Coast Guard Must Prepare to ‘Fight Tonight'

The mission of the Coast Guard is not on the otherside of the Pacfic but in our costal waters. Expecting them to be deployable elsewhere only weakens us at home and the budget for such mission expansion will never be realized. Of course the Navy would never let such a thing occur.

The USCGs mission has always been world wide. We have participated in every war the US has been involved in since 1790. Currently we are deploying high endurance cutters to the 7th fleet as a white hulled CG ship is seen as less of a provocation patrolling the S China Sea. CG Port Security Units are deployed to the Persian Gulf where they have been since the First Gulf War, providing escorts and security to civilian and military vessels transiting the region. They have a unique skill set that better qualifies them to perform those duties, and under current law can do things the Navy can't. There are also detachments in Afghanistan checking to ensure shipments are properly packed and loaded so our men and women don't accidentally blow themselves up. Again bringing a level of expertise not found elsewhere. We provide and maintain Aids to Navigation to our various far flung territories, and assist and train many nations in protecting fisheries, securing their seaways, providing Search and Rescue, and so forth. For certain events involving US and foreign dignitaries on or near the water, we augment the local forces and in many cases provide them with training as well. We also provide icebreaker support to the Navy for the annual Antarctic resupply mission. In the past, we have operated and manned LORAN stations all over the globe, as well as dozens of Ocean Stations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Vietnam, we operated various Navigational units, Blue water and Brown water units, supervised the loading and unloading of munitions dockside, taught and flew helicopter SAR, etc. I could go on and on, but as the world's premiere Coast Guard, we have a global impact. That so many countries mark their CG vessels with a white hull and some sort of racing stripe is no accident.