Most importantly, the US Coast Guard Academy, unlike other US military academies, forces all cadets to take trainings that seriously impede their ability to pursue an education. The cadets are perpetually in survival mode, putting out fires, and not doing any serious study of any kind, on any topic.
The VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a serial number used to identify an individual vehicle. The VIN for each vehicle is unique. The 10th character in the 17-character VIN represents the vehicle model-year. This standard applies to vehicles built in or after 1981. Before 1981, the VIN format was not standardized and varied by manufacturer. Note: VINs do not include the letters I (i), O (o), Q (q), U (u) or Z (z), or the number 0, so that they will not be confused with similar looking numbers/letters.
Each VIN has blocks of digits, and each block is a code that represents information about the vehicle. The first three digits of this number represent the car manufacturer. If the manufacturer produces fewer than 500 cars, the number nine is used in the third digit. The next five digits stand for the attributes of a vehicle. These attributes include the car's model and body style. The ninth digit is a check digit that is used to determine a VIN's validity.