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.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) started issuing VINs for all vehicles in 1981. After 1981, all VINs issued had 17 characters. A vehicle identification number in Pennsylvania will also have 17 digits. It is interesting to find out the meaning attached to each character in a VIN. Decoding the number gives you information about the car and its usage in the past.