/Coast%20Guard2

United States Coast Guard

Semper Paratus

A publication of the Junior Police Academy.

rescue 1. to free or save from danger 2. the act or an instance of rescuing; deliverance

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The United States Coast Guard

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.

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Why do we need a coast guard?

Coast Guard Activity on an Average Day: • Assist 192 people in distress • Protect $2.8 million in property • Interdict 14 illegal migrants at sea • Conduct 109 search and rescue cases • Seize $9.6 million worth of illegal drugs • Educate 502 people in boating safety courses • Respond to 20 oil and hazardous chemical spills • Conduct 19 maritime security boardings

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Assiss 192 people in distress each day.

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the mission: The Coast Guard has roles in maritime homeland security, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental protection, and the maintenance of river,intracoastal and offshore aids to navigation.

While most military services are either at war or training for war, the Coast Guard is deployed every day. With a decentralized organization and much responsibility placed on even the most junior personnel, the Coast Guard is frequently lauded for its quick responsiveness and adaptability in a broad range of emergencies.

In a 2005 article in TIME magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war.

In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself."

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"In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself."

U. S. Coast Guard History The U. S. Coast Guard is simultaneously and

Saving Service, thereby providing the nation

nation's only armed force afloat. We

at all times a military force and federal law

with a single maritime service dedicated to

protected the nation throughout our long

enforcement agency dedicated to safety,

saving life at sea and enforcing the nation's

history and served proudly in every one of

security, and stewardship missions. We save

maritime laws.

the nation's conflicts.

defend the homeland. We enforce Federal

The Coast Guard began to maintain the

Our national defense responsibilities remain

laws on the high seas, the nation's coastal

country's aids to maritime navigation,

one of our most important functions even

waters and its inland waterways. We are

including operating the nation's lighthouses,

today. In times of peace we operate as part

unique in the Nation and the world.

when President Franklin Roosevelt ordered

of the Department of Homeland Security,

the transfer of the Lighthouse Service to the

serving as the nation's front-line agency for

Coast Guard in 1939.

enforcing the nation's laws at sea, protecting

lives. We protect the environment. We

Our official history began on 4 August 1790 when the first Congress authorized the

the marine environment and the nation's vast

construction of ten vessels to enforce federal

In 1946 Congress permanently transferred

coastline and ports, and saving life. In times

tariff and trade laws and to prevent

the Commerce Department's Bureau of

of war, or at the direction of the President,

smuggling. Known variously through the

Marine Inspection and Navigation to the

we serve under the Navy Department.

nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as the

Coast Guard, thereby placing merchant

Revenue Marine and the Revenue Cutter

marine licensing and merchant vessel safety

Service, we expanded in size and

under our purview.

responsibilities as the nation grew.

The Coast Guard is one of the oldest

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The service received its present name in

organizations of the federal government and

1915 under an act of Congress that merged

until Congress established the Navy

the Revenue Cutter Service with the Life-

Department in 1798 we served as the

"Coasties” The formal name for a uniformed member of the Coast Guard is "Coast Guardsman", irrespective of gender. "Coastie" is an informal term commonly used to refer to current or former Coast Guard personnel.

"Team Coast Guard" refers to the four components of the Coast Guard as a whole: Regular, Reserve, Auxiliary, and Coast Guard civilian employees.

Stats • Total Active Duty: 39,000 • Selected Reserve: 7,800 • Enlisted: 31,000 • Officer: 6,000 • Chief Warrant Officer: 1,300 • Full-time Permanent Civilian: 6,000

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Facts: The U.S. Coast Guard has five

commanding officer of headquarters

operational goals: maritime safety,

— that responsibility falls to the chief

national defense, maritime security,

of staff.

mobility and the protection of natural resources.

The Coast Guard is divided into two areas, Atlantic and Pacific. Each area

The commandant of the Coast Guard

commander is under the direction of

directs the policy and administration

the commandant. The two areas are

of the Coast Guard under the general

subdivided into a number of districts,

supervision of the secretary of the

whose commanders report to the

Department of Homeland Security.

area commanders.

The Coast Guard's only full, four-star admiral, the commandant serves as

Congress authorized the building of

the principal advisor to the secretary

ten boats to establish a "fleet of

regarding service matters.

cutters" — forbearer of the Coast Guard — on August 4, 1790.

The commandant provides immediate direction to headquarters units, though he is not actually the

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“Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.�

Victor Hugo

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The Coast Guard's motto is "Semper Paratus" — "Always Ready"

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