The U.S. Coast Guard today

Naval War College Review, Spring, 2004 by Thomas H. Collins

Our success in these historic events was due to five key factors. The first was the hard work, integrity, professionalism, and adaptability of our people; the second, the military character of our service; the third, the multimission capability embedded in our cutters, in our aircraft, in our boats, in our systems, and in our people. The fourth was our close partnership with the Navy and our investment throughout the year in joint training opportunities and interoperability; and the fifth, our transfer to the Department of Homeland Security, which strengthens both our relationships with other agencies within our department and our partnerships with the Department of Defense, as well as with other federal, state, and local agencies.

A MULTIMISSION PORTFOLIO

From U.S. military operations overseas to vital homeland security missions in the United States, to a host of significant operations in its full multimission portfolio, the Coast Guard in 2003 proved repeatedly that it is semper paratus--always ready to do whatever it takes to support the nation and the American people. It is worth reviewing some of the past year's operational highlights.

Working closely with its interagency and international law-enforcement partners, for example, the Coast Guard had by the end of the fiscal year seized its second-highest annual total of illegal drugs--136,865 pounds of cocaine and more than fourteen thousand pounds of marijuana. Coast Guard units stopped more than six thousand undocumented migrants from entering the United States illegally. This law-enforcement presence to preserve maritime security in the 3.4-million-square-mile American exclusive economic zone also led to the documentation of more than a hundred significant violations of fisheries regulations (and the seizure of more than forty illegal catches) and of more than 140 violations of laws protecting marine mammals and endangered species.

International partnerships forged with law-enforcement agencies from nations of the North Pacific region and the establishment of Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Centers contributed directly to the past year's seizure of four People's Republic of China trawlers engaged in illegal high-seas driftnet fishing, identification of eighteen additional suspect vessels from other nations, and ongoing investigations of other cases.

This level of success in law-enforcement missions is due in part to innovative tactics, techniques, and procedures. Previously limited to counterdrug operations, armed Coast Guard helicopters now patrol port and harbor approaches to counter more complex terrorist threats. New equipment also is being fielded to enable units to stop vessels that refuse to comply with boarding-and-search orders.

As part of their mission to protect natural resources, Coast Guard men and women worked hard in 2003, through a concerted program of prevention, education, and enforcement, to eliminate pollution discharged into the nation's waterways from any source. More than 3,800 pollution incidents were reported and investigated by the Coast Guard during the year. Incidents calling for a response took many forms--a ninety-eight-thousand-gallon spill in Cape Cod's Buzzards Bay, an explosion on an oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, a spill from an oil pipeline under a lake in Louisiana, the release of hazardous materials from a merchant vessel in a major port in the Pacific Northwest, and a fishing vessel sinking in port and releasing fuel oil, to cite but a few examples.