Modern cutters allow U.S. to advance national interests. BY EDWARD LUNDQUIST
From patrols in the tropics to icebreaking in polar waters to fixing channel markers in the heart of America, the U.S. Coast Guard has a vital job to do. The
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Coast Guard OUTLOOK
U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS MATTHEW WEST
IN THE MARITIME DOMAIN, PRESENCE EQUALS INFLUENCE
cutter with the blazing orange stripe on her hull that arrives at the scene of a crisis signals that everything is under control. Originally, the term “cutter” referred to the traditional small sailing vessel. Today it refers to a vessel that has a permanently assigned crew and the accommodations for their extended support, and measures 65 feet long or greater. Those under 65 feet are called boats. Coast Guard cutters are multimission ships. Those cutters used primarily for multimission patrols are white; those primarily engaged in icebreaking are red; and those involved in servicing aids to navigation or maintaining the navigation of harbors or waterways are black. The Coast Guard is currently building new cutters to replace its aging legacy fleet, including the National Security Cutter (NSC), Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), Fast Response Cutter (FRC), Polar Security Cutter (PSC), and Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC). “Across the board, every one of the new classes of cutters are a significant step-function better than the ones they are replacing,” said Jay Boyd, NSC program manager for Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), which builds the NSC at Ingalls Shipbuilding, its Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard. While new cutters are being built as replacements for legacy cutters, the service is also sustaining and lengthening the service lives of cutters through its In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) program.
U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTOS BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS MATTHEW WEST
The crews of the Coast Guard Cutters Kimball (WMSL 756) and Midgett (WMSL 757) transit off Honolulu, Aug. 16, 2019. The cutters are two of the newest to join the Coast Guard fleet and are both homeported in Hawaii.
