Coast Guard....are they really military?!?!?!

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 16:41:54 -0500

So a while back I commuted on a thread concerning the topic of this post. (https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/is-the-coast-guard-a-part-of-the-military)

I'm still stunned and I get this a lot, that the Coast Guard isn't a branch of the military. When I ask why do they think that, they say well they aren't in the Department of Defense.

I often explain that technically no military branch a member of the military per say to which I get wide eyes, gasps, stares, death threats...(made that last one up). Anywho...are any branches of service in the Department of the Military? No. None. Zero. Zilch.

There are however, four high capable military branches found in the the Department of Defense. And one, also very high capable, if not very small military branch found in the Department of Homeland Security.

Defense and Homeland Security. They sound very similar to me. Similarish mission too I'd reckon.

But are the Army and Navy the same? No. One is more land focused, one more focused on sea superiority. But wait...what about the Air Force? Well...they have a focus on air superiority. Oh wait..the Marines? Well they have a lot focus on superiority all over the flipping place.

Where does that leave the Coast Guard? Doing their job in the fight. Most people don't know that the Coast Guard has 11 federally mandated missions.
Legacy missions : Marine safety, search and rescue, aids to navigation, living marine resources (fisheries law enforcement), marine environmental protection, and ice operations
Homeland security missions: Ports, waterways, and coastal security (PWCS); drug interdiction; migrant interdiction; defense readiness; and other law enforcement.

Like your service, we are busy and woefully underfunded. Even with all our missions, we are a military service albeit a unique one at that.

14 U.S. Code § 1 - Establishment of Coast Guard
The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times.

Everyone branch their part, everyone has their job. Whether is running NORAD or pushing buttons at SOUTHCOM there are all sorts of weird, wild and interesting jobs in the military over our 5 branches of the Armed Forces.

We work as a team. We have our specialties and we learn from each other. One team, one fight. We might argue, we may bicker and we certainly brag about our services, joke about the others but in the end, we cover each others back. We honor each other. We serve each other. We are the US Military. We are the ones standing tall on the wall to protect you.