan. Scott Senkier has just graduated from the Academy, and he is the son of Coach Senkier at the Pawling Middle School.”

When Dan applied to the Coast Guard Academy while a senior with the Pawling High School Class of 2007, he was put on a waiting list, but did not gain admittance. He attended SUNY Maritime last year on an appointment granted by State Senator Vincent Leibell.

“I enjoyed SUNY Maritime very much, and attending Maritime was certainly a great help in being accepted to the Coast Guard Academy,” Piazza said. “Attending Maritime and re-applying to the Academy and being willing to start over again were very important factors in getting accepted. I had a 3.17 GPA in my first semester at Maritime, which showed I could do the all of the regular work while also running Varsity Cross Country, so it all helped in my re-application to the Academy.”

Dan helped the SUNY Maritime Cross Country Team win the first Skyline Conference of New York championship by any Maritime team in the history of the school. Placing third for Maritime and tenth overall at the Skyline Championships held at Bard College, Piazza was a critical member of the Maritime team in just his freshman season.

In his senior season at Pawling High School, Dan was a scoring member of the five-man team that placed a phenomenal second at the 2006 New York State Cross Country Championships held at Warwick Valley, with teammates Colby Delbene, Rafael Stabe, Reid McGrath and Jon Nash.

Dan said he will continue his Cross Country career at the Academy, and as he told the Herald, “The Coast Guard Academy is in the ECAC, the Eastern College Athletic Conference, which is NCAA Division III, the same conference as SUNY Maritime. I plan to run Cross Country at the Academy in the fall, and perhaps pole vault in winter Track & Field, and I may play in the club rugby program in the spring. I watched them play rugby at Maritime, and it looked great, and I would like to try something new. Cross Country is definite, and I will see about the other sports.”

The Academy experience begins with an orientation called “Swab Summer”, about which Piazza said, “’Swab Summer’ starts on June 30 at the Academy in New London, Connecticut, and that is six weeks of a sort of boot camp. We go through drilling and marching. We spend a week on the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle, which is a “tall ship” that is a training ship for the Academy.”

“Swab Summer” is described on the Academy website at www.cga.edu: "Swab Summer is a seven-week traditional military indoctrination. It is designed to help young civilian students transition into the lifestyle of Coast Guard Academy cadets. The training process starts with general military skills and physical conditioning. The training continues with seamanship, swimming and academics. Through the process, students develop self-discipline, military bearing and esprit de corps (the spirit of the corps). They also begin to understand the Coast Guard's Core Values of Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty."

Academy Overview
From Academy Website at www.cga.edu

U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut
Founded in 1876, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut is a professional college educating future United States Coast Guard officers. It is a fully resident military cadet campus and the smallest United States federal service academy.

The Academy provides a four-year Bachelor of Science degree program, with the curriculum heavily oriented toward math, science, and engineering. Like the other U.S. federal service academies, our students receive a full scholarship and our graduates serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. However, unlike the other service academies, there are no congressional appointments — admission is based solely on nationwide competition.

The Coast Guard Academy has a proud tradition as one of the most selective colleges in America. Students come to the Academy to be challenged academically, physically, and professionally. By providing excellent academic programs, a structured military regimen, and competitive athletics, the Academy graduates competent and professional military leaders who serve their country and humanity with honor as Coast Guard officers.