(So I kinda defaulted to USCG. Which, on the whole, I was pretty happy with! Even as somebody in the engineering side of things, I can say that some people who would have died, didn't, because I was there. (Long story, not in the mood to brag). But Katrina... was weird.)
(I was on a 'big' ship then. Big for the CG, anyway. We couldn't get anywhere near NOLA - the delta was so muddy it would have clogged the engine cooling water in a few hours. We served as a helo refueling point for weeks, as a bunch of Ashton Kutcher wannabes* got to save people in the water.)
(But other than all the helo ops, and the refueling, we didn't have much to do. So we watched a lot of TV. And what we saw was frankly fucked. The Superdome, the people forced to abandon animals, or risk dying themselves, etc. I saw a failed state, even as we helped some people.)
(* - Ok, so, like, I understand the movie was dramatizing SAR. But for years after that shit came out, we had kids coming out of boot camp saying the were going to be an AST (the crazy peeps that jump out of helos to rescue people in the water) None of them ever actually became ASTs.)
(At least in 2008, the USCG AST program had both a lower acceptance and graduation rate than either the Army Rangers or Navy Seals. That shit ain't easy. TBF, if you're jumping out of a helo to save people, you should be in pretty good shape. Physically. Mentally, they're fucking nuts.)