Editor's note

Sea Power, Aug 2003 by Barnard, Rick

Once there was a time when the Coast Guard was akin to the cop on the beat: People rarely thought of the sea service until they had been washed overboard and were screaming for help. And the Coast Guard was usually there, its great orange slash piercing through the gloom of tidal waves, port fires, and tempests at sea.

But few have fully understood the Coast Guard's role in protecting the environment, chasing down pirate fishing vessels, or training other coast guards and navies around the world. South American drug smugglers inadvertently helped shape the modern image of the Coast Guard in the minds of many, as they raced across the Florida Straits with the Coasties in hot pursuit.

During the tragedies of 9/11 and the wars that followed, the nation witnessed how much it had come to rely on the 39,000 men and women of the Coast Guard, who threw a defense perimeter around New York Harbor, deployed to Iraq, and now face the mammoth task of tightening security at the nation's 361 ports.

In this issue, we examine the need to accelerate the biggest purchase of ships, planes, and sensors in Coast Guard history (p. 23), and talk with Adm. Thomas H. Collins, Coast Guard commandant, about his efforts to balance priorities in an ever-shifting political environment (p. 19). Correspondent David Brown, who covered the Coast Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom, takes a look at the service in action from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Iraqi port city of Umm Qasr (p. 27).

Elsewhere in this issue, Sheila M. McNeill, the Navy League's new national president, offers a powerful commentary on the need to rebalance the nation's security requirements with its environmental laws (p. 3), and Correspondent Patricia Kime reports that the Navy's Cyclone-class patrol ships may find new life during the war on terrorism (p. 13).

This month, Hunter Keeter joins the Sea Power staff as associate editor. Well known in Washington's naval circles, Hunter comes to us after five years as a reporter with the Washington-based newsletter Defense Daily. Readers will find him knowledgeable, tenacious, and straightforward.

Another addition is found on page 56. "In My Own Words" is a new department about the nation's greatest national security resource: its people. Each month, individuals from the sea services, government, or industry will communicate directly with you about their lives, their jobs, and how they make a difference in the world around them. In this issue, Cdr. Doug Denneny tells us about the last deployment aboard the carrier USS Constellation and the approach to Baghdad, as he led his fighter squadron on one of the first air attacks of the war. Good defense is possible only with good people. And they now have a special place on the pages of Sea Power.

Rick Barnard

Editor in Chief

We are eager to get your feedback. Contact me at rbarnard@navyleague.org or by mail at Sea Power, 2300 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22201-3308.