Vice Admiral Harvey E. Johnson Jr. Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area U.S. Maritime Defense Zone Pacific Regional Emergency Transportation Coordinator

CHIPS, April-June, 2005

Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson assumed the duties of Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area in June 2004. The area of operations for the Pacific Area encompasses over 73 million miles west of the Rocky Mountains and throughout the Pacific Basin to the Far East. Prior to this assignment, he was the Commander, Seventh Coast Guard District and served as the Director, Homeland Security Task Force-Southeast, where he directed Operation Able Sentry, the Department of Homeland Security response to the crisis in Haiti. In addition to these duties, Vice Admiral Johnson served as the Executive Director of the Coast Guard's transition into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Director of Operations Capability and Director of Operations Policy.

CHIPS: Can you discuss the Coast Guard's homeland security mission in terms of the greater role the USCG now has in national defense?

Vice Adm. Johnson: The Coast Guard is designated as the lead federal agency for maritime homeland security. This has become a visible representation of our contribution to the safety and protection of America. Maritime Security now stands alongside search and rescue as primary missions for the Coast Guard and demonstrates that we are a multi-mission service. So, while we bring a sharp operational focus to maritime security, we continue to meet the American public's expectations to protect domestic fisheries and the marine environment, prevent illegal drug and alien migrant flow, and provide service aids to navigation, along with all our other missions.

The Coast Guard has new responsibility and authority to meet the challenges of maritime security. Passage of the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) of 2002 expanded Coast Guard authorities to require security plans from ships that trade with our nation as well as for the maritime facilities in our ports. The Act also established Coast Guard Captains of the Port as Federal Maritime Security Coordinators. This mission fits well with the Coast Guard because we have a lot of experience in working with federal, state and local agencies, DoD, the maritime industry and the public.

We have also added new capabilities. For example, we have added almost, 4,500 people, acquired new patrol boats, and new response boats, and commissioned 13 Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSSTs). MSSTs consist of small boats and crews specially trained in maritime security tactics. Within these teams, we have--for the first time--an undersea detection capability, with divers and specialized sensors to scan piers and other structures to ensure that facilities and moored vessels are safe.

The MSSTs also have canine teams that can detect the presence of explosives. We have fielded Sea Marshals and have new vessel and facility inspectors. We have greatly expanded our partnerships with federal, state and local agencies as well as those in the maritime industry. When you add all of these capacities together, you can understand how the Coast Guard has helped to bring about a far greater level of safety and security in our maritime environment since 9/11.

CHIPS: Are these new capabilities part of your transformation process?

Vice Adm. Johnson: That's an interesting question. Transformation generally connotes a fundamental change in an organization's approach to a task, perhaps transforming from one paradigm to another. In that respect, I view the changes the Coast Guard is experiencing as more of an adaptation than a transformation, as we adapt to a more aggressive readiness posture to meet the challenges of maritime security.

One of the strengths of the Coast Guard is that we maintain a broad set of organizational competencies and are flexible enough to adapt them to rapidly meet the emerging maritime safety and security needs of our nation. Over the past few years, we have drawn on our law enforcement and maritime safety competencies to very quickly acquire and employ the new capabilities that we just discussed. We then took the same approach to adapt vertical insertion and armed helicopters from drug enforcement to the broader challenge of maritime security. I think that is one reason the American people find such value and ascribe such credibility to the Coast Guard.

CHIPS: How does the Coast Guard's mission complement the U.S. Navy's role in maritime defense?

Vice Adm. Johnson: The Coast Guard's maritime homeland security mission and our maritime homeland defense responsibility are complementary to the Navy's maritime homeland defense responsibilities. This is so by design, and by more than a century of practice between our services in meeting maritime challenges.

Our service chiefs, Admiral Collins and Admiral Clark, are leading us in implementing a National Fleet concept. This is a concept that was initiated by their predecessors, but one they have taken to a new level. It essentially recognizes the value of a synergistic relationship between the Navy and Coast Guard such that we work together expressly to pursue a course of building and sustaining complementary capabilities.