Today is the U. S. Coast Guard's 225th Birthday. Share your best wishes for and best stories of the nation's smallest military service?

"The U.S. Coast Guard is one of the five armed forces of the United States and the only military organization within the Department of Homeland Security. Since 1790 the Coast Guard has safeguarded our Nation's maritime interests and environment around the world. The Coast Guard is an adaptable, responsive military force of maritime professionals whose broad legal authorities, capable assets, geographic diversity and expansive partnerships provide a persistent presence along our rivers, in the ports, littoral regions and on the high seas. Coast Guard presence and impact is local, regional, national and international. These attributes make the Coast Guard a unique instrument of maritime safety, security and environmental stewardship."


The second oldest, continuously operating military service and the nation's smallest celebrates its 225th Birthday today. Countless Americans, including an embarrassingly significant number of military personnel of all ranks, haven't the foggiest idea what the USCG does except, perhaps, rescue people at sea. That is only one of its eleven federally-mandated missions. It performs all those missions with only 35,000-plus active duty personnel, 8,000 Reservists, and 32,000 Auxiliarists. It has only 211 aircraft, both fixed wing and rotary. That's equal to only three of the U.S. Navy's air wings. The mainstay of the Coast Guard's arsenal are its nearly 2400 small boats (under 65') and cutters, numbering some 175-strong.

Truth is, having served in the USN, followed by the USAR, then twenty years in the USCGR, the Coast Guard was literally like one very large, but very intimate family. I can't remember ever traveling anywhere in the vast network of district headquarters, stations, and facilities that I did not know someone. Yes, the Coast Guard is most often the butt of jokes from members of the other services, and we are always explaining to someone what it is we do day in, day out, but if you ask most any Coastie today if he or she would trade places with any servicemember from the other four, more well-known militaries, you are very likely to get a "Hell No" every time. The Coast Guard seems to have a number of mottos for different aspects of its many missions, but the one I like best is "We have to go out, but we don't have to come back." Happy Birthday, U.S. Coast Guard. Semper Paratus!!!

Visit http://www.USCG.mil.