What is the United States Coast Guard?
The U.S. Coast Guard is one of five branches of the US Armed Forces, and falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard is the country's oldest continuous seagoing service with responsibilities including Search and Rescue (SAR), Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE), Aids to Navigation (ATON), Icebreaking, Environmental Protection, Port Security and Military Readiness. In order to accomplish these missions the Coast Guard's 38,000 active-duty men and women, 8,000 Reservists, and 35,000 Auxiliarists serve in a variety of job fields ranging from operation specialists and small-boat operators and maintenance specialists to electronic technicians and aviation mechanics. The Coast Guard, during an average day, will:
Conduct 109 Search and Rescue Cases
Save 10 lives Assist 192 people in distress
Protect $2,791,841 in property
Launch 396 small boat missions
Launch 164 aircraft missions, logging 324 hours
Board 144 vessels
Seize 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9,589,000
Intercept 14 illegal migrants
Board 100 large vessels for port safety checks
Respond to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons
Service 135 aids to navigation
You know, there's another thread here, about the British storming the jail with a tank only to find their men hidden by the 'police' in another house-
where I noticed and made the call that everyone on the thread assumed the report that the 2 British troops were disguised and armed with explosives, because the (compromised)Iraqi police and the media report said so.
No critical thought process was evident on the very first line of reason, proof. Rants were all over the place.
House Defense Review Should Include Coast Guard
by James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.
WebMemo #851
September 21, 2005 | |
http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/wm851.cfm
The Pentagon is finalizing its congressionally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), an analysis of the strategy, forces, and resources required to make the nation safer over the next four years. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), recently announced that his committee will produce an alternative assessment, providing the Congress an independent review of defense needs. That is a prudent undertaking. The HASC analysis would be of even greater value if it included an evaluation of the Coast Guard’s role in supporting Pentagon missions.
The Coast Guard and the Pentagon
The Coast Guard is an armed service of the United States. Though it is part of the Department of Homeland Security, it also supports defense missions and in times of war can be placed under command of the Pentagon. The U.S. Coast Guard is the world’s tenth largest ‘navy.’ It is a significant force. Since 9/11, Coast Guard ships, planes, and shore personnel have been called on to play an ever expanding role in both securing the nation at home and supporting the U.S. military overseas. During the response to Hurricane Katrina, Coast Guard search and rescue saved over 33,000 lives. At the same time, over 1,200 Coast Guard personnel are on duty in Iraq.
America’s National Fleet
The most efficient and effective manner to evaluate what America needs to secure its interests at sea is to envision the Coast Guard and the Navy working together as a “holistic” force. While the Department of Defense holds that “homeland defense” (the job of protecting the U.S. from conventional military invasion) and “homeland security” (the task of protecting against terrorist attacks and responding to disasters) are different missions, the reality is that, for the Coast Guard and the Navy, they create overlapping roles. The Coast Guard and the Navy must work together to accomplish these tasks. Conducting a strategic defense assessment that looks at the Navy alone makes no sense.
Joint Analysis Needed
A joint analysis of Coast Guard and Navy could yield important insights, including:
Determining the requirements for the Navy’s Littoral Ship Program;
Evaluating the importance of the Coast Guard’s Deepwater modernization program to the Pentagon; and
Prescribing the best mix of assets to dealing with emerging threats and new missions, such as the proliferation security initiative.
The House Armed Services Committee can help answer these questions by including Coast Guard missions, assets, and needs in its defense review.
James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is Senior Research Fellow for National Security and Homeland Security in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation. John Melogy contributed to this report.