Coast Guard Outlook 2016-2017 Edition by Faircount Media Group

2016-2017 EDITION

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS TARA MOLLE

Two MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, conduct a practice formation flight around the Island of Oahu, March 4, 2016. The Dolphin aircrews, along with an HC-130 Hercules aircrew, practiced proficiency with multiple aircraft flying at once.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

CONTENTS 8 INTERVIEW: Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft By Craig Collins

20 INTERVIEW: U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. Ranking member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Ex officio member of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere,Fisheries, and Coast Guard

26 INTERVIEW: U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif. Chairman, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee By Chuck Oldham

32 Building a 21st Century Coast Guard By Craig Collins

42 “Western Hemisphere Strategy” Seeks to Achieve Cycle of Success New platforms provide offshore presence for layered defense. By Edward Lundquist

52 The Coast Guard’s Arctic Surge By Craig Collins

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

CONTENTS 62 Cybersecurity Within the Coast Guard By J.R. Wilson

68 Port Facilities, Vessels, and Workers Plan for Security By Edward Lundquist

76 Missions of the U.S. Coast Guard

104

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110 The CGAAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl By J.R. Wilson

116 The Cutters, Boats, and Aircraft of the U.S. Coast Guard

146

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Organizational Snapshot

148 Flag Leadership

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2016-2017 EDITION Published by Faircount Media Group 701 North West Shore Blvd. Tampa, FL 33609 Tel: 813.639.1900 www.defensemedianetwork.com www.faircount.com EDITORIAL Editor in Chief: Chuck Oldham Managing Editor: Ana E. Lopez Editor: Rhonda Carpenter Contributing Writers: Chuck Oldham, Craig Collins, Edward Lundquist, J.R. Wilson

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COVER PHOTO: A Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star boatcrew departs the cutter for training in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, Jan. 6, 2016. During the training, Petty Officer 3rd Class Preston Cummings, a boatswain’s mate in the Polar Star’s deck department, completed his coxswain qualification, which is the position that pilots the boat. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Grant DeVuyst

©Copyright Faircount LLC. All rights reserved. Faircount LLC does not assume responsibility for the advertisements, nor any representation made therein, nor the quality or deliverability of the products themselves. Reproduction of articles and photographs, in whole or in part, contained herein is prohibited without express written consent of the publisher, with the exception of reprinting for news media use. Permission to use various images and text in this publication was obtained from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Defense and their agencies, and in no way is used to imply an endorsement by any U.S. Department of Homeland Security or Department of Defense entity for any claims or representations therein. None of the advertising contained herein implies U.S. government, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or U.S. Department of Defense endorsement of any private entity or enterprise. This is not a publication of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or Department of Defense. Printed in the United States of America.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

interview

Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft B y C R A I G C O L L IN S

Adm. Paul Zukunft assumed the duties of the 25th commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard on May 30, 2014. He leads the largest component of the Department of Homeland Security, composed of 88,000 personnel including active duty, Reserve, civilian, and volunteer auxiliarists. Prior to this, Zukunft served as commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area, where he was operational commander for all U.S. Coast Guard missions in an area encompassing more than 74 million square miles and provided mission support to the Department of Defense and combatant commanders. Other flag assignments include commander of the 11th Coast Guard District in Alameda, California, and director, Joint Interagency Task Force West, where he served as executive agent to U.S. Pacific Command for combating transnational criminal organizations in the Asia-Pacific Region. In 2010, Zukunft served as the federal on-scene coordinator for the Deepwater Horizon Spill of National Significance, where he directed more than 47,000 responders, 6,500 vessels, and 120 aircraft during the largest oil spill in U.S. history. His senior staff assignments included chief of operations, Coast Guard

Pacific Area, and chief of operations oversight, Coast Guard Atlantic Area, where he directly supervised all major cutter operations in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. He also served as chief of staff at the 14th Coast Guard District in Honolulu, Hawaii. Zukunft has commanded six units and served extensively in the cutter fleet, where he commanded the cutters Cape Upright, Harriet Lane, and Rush. A native of North Branford, Connecticut, Zukunft graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in government; from Webster University in 1988 with a Master of Arts degree in management; and from the U.S. Naval War College in 1997 with a Master of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies. He is a graduate of the Asia Pacific Center for Strategic Studies Executive Seminar and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government National Preparedness Leadership Initiative course. His personal awards include the Department of Homeland Security and Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medals, Defense Superior Service Medal, three Legions of Merit, and five Meritorious Service Medals with “O” device, among others.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY TELFAIR H. BROWN SR.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Adm. Paul Zukunft (left) sits next to a thrust bearing bracket that Petty Officer 2nd Class Augustin Foguet and Seaman Manon Mullen helped repair following a catastrophic failure to Polar Star’s system during a recent deployment to Antarctica. Zukunft recognized Foguet and Mullen for their quick thinking and ingenuity that helped save the mission of the nation’s only heavy icebreaker by conducting an around-the-clock welding operation that restored power to the system.

COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS PATRICK KELLEY

Coast Guard Outlook: So, your “Mid-Term Report” was released on July 1. You’re halfway into your tenure as commandant. Has the overall pace of building the 21st century Coast Guard been as you’d envisioned?

investment plan estimates the price of asingle OPC to be about $421 million. Well, affordability is going to be the first priority for the OPC program. When you build a lead ship, those tend to be more expensive, but then when youget into full-rate production, you start realizing economiesof scale. And it’s our intent to drive that numberwell below that figure, that $421 million. That’sthe challenge we’ve presented to industry as well.The good news is we will down-select for final designabout a month from now [September 2016].* Then we’re looking at just over a decade to build out this program of record, and getting into full-rate production, building two of these a year. Obviously, much of that is dependent upon annualized budgets that don’t have variances, where you’d then have to cut back production rates. We all realize that if you can step up production rates, costs per unit go down as well. But we’re looking at taking delivery of the first round of OPCs in 2021, and then over the course of about the next 12 years, building out this

Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft: Some people liken this job to a marathon. And I thought: Well, I’m going to try to run a marathon at a 5-minute-mile pace – and maybe halfway into that marathon, I might have to slow it down a little bit. The fact is, I think we’re running a four-minutemile pace now. So we finally know the gear, but we’re modernizing the Coast Guard at a pace that’s really happening much faster than I could have envisioned a little over two years ago. T he FY 2016 budget was the highest in the Coast Guard’s history. Even so, the program’stop acquisition priority, the offshore patrol cutter(OPC), presents a budgeting challenge. The service’scurrent capital

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Members of Coast Guard Sector Juneau Inspections Division arrive at the cruise ship Crystal Serenity moored in Juneau, Alaska, to conduct a certificate of compliance exam June 22, 2016. The exam tests the crew’s ability to react in the case of an emergency covering a range of different scenarios.

program of record, which right now is 25 offshore patrol cutters.

there. And new-year ice is upwards of 14 feet thick, which a medium icebreaker cannot break; it can break ice up to 8 feet thick. It’s an enduring mission we’ve had in Antarctica, and it truly does require a heavy icebreaker. The Polar Star has completed that mission over the last three years now, but they’re struggling to keep this aging platform fully mission capable. So we do need to identify a relief and get that on the waterfront as soon as possible.

The proposed 2017 budget accelerates the recapitalization of the service’s fleet of icebreakers. The “High Latitude Study” the Coast Guard submitted to Congress in 2011 estimated that the service would need six icebreakers – three heavy and three medium – to meet its needs in the polar regions. What does the Coast Guard need to do in the polar regions, and how does an icebreaker enable it to do those things? The Coast Guard undertook the “High Latitude Study” that recommended a minimum of three heavy and three medium icebreakers, in order to sustain our persistent presence in the high latitudes – and the high latitudes are north and south of the equator. Attention is often focused strictly on the Arctic, but we have a very relevant mission in Antarctica. It’s a different operating environment down there: The Arctic is an ocean, and the Antarctic is a continent. There is a treaty process in Antarctica, and each year we send our heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, down

Yes. So the Polar Star breaks in a channel every year, and they clear it out. They groom it – like grooming a golf course fairway. In this case, they have to actually break down bus-sized chunks of ice. They use the ship’s propellers to break them down into smaller chunks. The wind blows it all out, and they’ve got an open fairway, and they come through and provide the relief supplies for that scientific mission. Then the ship leaves – and when they come back, that fairway they opened now has upwards of 14 feet of brand new ice in it. So, it’s still a pretty extreme environment down there.

COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS JON-PAUL RIOS

Did you say “new-year ice”?

“Now the ice has retreated; there is access; and we’re

Part of the reason the Polar Star is still up and running is that it’s been borrowing parts from its sister ship, Polar Sea. One of the options that’s been discussed for increasing capabilities in the polar regions is to refit or refurbish the Polar Sea. Where are those discussions right now?

seeing this surge in human activity. Last year it was oil and gas exploration. This year

We’ve done a full material assessment of what it would take to reactivate the Polar Sea, recognizing this is a ship that has not been manned for more than five years now. We also did a comparison of how we reactivated the Polar Star and what those costs were. Now we had tremendous cost savings with the Polar Star, because it had a crew. We took parts from the Polar Sea because we have parts obsolescence – you just can’t go out anywhere to [buy parts and] reactivate these ships. So the Polar Sea has a different set of dynamics, because we don’t have a spare parts bin, if you will, to bring that up to speed. So we’ve identified the current condition [of] the Polar Sea, and the deficiencies that need to be corrected, but we haven’t put a dollar figure on that yet. Certainly we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars, but we can’t yet name an exact cost to reactivate the Polar Sea. And then if you reactivate, you’re buying maybe 10 years of service life. You can use that investment instead to renew and acquire a new platform, which comes with 30, or as we’ve seen with these ships, 40 years of service life. So regardless, we’re going to reach a point in time where we have to recapitalize these assets. And quite honestly, I’m convinced that the time is now.

it’s the cruise ship industry.”

rescue. You don’t have trauma centers. So where do you treat victims of a mass rescue who are now in icecold water, where survival times are measured in minutes? The remoteness of the environment – all of those factors are working against us. We don’t have resources pre-positioned out there to respond to a contingency. So in a few days, up in Nome, Alaska, we’re going to simulate a mass rescue exercise. We’re going to have 250 role players play cruise ship passengers whose ship has sunk from beneath them. We will go through all the logistic challenges: How do you notify next of kin, where do you bring these people, and how do you get them to a trauma center where they can get medical care? So we’re going to stress the system in an exercise environment – but knowing at the same time we’ve got the real case, the Crystal Serenity with 1,000 passengers and 600 crewmembers, transiting these very same waters. And as they enter the Northwest Passage, less than 5 percent of these waters are charted to modern-day standards. They have not been surveyed. And even if they have been surveyed in the last 50 or 60 years, there’s a lot of seismic activity up there, so we don’t know what may have happened since that last survey – and this isn’t because of negligence on the part of the scientific community or the surveyors. It’s because these are waters that have been historically covered with ice, so there was no access. Now the ice has retreated; there is access; and we’re seeing this surge in human activity. Last year it was oil and gas exploration. This year it’s the cruise ship industry. I believe Crystal Serenity has already booked a cruise for next year, and there are discussions of maybe even a second cruise in addition to that as well.

Last year – before the Crystal Serenity cruise through the Northwest Passage had been finalized – you stated publicly that you didn’t feel you could guarantee the Coast Guard was Semper Paratus for a mass rescue in the Arctic. The service’s Alaska District and the cruise ship’s operator have been working together for months to try to prepare for the cruise. What are some big-picture concerns that remain? Well, today [Aug. 17] is a good day to have that discussion. Crystal Serenity left Seward yesterday, right? They did. But as I speak, we’re completing a rescue of 512 people off a Panamanian ferry vessel, the Caribbean Fantasy, that’s on fire. It’s currently aground about 2 miles off the coast of Puerto Rico. So we’ve got helicopters and airplanes. We’ve got boats. We’ve got good samaritans. We were able to evacuate all 512 people in just the last couple of hours. The Crystal Serenity is going to transit where you don’t have that shore infrastructure in place. You don’t have ports where there are ships that can come to the

The new Arctic Coast Guard Forum had a meeting in June. Are there plans to conduct exercises like this with other members? Canada is participating in this exercise – they’ll actually set up an encampment. We’re also working with

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

PHOTO: U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO COURTESY OF STATION SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO

Passengers aboard the 561-foot Caribbean Fantasy ferry vessel use the marine escape system to board awaiting life rafts as they abandon the vessel a mile from San Juan Harbor, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 17, 2016. A fire started in the engine room that spread to other compartments, forcing passengers and crew to abandon the vessel.

Northern Command on a logistics piece: How do we at least provide temporary shelter for 250 survivors? Norway is sending an observation team. And as of now, the Russian Federation is planning to send a team of observers, all from the Arctic Coast Guard Forum. The thinking is that next year, through the Arctic Coast Guard Forum platform, we’ll do a combined search and rescue exercise, perhaps in the Atlantic, where we’re seeing even more human activity among members of the EU [European Union] nations over there.

coast guards in the region. The U.S. and Canada coast guards have a long-standing transparent relationship, but we haven’t had those enduring relationships with other members of the Arctic Council, under the auspices of the Arctic Coast Guard Forum. One of the most important things we established in Boston was better information-sharing, something as fundamental as where your ships are operating. If you have a distress call in the high latitudes, it might be another member of the Arctic Coast Guard Forum that has a vessel in the nearest proximity. I could pick up the phone and talk to my counterpart, and they could do so likewise. The most imminent threats in these high latitudes are safety of life at sea and the environment. If you have a ship that runs aground, you’ve got a mass rescue, but now you also have a major oil spill in a very pristine environment that affects an indigenous

So what happened at that Arctic Coast Guard Forum meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and what are the next steps for the organization? It was a historic occasion. We signed our general statement in Faneuil Hall. And this framework establishes our close working relationships with the other

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

The heads of the eight Arctic nations’ coast guards took part in the Arctic Coast Guard Forum Academic Roundtable at Coast Guard Base Boston, June 9, 2016. In Faneuil Hall, on June 10, 2016, the group signed a joint statement that established the frameworks that detail the development of a multi-year strategic plan, avenues to share information, highlight best practices, identify training exercises, and on-the-water combined operations to achieve safe, secure, and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic.

Coincidentally, the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton [was] the surface action group commander during the Rim of the Pacific [RIMPAC] exercise that just completed, the annual RIMPAC exercise. And within their surface action group was the Chinese navy, the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] Navy. Stratton just completed that mission, and today they went from the 50th state, Hawaii, to the 49th state, Alaska, where they are now providing arctic domain awareness in that area. Same deployment, but a completely different mission set. During the ice-free season these national security cutters can operate in that environment. Connectivity, command, and control are a challenge when you get

You’ve mentioned that because of the difficulty in establishing a shoreside presence in the Arctic, the Coast Guard will rely on the heavy icebreaker as a

PHOTO: U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS PATRICK KELLEY

kind of “floating headquarters” for operations in the foreseeable future. The national security cutters are designed to function in this way, and the command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) program has been critical in providing that capability. Are there any C4ISR issues that are particular to the Arctic?

population who subsists on the natural resources, the mammals, and the fish that live up there, as well. Those are some of the areas we are going to immediately focus on with a few exercises. If you follow the news, you understand the United States has a complicated and delicate relationship with Russia. But in a mass rescue exercise, i think we put our sovereign interests aside when it comes to events like that. It’s a great platform for maturing this Arctic Coast Guard Forum, so we’re going to start there and work outwards. There is another component of this, and that is maritime security. The Arctic Council does not address maritime security – but the Arctic Coast Guard Forum can. In building these trusting relationships, it’s much easier to use humanitarian assistance as a building block going forward.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

up in these high latitudes, as you look at bandwidth communications and our existing satellite coverage. It’s very limited up there, especially once you get much north of about 72 degrees. If you need to move large bandwidths of information, imagery, and the like, it’s a challenge. And it’s a national challenge; it’s not just a Coast Guard challenge. It’s another area where we need to look at the whole of government: How do we reconstitute our satellite constellation to provide that broadband communications in the high latitudes? We have the surface assets that can certainly leverage that.

something else in the Coast Guard.’ This isn’t a hobby. This is a profession. And we really need to professionalize every aspect of what we do. The “Human Capital Strategy” devotes a lot of attention to the service’s Duty to People principle, as well – plans to support, educate, and retain the best candidates out there. Absolutely. For our junior enlisted people and those that don’t have bachelor’s degrees, we’re providing tuition assistance. We now have formal leadership training for all of our enlisted people, from basic training all the way up to a master chief. And we’re doing it for mid-grade officers and our civilians as well. Like all the services, we’ve extended our maternity leave, from six weeks to 12. And that’s been very well received. We’re also re-examining weight standards for women who have just gone to term, or near-fullterm pregnancy – often we don’t give them enough time to get within weight standards. So we’re providing relief there as well. We’re cutting back on the number of moves that you make during a Coast Guard career. I’ve made 21 in 39 years. I can’t say that all of those made sense – but they were orders, and I followed them. But today’s families often find themselves trying to manage two careers, and they may grow weary of having to move every two years. We’re looking at specialization pay for certain ratings. Our food service specialist, for example, is one of our most critical ratings in the Coast Guard today. And we’re offering them the ability to sign on and be part of Team Coast Guard as well. There’s a pretty lengthy list of things we’re doing. I’ve got about 35 of these. It’s great to have a “Human Capital Strategy,” but it becomes shelfware if there’s nothing behind it. So we’re really listening to what concerns our people the most, and then continually challenging some of our status quo personnel policies that have existed for more than 200 years.

The “Human Capital Strategy,” released in January 2016, outlines the service’s approach to attracting and keeping the next generations of Coast Guard personnel. One of the ideas mentioned in the strategy is a need for more specialized personnel – a move away from the “jack-of-all-trades” approach that the service is historically known for. Could you talk more about the strategy and what Coast Guard leadership is doing right now to implement it? One of the principles we follow at the Coast Guard is what we call intelligence-driven operations. We use intelligence to manage risk. We can’t be all places all times, so we can at least prioritize where do we get the best bang for the buck. So when we send a national security cutter down into the transit zone, where we’re seeing unprecedented flows of cocaine – back in my day, you were a ship that ran like a tractor plowing a field, you know, hedgerow after hedgerow hoping that in one of those passes you just might get lucky and stumble on a gofast [boat]. But we don’t rely on luck anymore. We’re targeting the flow that’s down there. And we’re able to do that because back on the home front, we have intelligence specialists who are able to discriminate what we call white noise from a bona fide threat to maritime security, and who are able to push that information to a ship. Now, that same cutter is talking to an aircraft overhead. They’re operating in a classified environment to track these targets of interest. That same national security cutter is now launching an armed helicopter. They’re also launching two boats that can do 40 knots. And at the same time, while we’re going after that boat, we’ll most likely have to interact with one of the 41 countries with whom we have bilateral agreements, so that we don’t have to go to that nation-state to ask permission to board. It’s a much more complex operating environment that we find ourselves in today, with intelligence driving operations and leveraging the full capability of these platforms we have. Gone is the day when we could have greenhorns who show up, do one tour of this, and then decide, ‘Well, I’ll go try and do

You mentioned the complex operating environment in the transit zone. The Coast Guard and its partners in Joint Interagency Task Force South have made record seizures of drug shipments in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific in each of the last two years. How do you manage such success against the formidable resources of these transnational criminal organizations? None of this would happen without our partners. First, within our DHS [Department of Homeland Security] family, CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] is flying surveillance aircraft out of foreign countries in Central America, supporting us in this effort. And ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is supporting our investigative efforts.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

A CGC Bertholf boarding team approaches a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel suspected of smuggling 7.5 tons of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Aug. 31, 2015. The seized contraband was worth an estimated $227 million. In each of the last two years, the Coast Guard and its partners in Joint Interagency Task Force South have made record drug seizures in the transit zone and Eastern Pacific.

There’s still a lot of activity going on. It’s not just LNG right now, but a lot of the derivative products coming off of that, which have a global market demand. I was at Sunoco’s Marcus Hook terminal in New Jersey just recently, and they’re pushing out ethane, butane, and LPG [liquefied petroleum gas], which originates from the shale fields of Pennsylvania. Those fields are the some of the largest gas fields in the world. The first gas carrier that went through the expanded Panama Canal left Cheniere’s LNG terminal in Louisiana, as we’re exporting LNG into the Asia-Pacific market, and it looks like that market has a potential to grow as well. But every day I check the

Last year the Energy Information Administration reported the United States was close to becoming a net exporter of energy, for the first time since the

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

1950s. Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas terminal started receiving shale gas in October of last year, and shipping out liquefied natural gas (LNG). But the markets seem volatile; prices unsettled. How does the Coast Guard adjust to the demands for its services in the Maritime Transportation System when the industry is going through such ups and downs?

So we’re not just going after the carriers, the mules, but we’re going after the heads of these organizations. The DEA [U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency] has been a critical partner as well. Our Navy partners and our international partners – Canada, France, England, and the Dutch – are sending ships to help us in this endeavor. And many of the host nations, Mexico, Central America, and Colombia especially, are very valuable partners, particularly in information-sharing, because that’s really what’s driving these successes. But only the Coast Guard has the authority to execute any one of these 41 bilateral agreements, and broad maritime law enforcement authority. So at the end of the day, it really comes down to a Coast Guardonly solution for performing these interdictions, either on the high seas or sometimes in the territorial seas of a bilateral signatory nation.

“It’s great to have a ‘Human Capital Strategy,’ but it

price point of a barrel of Brent crude. Today, it’s about $45. It was down in the high 30s [dollars] last week. We don’t see it get much above $50, but we know that if it’s sustained at $80 or above for any period of time, the infrastructure that’s laid up right now in the private sector will start to be reactivated. And we cannot be late with the need if we see that reactivation take place. Many of these ships require certificates of inspection by the Coast Guard. So if we’re not ready for that, then that opportunity may pass us by. And I don’t want to be the one standing at the podium, saying: ‘I’m sorry we didn’t see this coming.’ So we keep very close track of that.

becomes shelfware if there’s nothing behind it. So we’re really listening to what concerns our people the most, and then continually challenging some of our

So what are your priorities going to be for the coming year – and for the second half of your term?

status quo personnel policies

First, we’ve got a new administration coming in, which will mean a new leadership team in the Department of Homeland Security. And I cannot be more grateful for the leadership that we’ve had under our current secretary, Jeh Johnson, who has made recapitalizing the Coast Guard a priority. His leadership is paying us enormous dividends. We’ve built out our program of record of eight national security cutters, and we now have a ninth one on budget. We just awarded the final phase of our fast response cutter program, our patrol boats, to build all 58 of those. As I mentioned, in about a month, we will award the final design to build out that offshore patrol cutter fleet. And many of us didn’t anticipate, despite our best efforts, that we would have a markup in the 2017 budget to recapitalize heavy icebreakers. That’s going better than my initial expectations from two years ago. So going forward, we’ve got to work with a new administration. The strategies we laid out two years ago are just as relevant as they are today. It’s great that we’re modernizing, but – and I’ve said this time and again – what brings all these plans together are the people of the Coast Guard, and we’re not going to continue modernizing if we don’t bring our people along with us. And when I look at our new entrants into this Coast Guard – I’ll just share with you a couple of examples: Jacquelyn Kubicko, a [petty officer] first class cadet who just graduated this past May from the Coast Guard Academy, is now at Oxford University as a Fulbright scholar. The previous year she was doing groundbreaking research with Lt. Christopher Verlinden [her Academy instructor] on climate change. I recently met a young seaman at a demo and I asked her what she did before she came into the Coast Guard. She said she’d been in the Air Force. I said, ‘What did you do in the Air Force?’ She said she’d been at the Air Force Academy, so I asked her: ‘When did you leave the Air Force Academy?’ She said: ‘Well, I didn’t. I

that have existed for more than 200 years.” graduated. I did my five-year commitment. I resigned my commission as a captain in the Air Force, so I could join the United States Coast Guard.’ And I also recently met one of the most junior people in the Coast Guard – she wasn’t yet three months out of training – on an inland river tender in Memphis, Tennessee. They operate off a tug-and-barge configuration. They push into the bank, and they put a team ashore with weed whackers and chainsaws, so they can clear the brush piles away from the visual aids to navigation. There are snakes; there are fire ants, bees, all that kinds of stuff – and most people don’t join the Coast Guard to do that. So I asked her: ‘Did you ever think you would be doing this in the Coast Guard?’ And she said, ‘You know, commandant, if I don’t do my job, there’s half a trillion dollars of commerce that goes down the Mississippi River that won’t safely get to its destination.’ So when I look at who’s coming into the service today – it’s amazing talent. That’s just three of 88,000. But I’ve got a plethora of folks who understand they’re connected to something bigger than themselves. We don’t pay them a whole lot for what they do, but they clearly put service to their nation before their personal needs. And I work for them, to give them the tools they need, and we’ll continue to build on this great foundation of people we have serving our Coast Guard today. n *Editor's note: In September 2016, after this interview was conducted, the Coast Guard awarded Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., Panama City, Florida, a contract for the lead OPC and up to eight follow-on cutters.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

interview

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. Ranking member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Ex officio member of the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Sen. Bill Nelson’s public service career began in 1972, with his election to the Florida Legislature. He then served six terms in the U.S. Congress representing Orlando and the Space Coast. In 1994, Nelson was elected to the Florida Cabinet as state treasurer, insurance commissioner, and fire marshal. In November 2000, he was first elected to the U.S. Senate.

Coast Guard Outlook: What motivated you to go into public service?

missions. More recently, I’ve actually seen a continued steadying of the service by [Commandant of the Coast Guard] Adm. Paul Zukunft. I believe that’s a wise approach – especially in a time of fiscal uncertainty.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson: As a young student at Yale University, I still recall how much I was influenced by President [John F.] Kennedy’s call to public service and his view of service as noble work. That’s why I’ve devoted my life to serving the community, state, and our country. I’m grateful and remain humbled by the opportunity Floridians have given me to serve them over the years.

The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015 authorizes $9.1 billion for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. How does the authorization covering two years rather than one aid the Coast Guard? I think that approach also helps steady the service. Congress used to work on a separate Coast Guard authorization bill for each fiscal year. But if you look at how we authorize most other federal government entities and programs, it’s almost always on a multiyear basis. I think having a two-year authorization gives the Coast Guard a more concrete idea of what its statutory authorities are, and provides better continuity of those authorities over time.

As the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, how have you seen the Coast Guard change during your tenure? During my time on the committee, I’ve seen tremendous changes as the service has expanded its missions and then settled into a more balanced approach between its prevention missions and response

U.S. SENATE OFFICIAL PHOTO

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

In February, you were quoted, in part, saying, “The Coast Guard is on watch every day saving lives and stopping drug traffickers.” In his 2016 State of the Coast Guard Address, Zukunft said assets interdicted or disrupted more than 190 metric tons of cocaine and detained some 700 suspected drug traffickers for prosecution in FY 2015 alone. Is Congress doing enough to support the Coast Guard’s efforts to combat drug traffickers?

each of fiscal years 2016 and 2017, in order to make sure the Coast Guard has the national security cutters and other surface and air assets it requires to secure our maritime borders. The current authorization act also includes some enhancements to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act to better equip the Coast Guard to combat illicit drugs and the smuggling of drug money out of the United States.

Yes, I believe Congress is doing a lot to support the Coast Guard. We authorized a 21 percent increase in appropriations for the service’s acquisitions account in

Considering the challenges the service faces today and in the future, do you think the Coast Guard will require a significant increase in personnel?

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Pictured from left to right, Capt. Mark Morin, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, and Vice Adm. Charles Ray pose during a visit to Coast Guard Air Station (AirSta) Kodiak, Alaska, Aug. 12, 2015. The visit included walk-throughs and briefs from the AirSta and the North Pacific Regional Fisheries Training Center.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS LAUREN STEENSON

I think that’s a hard thing to predict, but I’m encouraged by the fact that advances over time in technology have helped us keep pace with new challenges as a society. The substantial reduction in crewing requirements on the Coast Guard’s new cutters compared to those of its high endurance cutters [WHEC Secretaryclass cutters] and medium endurance cutters are a perfect example of that. It takes fewer people to operate a national security cutter, and those extra HEC billets can be reassigned to an additional national security cutter, or wherever they may be needed. Among the provisions in the act was the creation of a second admiral position that will align the Coast Guard’s leadership structure to that of the other four services. Do you support the role of a vice service chief at the national level? Why or why not?

“The problem is they have little to no ability to respond rapidly to a vessel in distress in the Beaufort or the Chukchi [seas], because the harsh conditions on the North Slope make it very difficult to maintain something like an air station there.”

Absolutely. This was a change in the law that the Coast Guard requested and I think it makes perfect sense. The purpose of having a vice commandant is for the commandant to have someone who can stand or act in his place when he is not able to be present for whatever reason. The word “vice” literally means “takes the place of.” Giving the vice commandant a fourth star enables the commandant to fully utilize his vice service chief in this way.

the Coast Guard, and I’m cautiously optimistic we’ll see that plan come to fruition.

There is a “High Latitude Study” the Coast Guard submitted to Congress in July 2011; it called for three heavy and three medium icebreakers to conduct its statutory mission responsibilities. As you know, the United States has one operational heavy icebreaker, Polar Star. Its sister ship, Polar Sea, is in inactive status, and funds to analyze the feasibility of reactivating it are included in the authorization. How many polar icebreakers do you think is an appropriate number for the Coast Guard to operate in the polar regions and to defend the nation’s interests within these areas?

I’ve been up to Alaska with the Coast Guard, and I’ve seen and heard about some of what they’re facing up there. The problem is they have little to no ability to respond rapidly to a vessel in distress in the Beaufort or the Chukchi [seas], because the harsh conditions on the North Slope make it very difficult to maintain something like an air station there. The Coast Guard’s worst nightmare would be for a cruise ship to capsize or start taking on water in icy conditions up there, where it would take several hours to respond. What the Coast Guard might find useful, in addition to more medium polar icebreakers like the Healy, is for some number of their new cutters to be built so they’re ice capable. All of these cutters have or will have flight decks and helicopter hangars, so that they could be stationed there to respond to vessels in distress quickly, without going to the time and expense of building and maintaining shoreside infrastructure.

Climate change is rapidly taking place and most would argue it is most evident in the high latitudes, with longer ice-free summers. To accentuate this, on Sept. 16, the luxury cruise ship Crystal Serenity completed its 32-day voyage through the Northwest Passage. Aside from polar icebreakers, what are the service’s most urgent needs to fulfill its missions in the Arctic?

That same study also concluded that in order for the Coast Guard to both fulfill its statutory missions in the polar regions and maintain the continuous presence requirements of the Navy, the Coast Guard requires six heavy and four medium polar icebreakers. The problem is that a new heavy polar icebreaker is expected to cost anywhere from $800 million to $1 billion to build. I believe at a minimum we should be working to replace the Coast Guard’s polar icebreakers with three heavies and three mediums, based on its own needs analysis. The Senate’s defense appropriations bill for fiscal year 2017 actually includes $1 billion in funding for the Navy to acquire a new heavy polar icebreaker, to be owned and operated by

The service has awarded the Panama City-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., a Phase II contract to produce the lead offshore patrol cutter (OPC). Why is the OPC program important to the Coast Guard? Yes, we’re all really excited that Eastern Shipbuilding won that contract. The OPCs are critically important

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

to the Coast Guard’s enforcement capabilities in deep water. They are going to replace the medium endurance cutters, some of which are 45 to 50 years old. The aging cutters are far past their intended service life and some are undependable, impacting mission readiness and response capabilities. Securing the funding for the 25 new offshore patrol cutters has been one of my top priorities in the Senate.

to see at least 10 national security cutters, if not 12. I think at some point we’re going to realize that something closer to a one-for-one swap-out of high endurance cutters is necessary to maintain or even expand Coast Guard operational capabilities. When you look at how the Navy is pivoting to the Pacific, that has serious implications for the interagency drug interdiction efforts in the Caribbean. The most obvious one is that the Coast Guard is going to have to pick up the slack by dedicating more of its assets to the region. I also expect to see a new heavy polar icebreaker under construction. A few of my colleagues and I have been warning of the need to recapitalize the polar ice breaking fleet, but I think others in Congress have finally awakened to the seriousness of the situation. Russia has dozens of polar icebreakers all over the Arctic and Antarctic. Even China is in the polar regions engaging in freedom of navigation exercises. In 10 years, I hope that the Coast Guard’s recapitalization effort will be close to completion, and we will have already started to think about the ongoing maintenance, repair, and replacement needs of the service, and how we can fund those requirements as

The contract could bring about an economic boom to the Panama City, Florida, area. How many new jobs might this contract create? It is a $10.5 billion contract – the largest the Coast Guard has awarded in its 226-year history. It is definitely a big win for Panama City and the people of northwest Florida. It could bring as many as 2,000 new jobs to the Panama City area. Where do you see the Coast Guard in five years? Ten years? In five years, I see the Coast Guard bringing offshore patrol cutters into service to replace their 50-year-old medium endurance cutters, and I wouldn’t be surprised

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS PATRICK KELLEY

Sen. Bill Nelson, ranking member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and Ex officio member on the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, speaks during the testimony of U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Robert J. Papp Jr., then-commandant of the Coast Guard, at a hearing in Washington, D.C., April 23, 2013.

“The Coast Guard’s goodwill or brand value could be extremely helpful to our nation as we attempt to deal with issues like the international maritime boundary dispute in the South China Sea, Cuban oil and gas exploration off the Florida Keys, and the global problem of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.”

fully and cost-effectively as possible. In addition to a stepped-up role in our Caribbean drug interdiction efforts, I also see the Coast Guard playing an increasingly important role internationally, especially in the Pacific. Many of our fellow Pacific Rim nations and many nations around the world react very differently to a gray hull than they do to a white hull with an orange and blue stripe. The Coast Guard’s goodwill or brand value could be extremely helpful to our nation as we attempt to deal with issues like the international maritime boundary dispute in the South China Sea, Cuban oil and gas exploration off the Florida Keys, and the global problem of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

out there on patrol in our nation’s waters and on the high seas, away from their loved ones for months at a time, and they are focused like a laser beam on maritime border security and protecting lives and property at sea. It’s just so impressive to see, and I really admire and respect them for what they do. We all owe the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard a big thankyou for their service. If there’s one thing the American people should know about the Coast Guard, what would it be? I think the American people – unless they get in trouble out on the high seas – don’t really have an understanding of what a professional military organization the Coast Guard is, and all that it does. We have the Coast Guard participating with our Defense Department in war zones – the area of responsibility of Central Command. We have the Coast Guard patrolling and demonstrating freedom of navigation in the Arctic waters off of Alaska. We have the Coast Guard breaking out McMurdo Station in Antarctica for resupply each spring. We have the Coast Guard patrolling the waters off of the continental United States, as well as the island state of Hawaii and the U.S. territories in the Pacific. The Coast Guard is always there when Americans get in trouble, and indeed even when any mariners of any nationality find themselves in distress. It plays a vital role in protecting the nation from narcoterrorism, human smuggling, environmental disasters, and from the loss of life and property at sea. It does this despite the fact that it is a small armed service of only 42,000 active-duty members. These are amazing individuals, and I want the American people to know more about who they are and all that they do for us. n

In 1986, you orbited the Earth for nearly a week aboard the space shuttle Columbia. What perspective did that experience give you? It changed my life. In the six days that I flew, I came to see our planet in an entirely different light. I still vividly recall looking back at our planet from the window of the shuttle and not seeing any political, religious, or racial divides. From that perspective, you can see how we’re all in this together. If we could just remember that, we’d sure get a lot more done. The experience also gave me a unique perspective on Earth’s fragile environment and the need to protect it, as well as an appreciation of the importance of our nation’s exploration into the unknown. You’ve ridden aboard the CGCs Vigorous and Raymond Evans. Would you comment on the interactions you had with crewmembers? I met some of the most remarkable and dedicated young men and women one will ever meet. They are

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

interview

U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif. Chairman, Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee B y C HU C K O L D H A M

Rep. Duncan D. Hunter represents California’s 50th Congressional District consisting of East and North County San Diego. In 2008, Hunter was elected to his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding his father, Duncan L. Hunter, who retired after serving 14 consecutive terms in Congress.

Coast Guard Outlook: Some are saying that this could be a maritime century for the United States based on increasing exports of oil products and agriculture. Taken along with increased law enforcement tasking, the antiterrorism mission, and protecting natural resources from increased illegal fishing, do you see the Coast Guard facing increasing demand in the future?

container, you’re in trouble. You have to have a zero tolerance. You can’t let one in because it just takes one, and that’s something we really need to work on, making sure that we check more containers than we’re checking right now, because we’re not checking that many. The Coast Guard uses game theory, which is pretty dangerous. You don’t want to mess up once.

U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter: I do see it. And you didn’t mention the Arctic, especially as technology becomes more advanced and we’re able to go after resources in more areas of the ocean, and as you expand throughout the ocean and find new things, frankly, yeah. Especially [with] the war on terror and post 9/11, I think the Coast Guard’s mission expanded exponentially. You’ve always had illegal immigration and drugs coming in, especially from South and Central America, and now you’re going to have terrorists who exploit those same networks and pathways into the United States. They’re going to follow the drugs. If you want to smuggle in people or weapons into the U.S., you’ll follow the same networks and pathways that the drug cartels use, No. 1. No. 2, probably the most vulnerable large infrastructure besides our electric grid are our ports. If you get just [one] nuclear device at a port in a cargo

If you had to name the other biggest challenges for the Coast Guard today after port security, what would you say they would be? Probably simply drug interdiction and terrorist interdiction. Not a lot of terrorists get caught by the Coast Guard. I’ve asked [for] their numbers. People from countries where terrorism is massive actually don’t catch a lot. But like I said, it only takes one or two, so just making sure that we’re able to cover what we need to cover. It’s really hard for them to find semisubmersibles bringing in drugs. And again, if you can bring in 3,000 pounds of cocaine in a semi-submersible, you can bring in 3,000 pounds of anything into the U.S. in a semi-submersible, so it’s not a matter of drugs anymore. I mean, it still is, but more importantly simply being able to catch people who want to sneak into the U.S. through those drug routes and making

OFFICIAL U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PHOTO

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

sure that we check ships coming in – and especially from countries that are not friendly to the U.S, you’ve got to make sure that we check them especially for nuclear activity, because again, you can only mess up one time and that’s all it takes.

“It’s a cliché, but

Some time ago we interviewed then-U.S. Southern Command Commander Gen. John F. Kelly, and he told us he had intelligence on the drugs that were coming in, but he didn’t have the resources to be able to stop them.

ship is, it can only

they say no matter how advanced the be in one place at one time. You can’t

Yep, exactly right. And when we did the pivot to the Pacific, you lost a lot. Our Navy backing that the Coast Guard had left the Caribbean and went to the Pacific and left the Coast Guard short there. What Kelly was saying too is he would have been happy with a platform like an oil rig that sat out there, or a big tanker that you could launch helicopters off of for interdiction, because we know what’s coming in. We just don’t have the ability to hit it and to intercept it.

have one ship in two places.”

Along those lines, you sponsored HR 4188, which authorizes funds for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. How does that authorization covering two years rather than the typical one benefit the Coast Guard? It allows them to be smarter in their acquisitions, because if you can look out two years that gives some consistency. It gives them some stability where they know what the next budget is going to be so they can plan for it. That’s all anybody wants, really, is that stability and to be able to look out a year or two and be able to say, “We know what’s coming so we can plan accordingly.” And if you do that, you’re more effective and you’re more efficient. We’re also trying to give them the same procurement rules and the acquisition ability that the Navy has and the other services have. In a multiyear procurement blocked by authority, that’s how you save money. Because they’re [Coast Guard] under DHS [Department of Homeland Security], they don’t get the same acquisition authorities that the other services do. But the Coast Guard buys and builds ships. They buy and build airplanes and helicopters. So why not put them in the same bucket as the other services when it comes to acquisition? I think that’s something that the Coast Guard needs. And that’s something that we’re working towards. But it’s a fight, because DHS is pretty nascent in their acquisition ability and their knowledge on it compared to the Department of Defense [DOD]. And unfortunately the Coast Guard has been kind of caught in that when no one else in the Department of Homeland Security acquires what the Coast Guard acquires. I mean, the new national security cutter

[NSC] could be used in the Navy. It’s got guns on it. It launches UAS [unmanned aircraft system]. So why not follow the same acquisition and take all the positives that the Navy gets for building ships and put those towards the Coast Guard? It would save a lot of money. The Coast Guard awarded a Phase II contract for the offshore patrol cutter. Right now 25 are planned to replace what were once more than 30 medium endurance cutters. You had the Famous class and the Reliance class, and then a handful of even older cutters. And likewise, nine national security cutters are replacing 12 high endurance cutters. Do you think the increased capability of the new ships totally offsets the decrease in numbers?

Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, learns about the missions of Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) 91109 in San Diego March 11, 2015. Hunter visited the MSST to learn about the unit’s missions, capabilities, and roles it performs as a deployable specialized force.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS ROB SIMPSON

No. It’s a cliché, but they say no matter how advanced the ship is, it can only be in one place at one time. You can’t have one ship in two places. So I think numbers matter. And I think the same goes with the Navy. If you look at the same conditions that the Navy has and the same kind of world environment where they have to be in a lot of different places, especially because of terrorism, now you have to be in more places than you used to. You can’t just focus on Russia and China. You’ve got to be everywhere. And the threat is so diverse now, where you’re not just dealing with peer competitors, you’re dealing with small boats all the way up to the Russians and some of their nuclear subs and warships, to Syria. So, no, I think you have to have more ships. But as the bureaucracy gets more complex, things get more expensive. I mean, that’s part of the big problem. Building ships has gone up in price exponentially. The cost of building ships has gone up massively. And you would think that as companies get more efficient and effective at building ships, and even though they’re high tech that’s mostly software, you still have big steel-hulled ships that float in the water. So things haven’t changed that much. But it’s like when we talk about the icebreaker; they estimate it’s going to cost a billion dollars to build one. You proposed the idea of a two-vessel block buy of icebreakers. What is the status of that? Yeah, we had hearings on this. We had Ron O’Rourke, largely known as an expert in shipbuilding and acquisition. I’ve talked to Secretary [Sean] Stackley in the Navy [assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition]. I mean, why not be as efficient as possible? And if you have authority now for lead-time material buying and you have authority to block buy, why not do it? It was really surprising to us the Coast Guard did not do that.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

“The Coast Guard is the last line of defense for people trying to get either bad things or bad people into the country onto American soil. And if you secure the land borders, which, let’s assume that that may happen in the next four to eight years, then the only access you’re going to have is by the ocean.”

How many icebreakers do you think the Coast Guard needs, or do you have a sense of that yet?

Shell pulled in their operation. Once oil goes back up – which it will, that’s just life – it will probably go up a lot and you’re going to have a lot more exploration again. That’s one reason I think working on the icebreaker issue and trying to get ahead of what’s going to happen in the future is a good thing. Governments kind of run – especially in terms of Congress – we’re a bunch of cats chasing shiny objects. So if something pops up and we jump on it, I think getting ahead of the icebreaker issue now is going to pay off massive dividends in the future, because we’re going to be prepared finally when you have more ice exploration.

More than they have now. So no, we probably, in the hearings at some point, talked about that. I don’t remember. I think their requirement is for three. I think the requirement is for two heavies and two mediums or something like that. You mentioned the Arctic. We’ve been talking about the icebreakers, but you’ve also got a problem with the infrastructure; deep-water ports and supplying those ports up on the North Slope, for example. What can be done as far as trying to build up infrastructure so that we can have more of a Coast Guard presence in the Arctic?

The service has stated that as much as it needs new platforms it also needs an investment in personnel to operate as a 21st century Coast Guard. The commandant himself has said with today’s challenges he thinks the nation is going to need a bigger Coast Guard. Do you think it may be time to grow the service?

I don’t know, actually. I have not looked at it. I think first things first. You have to have the ability to get up there and move around. And now you had your first cruise ship transit the Arctic. Once oil goes back up again, this is going to become a main issue again. You know, not that I’ve been lucky, but this hasn’t been an issue that much because of oil prices. It’s too expensive to explore up there. So

I don’t know. They have not brought that up. When they’ve come in, they said that they have the people that they need. The problem is getting a straight

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

answer from many of the services, frankly. I’m on the Armed Services Committee as well and the answer always is: We have what we need to get the job done, always. That’s kind of the stock answer. So if the commandant comes in and says, “Hey we need more people to accomplish the mission,” then we’ll start looking at that. But they haven’t as yet as far as I know. They haven’t, in any of our hearings, they haven’t brought that up.

there has been. Like you talked about earlier, there is a greater need for the Coast Guard to be more places with better gear than they have been in the past because of this terrorist threat that we’re going to face, now, forever. And that’s not going away. So why not make sure that they can leverage their ability to buy things like the Navy does? They literally buy the same stuff. So why should it be two separate acquisitions, one ruled by DHS, which is not as smart in acquisitions of these types of things, and not the Navy or DOD? I mean, this is what DOD does.

You enlisted in the Marine Corps right after Sept. 11, 2001, serving as an artillery officer. How do you think your experience in uniform informs your leadership as chairman of the Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation and as a member of two House Armed Services Committee subcommittees?

What are your top priorities for the service? If you had to bullet point the things that you want to see happen, what would they be? No. 1, the ability to check for nuclear material in every single way at multiple transit points for things coming into the U.S. And I don’t know whether that’s a Coast Guard issue or a CBP issue at the ports of exit where they leave those ports and come to the U.S. ports. I mean, it’s too late by the time it’s in a U.S. port if there is something really bad and they wanted to explode there. So that’s one thing. That’s more of a Homeland Security [responsibility]. But the Coast Guard is going to have a role in that, whether they are checking these ships in transit or it’s from the ports where the cargo leaves from. That’s No. 1, because there is no room for error there whatsoever. And as the Iranians develop more advanced nuclear material and as the North Koreans develop more advanced nuclear material, I think that ought to be top priority for the Coast Guard. No 2. is acquisitions, like we talked about, letting them have the same rules and acquisition authority that the Navy does in terms of how they buy things and how they modernize. I would say those are the top two issues. And, of course, icebreakers. We have nothing. So anything would be better than what we have now.

No. 1, I think we get things done. We don’t play a lot of politics. We just try to get things done even if that requires using blunt political force. That’s usually kind of the way we do it. We just go headfirst into something. And I guess you could say we bang our heads on the wall until the wall breaks. That’s kind of how we do business. We don’t beat around the bush. That’s one thing. No. 2, we aren’t here to chair the Coast Guard committee and be friends and treat it like a DHS component. We treat the Coast Guard like a military service and think that they should look at themselves in the same way, in the same vein. And I think that’s a different way than they’ve had in the past with the subcommittee chairman. We’re trying to bring them more in line with the Navy. Like I said, they buy the same stuff as the Navy buys. I mean, you have some small things too, like the Coast Guard has to ask CBP [Customs and Border Protection] to use UAS, right? They have to get UAS from CBP as opposed to them owning their own UAS, which the Navy does. So if the Navy is going to buy 10 UAS systems or 10 UAS that can operate off of a small deck or whatever, why shouldn’t they get in with the Coast Guard, leverage that buy, get a lower price, and buy two extra ones that can fly off the NSC? Why aren’t they doing things like that and being treated in the same vein? You had a deal in the Caribbean where DOD has an exception by the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] to use lasers whether they are targeting or being able to see in low light or at night. The Coast Guard does not have that exception. Why? Why are they treated differently just in terms of the exceptions for what type of lasers they are allowed to use? Why aren’t they approved? Why are the rules of engagement in those terms different? So what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to put them in line with the other services. We think that’s important because No. 1, there is less money than

What haven’t I asked you about that I should have asked you? Is there anything you’d like to add? The Coast Guard is the last line of defense for people trying to get either bad things or bad people into the country onto American soil. And if you secure the land borders, which, let’s assume that that may happen in the next four to eight years, then the only access you’re going to have is by the ocean. No one is going to fly into LAX [Los Angeles International Airport] with a bomb or a high-value target. They’re going to come in and hit American shores where they can, like I said, with the same pathways that they get drugs in. And I think that’s what we really have to be on the lookout for going forward in the future, because that will be the way that you get bad people or bad things onto American soil. n

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Building a 21st Century Coast Guard B y C R A I G C O L L IN S On July 1, 2016, halfway through his tenure as the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Paul Zukunft released his “Mid-Term Report,” highlighting the service’s accomplishments since May 2014 and charting a course for the future. One of the main points he made in his introduction to the document, as he had in the “Strategic Intent 2015-2019” he’d outlined at the beginning of his term, was that the 21st century, only a decade and a half in, was already far, far different from the century that preceded it: “I have not witnessed a more geo-strategically complex operational environment,” he wrote, “in my four decades of service.” The Coast Guard is responsible for doing much more in the 21st century, over a much larger area. Contributing factors include: • The increase in, and convergence of, transnational organized crime (TOC). Fed by enormous profits from the trade in illegal drugs, TOC networks are destabilizing governments, economies, and civil society throughout much of the Western Hemisphere with intimidation, violence, and institutional corruption. Their profits have emboldened them to branch out into other criminal activities: trafficking in people and weapons; piracy; environmental crimes; cybercrime; and financial and logistical support to terrorist groups. The United Nations estimates that of the 10 countries in the world with the highest homicide rates, eight are in Central America or the Caribbean. • Pressure on the southern U.S. maritime border. Due in large part to the violence and economic hardship wrought by these TOC networks, desperate families are fleeing northward. In 2014, tens of thousands of unaccompanied children were intercepted crossing the southwestern U.S. border. Increases in illegal trafficking – in drugs, people, and smuggled goods – has sparked a surge in activity from the Coast Guard and its partners in Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) South, and resulted in record maritime seizures of illegal drugs – 191 metric tons, and more than 700 smugglers, were interdicted at sea in 2015, and at the midpoint of 2016, 245 metric tons of cocaine and 400 smugglers. As the nation’s lead federal agency for maritime law enforcement, the Coast Guard will continue to play a lead role in protecting this 6 millionsquare-mile area of ocean and coastline. • Increasing maritime commerce. A number of factors have led to a surge in both the amount and the complexity of traffic in the U.S. Marine Transportation System (MTS): the fruition of international trade agreements; greater complexity in port operations; increased exploration and extraction of oil and gas,

Under the veil of darkness, aircrews aboard the CGC Waesche ready its MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to search for illegal traffickers, Jan. 23, 2015, in the Eastern Pacific. The helicopter is operated by an elite crew from the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) that specializes in airborne use of force and counter-narcotics.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY CHIEF PETTY OFFICER LUKE PINNEO

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

both on the outer continental shelf and in interior shale deposits – and the resulting spike in U.S. energy exports. The expansion of the Panama Canal to accommodate larger ships, completed in June 2016, doubled its capacity, and will certainly lead to changes in maritime shipping routes. While these changes signal a prosperous and robust maritime shipping industry, they also present significant challenges to the service charged with ensuring the safety, security, and environmental stewardship of U.S. waters.

• Greater maritime activity in the polar regions. The emerging trend in the U.S. Arctic – remote waters above the Bering Strait, in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas – has been, and will continue to be, longer ice-free seasons. Many in the Coast Guard are calling this a new ocean – and if it’s an ocean, it’s the service’s job to fulfill 11 statutory missions on and around it. Commercial and recreational activity has increased steadily in the Arctic over the last decade, and the Coast Guard will have to find

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS CHRISTOPHER M. YAW

CGC Healy crewmembers practice cutter boat drills Aug. 25, 2016, in the Chukchi Sea. Underway for its second Arctic summer mission, Healy embarked a team of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC-San Diego, and the Office of Naval Research that was deploying an array of acoustic bottom moorings to collect data on how climate change and decreased ice coverage is affecting the Arctic Ocean.

a way to do this with virtually no shoreside infrastructure and an aging fleet that now contains only two icebreakers – one of which is deployed to the other side of the world. The CGC Healy, a medium-duty icebreaker, is the only Coast Guard icebreaker to visit the Arctic region, primarily in support of scientific research. • Emerging cyber risks to the MTS. The critical infrastructure of the MTS, and of the agencies charged with protecting it, is increasingly dependent on sophisticated and interdependent data and communications systems. As the 2016 U.S. election season has made apparent, foreign adversaries have the resources and sophistication necessary to breach American systems. Such threats, when applied to MTS infrastructure, are potentially deadly, and the Coast Guard must play a leading role in helping industry stakeholders to secure their assets from such attacks. Coast Guard senior leaders have published a flurry of strategic documents recently, outlining what the

service must do to meet the shifting circumstances and emerging threats of the 21st century: An action plan for accommodating the nation’s energy renaissance; a “Western Hemisphere Strategy,” a “Cyber Strategy,” and most recently, in January 2016, a “Human Capital Strategy.” Does the Coast Guard have the capabilities to achieve the objectives outlined in these documents? With an aging fleet of cutters, some of them older than President Barack Obama, and an annual budget of just over $10 billion – about 6 percent of the U.S. Navy’s budget, enough to buy a couple of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers – the service thinks it can. In fact, the building of the 21st century Coast Guard is already well underway.

BUILDING CAPACITY AND INTEROPERABILITY The Coast Guard is unique among U.S. agencies, with both military and law enforcement mandates, which gives it jurisdiction anywhere in U.S. waters (4.7 million square miles of ocean, from Maine to Alaska

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

to Guam), and the authority to enforce international maritime law and multinational treaties within most of the world’s remaining waters. This work involves the protection of people, economic resources (i.e., fisheries, offshore mineral and energy deposits, ports, and infrastructure), and marine species with statutory protection. The Coast Guard also has the duty to support national security, and can be transferred to the command of the U.S. Navy by the president or, in times of war, by Congress. To satisfy these mission requirements, the Coast Guard needs cutters, boats, helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, and other assets that can operate together to cover a vast ocean expanse – and to satisfy these requirements in a way that meets the emerging challenges outlined in the service’s strategy documents, these assets must move quickly and reliably, with the ability to collect and share intelligence in real time among themselves and with interagency partners, particularly the U.S. Navy. Most of the cutters in service today were built a long time ago, for service in a different world. The Coast Guard’s acquisition program of record (POR) calls for replacing 90 of these aging vessels with newer and more capable ships: • Nine Legend-class national security cutters (NSCs). The service’s largest and most-capable

general-purpose cutters, the 418-foot NSCs are replacing the Coast Guard’s Hamilton-class high endurance cutters, which entered service in the 1960s. The NSC has greater endurance and range than the Hamilton-class cutters, the ability to launch and recover small boats from its stern, a flight deck for helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, and aviation support facilities. With a sophisticated suite of surveillance and defense systems, the NSC is designed to be a floating command-and-control headquarters for open-ocean operations. The first NSC, the CGC Bertholf, was commissioned in 2008. Five NSCs are in service today, three more are under construction, and the ninth NSC was contracted at the end of August 2016. • 58 Sentinel-class fast response cutters (FRCs). The 154-foot FRCs are replacing the service’s Island-class patrol boats. Designed for rapid response in coastal zones, the FRC will provide enhanced capabilities – a stern launching ramp for a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, a remote-operated, gyro-stablized chain gun, and an improved onboard electronics suite. As of November 2016, 19 FRCs are in service, and a total of 38 have been funded by Congress through fiscal year (FY) 2016. • 25 offshore patrol cutters (OPCs). Zukunft has described it as the service’s most urgent acquisition

COAST GUARD PHOTO COURTESY OF CMDR. BENJAMIN BERG

A Coast Guard Cutter Midgett small boat crew returns to the cutter with 1,628 pounds of cocaine jettisoned by fleeing smugglers during a nighttime pursuit in the Eastern Pacific Ocean near Central America, May 26, 2015.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY ERIC D. WOODALL

The CGC Joseph Tezanos conducts sea trials off the coast of Key West, Florida, on July 19, 2016. Joseph Tezanos is a fast response cutter (FRC) that was commissioned Aug. 26, 2016, and is homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the 18th FRC and the sixth to be homeported in San Juan.

need, “the backbone of Coast Guard offshore presence”: an affordable replacement for the service’s 29 medium endurance cutters, which are about 25 to 50 years old. Conceived as the “capability bridge” between the NSCs and FRCs, the OPC will be capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups. The OPC presents a significant budgeting challenge for the service. Congress, in an acknowledgement of the strain under which Coast Guard assets are operating, signed a budget that gave the service more than it requested in its FY 2016 budget, and the Coast Guard’s 2017 proposed budget contains $1.14 billion for acquisition, construction, and improvements. Even so, the service’s current capital investment plan estimates the total cost to acquire the 25 ships to be $10.5 billion – at an average cost of $421 million per ship – which would

mean that building one OPC a year would consume more than a quarter of that budget. The service’s leaders are exploring all available options to bring that figure down, and the Coast Guard is cutting acquisition costs everywhere it can: It’s relying on firm fixed-priced contracting for the OPC, with explicit affordability requirements. When possible, it tries not to re-invent the wheel, and encourages potential contractors to explore already-available designs. The FRC design, for example, is based on a fast patrol vessel produced by the Damen Group, a Dutch shipbuilder. The Coast Guard remains open to the adaptation of established designs for both the OPC and a new heavy icebreaker, and the 2017 budget includes a proposed $147 million for pre-acquisition activities (see “The Coast Guard’s Arctic Surge,” p. 52).

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U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY LT. SCOTT HANDLIN.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

In a further cost-cutting move, the Coast Guard recently made a midcourse adjustment in its program to replace its older HU-25 Guardian aircraft, a highspeed medium-range spotter retired from service in September 2014. After receiving 18 twin-engine HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft – the last of which was delivered in October 2014 – the service paused further acquisition of the Ocean Sentry and moved forward with an acquisition of 14 C-27J Spartan planes that were made available by the U.S. Air Force. The two aircraft are similar in configuration and will play similar roles in medium-range surveillance. The Coast Guard’s fleet of C-130H Hercules longrange surveillance aircraft is being phased out, to be gradually replaced by the newer C-130J Super Hercules, which features digital avionics, a 40 percent longer range, a higher maximum speed, and a shorter takeoff distance. The service’s POR calls for 22 Super Hercules, nine of which have been delivered so far. The most significant thing to note about these newer Coast Guard assets is not merely that they are bigger, faster, or more powerful than their predecessors – though in most cases, they are. Their significance lies in their efficiency: their ability, with sophisticated sensing, computing, and communications technology, to extract, analyze, and share intelligence while deployed, making it easier to direct themselves toward known threats. Zukunft has credited these technologies – known generally as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems – with enabling the intelligence-gathering that has led to record maritime drug seizures in each of the past two years. Of all the buzzwords and acronyms applied to government and military work, one of the most important for the 21st century is “COP”: the common operating picture. To maximize its effectiveness, the Coast Guard works increasingly with federal and international partners both strategically and operationally. JIATF South, a subordinate command of the U.S. Southern Command, is led by a Coast Guard flag officer and includes the four other branches of the military, nine different federal agencies, and 13 international partners with liaisons based in Key West, Florida. C4ISR isn’t a single technology, but a suite of modular components including radar and electronic sensors; voice, chat, data, and satellite communications; automatic identification systems; data processing and analysis; weapons targeting and fire control; and operational support. The CGC Waesche was the first NSC to make use of an upgraded C4ISR system, known as Sea Commander, which it demonstrated at the 2014 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise – the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, involving 22 partner

The first operational C-27J Spartan assigned to Air Station Sacramento readies for its first watch at the end of June 2016.

nations. One noteworthy update to Waesche’s capabilities concerned the Link 11 Tactical Data Link System, which allows airborne, seagoing, and land-based tactical systems to share data over a radio signal. In one RIMPAC exercise, using Link 11, Waesche was able to transmit real-time sensor data – sensor tracking of an unmanned aerial target – to other ships, which then engaged and destroyed the target. The C4ISR program is at work on a newer, modified package of capabilities that will be installed on all national security cutters. One reason the newer cutters and aircraft are so advanced is that they take advantage of the U.S. Navy’s investment in these technologies – which not only saves the Coast Guard money on design, but helps guarantee interoperability with Navy assets. The NSCs use electronic warfare systems, deck-mounted guns, and missile decoys already designed and installed on Navy ships. The mission system that will be used on many of the newer Coast Guard fixed-wing aircraft, including the Super Hercules and the Ocean Sentry, is the Minotaur Mission System Suite, a nose-to-tail modification to incorporate the C4ISR equipment and capabilities. The service’s version of Minotaur was developed jointly by the Coast Guard and the Naval Air Systems Command.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft signs the U.S. Coast Guard “Human Capital Strategy.” Its priorities are divided into three categories: meeting mission needs; meeting service needs; and meeting people needs.

Figuring out Where to Put It All

and its success has led the Coast Guard to expand the system to support all its aircraft, cutters, boats, and some shore systems.

A major challenge of the 21st century’s dynamic and sometimes unpredictable operating environment is the unavoidable elasticity in demand for the Coast Guard. The service often has had a hard time figuring out just which assets and people it will need in a given location, at a future time. On June 14, 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, “Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Improve Strategic Allocation of Assets and Determine Workforce Requirements,” in which it pointed out that the mission needs of a given facility did not always align with the programmed hours for resources (i.e., people and equipment) to be available. The Coast Guard is in the process of implementing a system that automates many maintenance and ordering processes and helps drive logistical decisions. The Coast Guard Logistics Information Management System (CG-LIMS) will, in increments, replace and consolidate portions of the legacy asset management systems, allowing the Coast Guard to keep track of maintenance needs – in turn, increasing asset availability and operational efficiency while decreasing costs. The first platform to implement the CG-LIMS as its primary maintenance software is the Ocean Sentry,

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, led to the creation of a new Cabinet-level department – the Department of Homeland Security, the Coast Guard’s parent agency – and bigger and more complex roles for the service in its mission areas related to homeland defense and defense readiness. After launching overseas contingency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Defense increased the Army and the Marine Corps by 100,000 service members, to ease the strain on U.S. ground forces. In the decade after 9/11, the Coast Guard’s active-duty and full-time civilian service component grew by about 19 percent – from 42,600 to 52,000 – but its Auxiliary and Reserve components remained relatively stagnant. Both inside and outside the Coast Guard, observers – including the GAO – have pointed out that these modest increases haven’t kept pace with the threats, hazards, and challenges confronting the service.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS PATRICK KELLEY

ATTRACTING – AND KEEPING – THE NATION’S BEST

“Our agility and our adaptability of our people is a very strong suit for us, but on the other hand, today’s systems and equipment and requirements are much more complex than they were in the days of the sailing ship.”

Zukunft, in his 2016 State of the Coast Guard Address, reinforced this point by paraphrasing a line from Chief Brody in the movie Jaws: “Looking at the challenges we’re facing in the world today,” he said, “ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to need a bigger Coast Guard.” If the service merely needed more people, of course, it would be a relatively simple matter – but the 21st century has proved anything but simple for the Coast Guard. It’s replacing its entire surface fleet over the next decade, a next generation of cutters and aircraft outfitted with cutting-edge technologies. Historically, one of the most impressive qualities of Coast Guard personnel has been the fact that a job title doesn’t begin to encompass everything a “Coastie” can do. But this jack-of-all-trades approach will probably have to be tempered as the service’s needs require increasingly specialized skill sets. “Our agility and our adaptability of our people is a very strong suit for us,” said Richard Kramer, of the Coast Guard’s Office of Work Force Management, “but on the other hand, today’s systems and equipment and requirements are much more complex than they were in the days of the sailing ship.” As its missions have expanded, Coast Guard operations have adapted to an admirable extent: It’s an expeditionary force, of extraordinary flexibility and effectiveness. But, as Kramer pointed out: “Our system and our infrastructure for recruiting, developing, keeping, and moving our personnel is very rigid … and we need to be more dynamic to meet the changing environment.” Also driving this need are outside forces, changes beyond the service’s control: Demographically, the 17- to 24-year-old slice of the American labor force – the people the Coast Guard most needs to build its future – is shrinking, as competition for their skills heats up from both the private and public sectors. “We have to figure out how to adapt ourselves on the inside,” Kramer said, “so we can attract these people to us – and once we’ve got them, we have

to live up to the promises that brought them into the service.” The strategy for attracting and keeping the best of America’s young people – the Coast Guard’s “Human Capital Strategy” – was released in early 2016, and it outlines the service’s plans to bring the best Americans it can into the service, and keep them there. The strategy’s priorities are broken down into three categories: • meeting mission needs by maintaining personnel and unit readiness, and adapting to the elasticity of demand for its services with the help of a datadriven human resource system; • meeting service needs by creating a force that’s diverse, inclusive, and fair, with abundant opportunities for professional growth; and • meeting people needs with an environment that’s safe, stable, and predictable – but also challenging and supportive of career goals. The key to making this strategy work may lie in Zukunft’s choice of words when naming, in his “MidTerm Report,” his objective for Coast Guard personnel: “Duty to People.” It’s a phrase that emphasizes what the service has to offer, rather than what it needs. The commandant has made the point time and again that his greatest pride in the service is its people, the ultimate platform on which every one of its capabilities rests. No matter how sophisticated or up to date, the physical assets of the Coast Guard – its cutters, boats, planes, and helicopters – are worthless without the right people to get the job done. It’s been an astounding set of changes so far for the 21st century Coast Guard: operational demands more varied and geographically dispersed than ever before, demanding an unprecedented combination of knowledge and skills. It would be a big challenge for any organization. But it seems a good bet that the Coast Guard, which has been adapting to change since 1790 – and whose motto is Semper Paratus – will figure out a way to handle whatever the 21st century brings. n

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

“Western Hemisphere Strategy” Seeks to Achieve Cycle of Success New platforms provide offshore presence for layered defense.

In September 2014, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft released the service’s “Western Hemisphere Strategy,” an operational guidebook for the Coast Guard. “Although active in every region of the world, the U.S. Coast Guard’s primary operating area will remain in the Western Hemisphere,” the document states. “The ‘Western Hemisphere Strategy’ addresses transnational threats and maritime challenges that threaten the security of our nation, markets, and oceans over the next 10 years.” “As residents of the Western Hemisphere, the United States has a keen interest in the safety and security of the hemisphere, including the waters within it and approaching it,” said Rear Adm. Peter J. Brown, assistant commandant for response policy. “We have developed a ‘Western Hemisphere Strategy,’ and we execute that strategy through three main pillars: […] combating networks – primarily criminal networks; securing borders; and safeguarding commerce.” The strategy is both offensive and defensive in nature. Combating networks is a new approach for the Coast Guard, according to Capt. Mark Frankford, director of Law Enforcement, Maritime Security and Defense Operations Policy. “It’s a modern concept; instead of a nation or criminal group, we’re now also focused on an opponent that is a ‘network,’ and using technology that is very difficult to defeat for illicit purposes on the water.” Frankford said that identifying and understanding these networks is intelligence based. “We’re trying to learn as much as we can, and build a picture with our partners. Defeating the networks is also a challenge, because even if you significantly damage a network, you don’t really know when it has been defeated. These networks are complex. It’s hard to declare victory, because it’s hard to say what victory is.” Shutting down one drug pipeline moves the illegal shipments to another, but information gained through each apprehended smuggler has the potential to unlock a key piece of the puzzle when trying to define and attack a transnational organized crime network.

Metrics can be misleading, but by any measure, the Coast Guard and its interagency partners succeeded by removing more than 416,600 pounds of cocaine worth more than $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2016. The service’s previous record was 367,700 pounds of cocaine removed in FY 2008. “This impressive record not only reflects the extraordinary accomplishments of the men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard but the continued threat our nation faces from transnational criminal organizations determined to move drugs into our country by any means necessary,” stated Homeland Security Secretary Jeh C. Johnson in a Coast Guard press release. The second pillar, securing borders, is “the defensive posture of this strategy [and] sustains effective offshore interdiction capability and a comprehensive ability to detect threats and safeguard our homeland,” the strategy notes. “This defensive plan emphasizes improving awareness, prioritizing threats, and establishing a layered defense that supports interdiction of threats far from U.S. interests and borders.” According to her written testimony, titled “Prevention of Smuggling at U.S. Ports,” to two House committees, Rear Adm. Linda Fagan, deputy of Operations Policy and Capabilities, wrote, in part: “The Coast Guard maintains more than 40 maritime bilateral law enforcement agreements and arrangements with partner nations. These agreements and arrangements facilitate coordination of operations and the forward deployment of boats, cutters, aircraft, and personnel to deter and counter threats as close to their origin as possible, and enable real time communications between Coast Guard and partner nation operations centers.” “We have bilateral agreements with almost every country in south Central America and the Caribbean,” said Brown. “These agreements allow us to, on a reciprocal basis, board vessels flagged in those countries when they’re on the high seas and suspected of illicit traffic. We can exchange shipriders. We can bring suspects to the U.S. who are violating the laws of our country and another country who have been caught on the high seas with the concurrence of that other country, and then apply the U.S. legal system

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS RYAN TIPPETS

B y E D WA RD L UND Q UI S T

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew conducts vertical replenishment training aboard the 210-foot CGC Active, March 12, 2015. The Active was on a counter-narcotics deployment in the Pacific Ocean.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS MELISSA LEAKE

Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Salazar, a machinery technician stationed at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown in Yorktown, Virginia, conducts a debrief following a basic engineering casualty control exercise in St. George’s, Grenada, June 11, 2016, during Tradewinds 2016. Tradewinds is an annual joint combined exercise conducted in conjunction with partner nations to enhance the collective abilities of defense forces and constabularies to counter transnational organized crime and to conduct humanitarian/disaster relief operations.

CYCLE OF SUCCESS

with its rigorous standards and protections to them to ensure that there are consequences for illicit acts on the high seas.” In order to protect the nation’s assets and resources and commerce, Zukunft states in the strategy that “the Coast Guard will continue to promote a safe, secure, and resilient Marine Transportation System. Risk management and threat prioritization across our diverse mission space will remain essential to accomplishing our objectives of safety and security.” As two of the service’s 11 missions, Marine Environmental Protection and Marine Safety are key in safeguarding commerce, ensuring “effective incident management in response and recovery operations during events that threaten major commercial activity, the environment, or human life,” the guidebook states.

In the earlier days of the drug war, the mission was interdiction, and displaying a pile of contraband on a ship or on the pier was considered a big success. Later, the goal was to be more attentive to the needs of the prosecutors so they could get convictions. Today, the focus is on discovering, disrupting, and destroying networks. The criminal networks create their own partnerships; value decentralized authority; utilize adaptable members and practices; and respect competency above rank. Identifying and understanding them will require extensive leveraging of national, private, and international partnerships and capabilities, as well as creating new ones, particularly with leading nations in the hemisphere. It will also include enhanced Coast Guard capabilities in intelligence-gathering, analysis, sharing, and dissemination.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

“The cutters that the OPC will replace are getting old. Replacing them is the smarter and most economical thing to do.” A view of the CGC Dependable. Dependable is one of 14 210-foot Relianceclass medium endurance cutters that will be phased out as the offshore patrol cutters join the fleet.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

To defeat criminal enterprises and their networks, the strategy strives to create a “cycle of success,” where information obtained from one encounter can contribute to the next. “When we gain information from a boarding, hopefully we can use the intelligence to help find that next boarding on the water,” Brown said. “We target the detection, the monitoring of drug trafficking vessels, with Joint Interagency Task Force [JIATF] South that operates out of Key West. They develop the intelligence, and they fly the airplanes that allow the

Coast Guard National Security Cutter Waesche crewmembers are shown with seized cocaine in San Diego, California, on Oct. 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of narcotics were interdicted in international waters off the coast of Central and South America during Operation Martillo. The operation is an annual joint, interagency, and multinational collaborative effort to deny transnational criminal organizations air and maritime access to the littoral regions of the Central America isthmus.

INTELLIGENCE DRIVES OPERATIONS – CYCLE OF SUCCESS A big part of the “Western Hemisphere Strategy” is combating networks, and, according to Capt. Katherine Tiongson, the chief of the Office of Intelligence Plans and Policy, “intelligence provides support to every part of the cycle of success.” Tiongson is the program manager for all of the intelligence disciplines in which the Coast Guard is involved, to include human intelligence, signals intelligence, open source analysis and geospatial intelligence, and responsible for policy and the requirements to man, train, and equip the Coast Guard’s intelligence operations. The service relies on a massive amount of information from a multitude of sources at home and abroad, analyzes it, and when appropriate, acts on it. One of the best sources of information is what is learned, during a boarding, such as who is on the vessel, who owns the vessel, and where it came from, any documents or media with the crew, and even “pocket litter” from captured suspects. Tiongson said a key to success in combating networks is the ability of the Coast Guard to integrate and analyze a wide range of seemingly disparate information to conduct network analysis and provide intelligence value so the service is not simply dealing with the next interdiction. “We want to get to a point where we are strategically making decisions specific to where, when, and why we interdict based upon the impact of that interdiction. The only way to do that is to understand the full breadth of that criminal network, its logistics, its infrastructure, its connections, so we can better understand the impact of an interdiction or other activity on the network. In the end, the objective may not be the next interdiction for the Coast Guard, but working with our partners, it may be some other effect that will be more impactful to the organization. The only way you can achieve this goal is through effective information management of big data and the analytic tools to support it.”

cutters and embarked helicopters to locate and stop these drug trafficking vessels. Then we work with DOJ [Department of Justice] to bring those suspects to the U.S. for prosecution, along with the evidence of that crime, including not only the drugs that were found on board, but often communications equipment and code sheets and names and phone numbers that, when investigated, may lead to more information about other cases. That information then feeds into the targeting process that I described at the beginning that JIATF uses. If you draw out those processes – investigation, detection, monitoring, interdiction, prosecution, and investigation – that completes what we call the ‘cycle of success.’”

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS ANDREA ANDERSON

CAPABLE CUTTERS The “Western Hemisphere Strategy” calls for a “Maritime Trident of Forces,” which includes “maritime patrol forces, shore-based forces, and deployable specialized forces.” These service members are on standby, ready to deploy on a moment’s notice. New platforms – boats, aircraft, and the new cutter fleet – are crucial to success, especially in conducting operations far from home waters. “To have the offshore high seas capability, you need the hardware to do it,” Frankford said. That requires capable cutters. And a key to executing its strategy is the Coast Guard’s new offshore

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

NORTHROP GRUMMAN IMAGE

An artist’s conception of the offshore patrol cutter (OPC). The OPC design is 360 feet long, with a beam of 54 feet and a draft of 17 feet. To complement the OPC’s design, Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract on Nov. 14, 2016, from Eastern Shipbuilding Group for the design of C4ISR and machinery control systems for the U.S. Coast Guard OPCs.

patrol cutter (OPC), which will supplant the service’s aging fleet of 210-foot Reliance-class and 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutters (WMECs). In September 2016, the Coast Guard selected Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Florida, to design the OPC and build the first ship, with an option for eight more, beating out Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, Louisiana, and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, for the $110.3 million contract. The first OPC is expected to be delivered in FY 2021. “We currently have 14 210s and 13 270s,” said Cmdr. Phil Crigler, deputy chief for Cutter Forces. “Today, the 210-foot and 270-foot MEC classes do not operate in the Bering Sea or the Pacific transit zone or deep in the Pacific EEZ because they do not possess the endurance or ability to launch and recover helos or cutterboats in conditions routinely experienced in those operating environments,” said Crigler. “The OPC will work with the service’s fast response

cutters [FRCs] to provide an offshore presence in the drug transit zone in the Caribbean. Unlike the smaller FRC, the OPC has a flight deck and can carry a helicopter, and has longer endurance and more robust communications. In fact, the OPC has a similar capability to the national security cutter [NSC], to include the same 57 mm gun.” According to Crigler, the OPC will provide a capability improvement over the FRCs and WMECs with improved seakeeping, which is important for long missions. “With a range of 8,500 miles, it can provide a very effective presence where we need it.” The OPC will have aviation capabilities that are interoperable with the rest of the Coast Guard’s modernized fleet. It will carry over-the-horizon (OTH) capable boats; in fact, the OPC will carry two or more OTH cutter boats, whereas the WMECs have only one. Although the NSC can launch and recover boats using a stern ramp, the OPC will utilize a side-mounted

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

“We have found that those ships have already lived up to

davit system. The OPC will have C4ISR sensors to enhance surveillance, detection, classification, identification, and prosecution performance. Like the NSC, the offshore patrol cutter will have a classified local area network to be able to handle classified material and sensitive intelligence information. According to Crigler, like the WMECs, the OPC will provide 75 percent of the Coast Guard’s overall offshore capability beyond 50 nautical miles, bridging the capabilities of the high endurance NSC and the 154foot FRC. It must be able to operate in sea state 5 (8to 13-foot waves), travel at speeds up to 25 knots, and have a range of 8,500-9,500 nautical miles. OPC operating areas will cover 95,000 miles of coastline and 3.4 million square miles of U.S. maritime territory. Lt. Brian Field of the Office of Cutter Forces said the program of record is to procure 25 OPCs to replace the 29 WMECs serving today. The weapons and their sensors will be provided as “government furnished equipment” by the Navy, which is responsible for the Coast Guard’s combat systems.

their name – national security cutters – because they’ve contributed to national security both with the excellent counter-drug work they’ve been doing, but also in terms of their interoperability with the Navy.” 50

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS ERIC D. WOODALL

The CGC Joseph Tezanos conducts sea trials off the coast of Key West, Florida, July 19, 2016. Joseph Tezanos, the service’s 18th fast response cutter, was commissioned Aug. 26, 2016.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS CHARLES MARK BARNEY

The Coast Guard’s 418-foot National Security Cutter Hamilton (foreground) cruises alongside the 154-foot Fast Response Cutter William Flores off Miami Beach, Florida, Nov. 11, 2014.

The combat system will be similar to the NSC, but slightly scaled down. Unlike the NSC, the OPC will not have the Close-in Weapon System (CIWS). The 57 mm gun will be the same as on the NSC and the Navy’s littoral combat ship, Field said. The program represents a significant cost for the Coast Guard. However, the majority of the cutter fleet is nearing obsolescence. The 210s were commissioned more than 50 years ago. The oldest of the 270s joined the fleet starting in 1983. So the cost of maintaining and sustaining these ships has become prohibitive. “The average age of our major cutters is 41 years, though designed for only a 30-year service life,” said Field. “The cutters that the OPC will replace are getting old,” said Frankford. “Replacing them is the smarter and most economical thing to do.” “Our national security cutters are exceptionally capable ships,” said Brown, “that can do the business that the nation needs the Coast Guard to do, and do it as far away from our own shores as possible, and where we have great authority, and our capabilities exceed

the capabilities of our adversaries. From a security standpoint, that’s a great place to be. That applies to the national security cutter acquisition, but also closer to shore, with the fast response cutter, which is the replacement for our patrol boats. Our next planned acquisition, the offshore patrol cutter, will end up being the numerical work horse of the fleet, with 25 of those planned. They’ll be able to reach down into that transit zone and conduct counter-drug operations. Ultimately, it will enable our national security cutters to work even farther from home. We have found that those ships have already lived up to their name – national security cutters – because they’ve contributed to national security both with the excellent counter-drug work they’ve been doing, but also in terms of their interoperability with the Navy.” “We’re thinking for the future,” said Frankford. “These are modern problems, and we’re taking modern approaches. This is not the same old Coast Guard with a new coat of paint. We’re looking for new ways to accomplish the mission.” n

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

The Coast Guard’s Arctic Surge B y C R A I G C O L L IN S OPERATING DAY TO DAY IN A “NEW OCEAN”

On Aug. 16, 2016, the Crystal Serenity – a ship with 13 decks, eight restaurants, a casino, and a spa – departed Seward, Alaska, for a historic voyage: With more than 1,000 passengers and 600 crewmembers aboard, it sailed around the Aleutian Island chain, through the Bering Strait, along the Arctic coast of Alaska’s North Slope and, on Aug. 27, became the largest cruise ship ever to enter Canada’s Northwest Passage. The ship completed its monthlong voyage in New York City on Sept. 16. Such a trip would have been unthinkable as recently as a decade ago, but longer ice-free summers have opened the Arctic maritime to an increasing amount of human activity in recent years. The Crystal Serenity’s luxury cruise is a dramatic illustration of how fast things are changing: Just last summer, the greatest concern above the Arctic Circle was the potential for an oil discharge from an exploratory offshore well operated by Royal Dutch Shell plc – but the company, citing poor results, low oil prices, and an unpredictable regulatory environment, abruptly and indefinitely suspended its operations in the Arctic after sinking more than $8 billion into the effort. Crystal Serenity introduces a new contingency for the Coast Guard and Arctic communities: a mass rescue, in an area with multiple challenges unique to the region. In the March 2016 issue of the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings, Cmdr. Douglas T. Wahl, USN (Ret.), and Cmdr. Timothy P. McGeehan, USN, outlined several of these challenges in an article titled, “Search and Rescue in the Arctic”: American capabilities for search and rescue (SAR) in the Arctic, they argued, were hindered by shortfalls in communications, navigation, capable platforms, logistics and training, meteorology/oceanography, and infrastructure. These shortcomings aren’t unique to SAR – they could hinder the Coast Guard from fulfilling any of its 11 statutory missions in the Arctic – nor are they new to the service, which has been in Alaska for the last century and a half. Nevertheless, they do represent tactical problems that must be solved – particularly during the summer season, when the service’s area of responsibility in its 17th District (Alaska) roughly doubles in size.

• Infrastructure The Coast Guard carries out Arctic missions yearround, of course; in early March, when a pair of British kayakers sent out a distress signal near Little Diomede Island, in the Bering Strait, rescue crews from Kodiak – 760 miles away – arrived in time to save the men, who were well prepared to wait for help. The problem for U.S. agencies in determining where to establish a port or base in the Arctic is that it’s such a dynamic environment. Last year, because of

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS GRANT DEVUYST

The Coast Guard’s seasonal surge north, now an annual exercise known was Arctic Shield, is launched when the ice-free season begins, at what the rest of Americans think of as the height of summer. 2016 operations officially began on July 1, when the Coast Guard moved people and a pair of MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters to a rented hangar in the city of Kotzebue, about 175 miles northeast of the Bering Strait. The service also stepped up its presence in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, aboard cutters and the medium icebreaker Healy. The scale of this annual surge is hard to convey to people who haven’t visited the region. The Coast Guard has literally no permanently stationed assets north of Anchorage. Most SAR cases are conducted from Air Station Kodiak, a 941-mile flight from the northernmost U.S. city, Barrow – about the same distance as between New York City and Jacksonville, Florida. The deep-water port nearest Barrow is Dutch Harbor, on the Aleutian island of Unalaska, a sea voyage of more than five days and 1,300 nautical miles – but rough weather prevents sea voyages for much of the year. There are no roads connecting any of Alaska’s Arctic settlements. The great distances are only one factor complicating the Coast Guard’s work in the Arctic. During these summer operations, in both the everyday execution of its missions and in planned exercises and evaluations that usually involve other agencies, the service confronts and continues to develop solutions to the tactical challenges outlined by Wahl and McGeehan in their Proceedings article:

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition The CGC Polar Star approaches Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf Feb. 4, 2016. The Ross Ice Shelf, a glacial mass extending into the Ross Sea dozens of miles off the continent, is the subject of modern research in global climate change. Polar Star, built in the ‘70sand now a decade beyond its intended service life, is used mainly for research and to resupply McMurdo Station, the U.S. research center in Antarctica.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS JUSTIN LEDDON

The CGC Stratton patrols the ice edge in the Arctic Ocean in support of Arctic Shield 2016, Aug. 28, 2016. As the Arctic environment continues to evolve, maritime activity associated with industry, the use of the northern sea route, transits through the Bering Strait and Sea, and cruise ship traffic are significantly increasing the demand for maritime preparedness in this remote region. Arctic Shield is an opportunity for the Coast Guard to test capabilities to ensure the right resources are used to conduct future maritime operations in the region.

the activity in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, off the North Slope, District 17 moved its assets to Barrow. “But based on our analysis from last year,” said Cmdr. Kirsten Trego, the Arctic Policy coordination officer with the Coast Guard’s Marine Transportation Systems Directorate, “we expect the majority of activity to be in the northwest region, through the Bering Strait.” Traffic through the strait has doubled over the last eight years, to an average of 400 trips annually. The Coast Guard signed an agreement to lease the hangar, a former Alaska Army National Guard facility on the edge of town, from July 1 to Oct. 31, over a period of five years – the first time the Coast Guard has established such a long-term arrangement. Cmdr. Mark Wilcox, who leads the planning and coordination of Arctic operations, said the service was careful to build flexibility into the arrangement, given the pace of change in the Arctic. “It’s most easily described as a five-year lease,” he explained. “But it’s a one-year lease with four options to renew.” Alaska stakeholders, including the Coast Guard, have contributed to studies investigating the possibility of a deep-water port in the Arctic. The U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers launched a feasibility study of the issue in 2011, and last year proposed the expansion of the Port of Nome, just south of the Bering Strait – a change that would have shortened Arctic vessel transits by around 1,500 miles round-trip, and offered larger ships, such as national security cutters (NSCs), a safe harbor. After Shell halted Arctic operations, however, the Corps of Engineers temporarily suspended the study. For now, Dutch Harbor remains the U.S. deep-draft port closest to the Arctic. • Capable Platforms Given the service’s understandably cautious approach to establishing a permanent Arctic base, it makes sense, for the foreseeable future, to rely on a seagoing mobile platform as the command-and-control center for offshore operations. Arctic Shield operations have relied on the NSC – the only cutter built to serve as a commandand-control headquarters for complex interagency operations involving the Coast Guard and its partners. The NSC can go almost anywhere in the world. But “almost” is an important limiting factor. Wilcox often refers to the Arctic as a “new ocean,” but it’s an

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

ocean full of ice that’s constantly moving, melting and refreezing, opening and closing routes. The only cutter that guarantees access in the Arctic is an icebreaker. The Coast Guard has two icebreakers: The Polar Star, a heavy icebreaker, is used primarily for research and to resupply McMurdo Station, the U.S. research center in Antarctica. The Healy, a medium icebreaker, was designed specifically for scientific research in the Arctic. Though the Healy and its crew participate in Arctic Shield operations, providing a platform for equipment evaluations or training exercises, science remains its primary focus. Last summer, when President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to travel north of the Arctic Circle, he raised an issue that the Coast Guard has been talking about for years now: Having only two icebreakers, operating at opposite ends of the world – and one of them arguably on its last legs – puts the service in a precarious position. The Polar Star, commissioned in 1976, is now 10 years past its intended 30-year service life, and has been kept in service, in part, by borrowing parts from its sister ship, the Polar Sea, which was taken out of service in 2010 after a massive engine failure.

Much is made of the Russian Federation’s seemingly outsized icebreaker fleet – 41 of them, six powered by nuclear reactors – and the United States certainly hasn’t kept pace with other Arctic nations in guaranteeing itself access to the Arctic. But perspective is important: Russia’s Arctic coast is many times larger than Alaska’s. Its icebreakers primarily facilitate intrastate commerce. Icebreakers should be designed and built after a careful evaluation of the nation’s needs. One such evaluation, the “High Latitude Study,” was commissioned by the Coast Guard in 2010. The study concluded that to provide sufficient capability in support of U.S. national interests in the polar regions, the Coast Guard needed a fleet of six icebreakers – three heavy and three medium. The price tag for a new heavy icebreaker is currently $1 billion, making a six-icebreaker fleet a distant prospect for an agency struggling to recapitalize with a proposed acquisition budget of $1.2 billion. But the issue has been taken up by Congress and debated intently, and the service’s 2016 appropriation included $6 million for “pre-acquisition” activities for a new heavy icebreaker. It’s a start, said Trego. “Our view, and what the commandant has been saying, is that we need a minimum

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On Aug. 16, 2016, the cruise ship Crystal Serenity (background) departed Seward, Alaska, for a 32-day cruise through Canada’s Northwest Passage, docking in New York City on Sept. 16. Passengers aboard the $350 million vessel paid between $22,000 and $120,000 for the once-in-a-lifetime experience. According to its website, plans are underway for Crystal Serenityto make its second voyage through the Northwest Passage in 2017.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

of two heavy icebreakers. Right now that’s to recapitalize the existing one, and to have some self-rescue capability. That doesn’t give us year-round assured access, which is what the president has said we need, and which we say we need.” • Training and Logistics The Coast Guard continually works to refine its ability to execute and sustain Arctic operations – and to work with its partners in the region to adapt to the demands of the environment. In April, the service held a tabletop mass rescue exercise – a simulated cruise ship evacuation/mass rescue – with partners from the state of Alaska, Canada, and industry. A full-scale multi-agency field training exercise, Arctic Chinook, took place around Nome and Kotzebue from Aug. 22-25: A SAR exercise, simulating a cruise ship in distress off the Arctic coast, that involved numerous international, federal, state, and local partners. The exercise tested logistics, infrastructure, and medical capabilities, as well as the overall unified command structure of such an operation. The Coast Guard and its partners plan for the long term, and it would be a mistake, Wilcox said, to assume Arctic Chinook is aimed directly at the Crystal Serenity cruise – an event that simply signals a larger trend. “We’re going to be seeing more and more of this traffic – depending, to some extent, on how successful this August trip is. We know other cruise vessel companies are starting to build ships in compliance with the Polar Code, so they can make these transits in the future.” The Polar Code is a set of safety standards adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations agency that regulates international shipping.

This image shows a view of the Arctic on Sept. 11, 2015, when sea ice extent was at 1.7 million square miles (4.41 million square kilometers). The orange line shows the 1981 to 2010 average extent for that day. The black cross indicates the geographic North Pole.

• Communications For a variety of reasons, including the vast and rugged Alaska terrain and the northern limit of existing satellite systems, communications are a unique challenge in the Arctic. Further complicating matters is the jumble of technical standards and codes among the Coast Guard and its partners in the region. In the Arctic, where operations are constantly shifting, Trego said, the service relies on localized VHF and UHF radio communications, and has had to devise its own solutions seasonally. Last year, for example, it established a series of signal repeaters, between Barrow and the Coast Guard’s 17th District Headquarters in Juneau. Arctic Chinook involved the evaluation of several technologies for localized communications information from a simulated evacuation was disseminated in two forms: digital data, sent wirelessly from a high-altitude balloon over the site, and voice radio, transmitted to a communications repeater in nearby Port Clarence.

This view is of the Arctic on Sept. 10, 2016, when sea ice extent was at 1.60 million square miles (4.14 million square kilometers).

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Information was then relayed to Nome, where a team from the Coast Guard’s Research and Development Center beamed it up to a satellite, enabling downloads by the state of Alaska and District 17 Headquarters.

“Given those constraints,” she said, “the best approach is to prioritize areas to be charted. Of the 568,000 square nautical miles in the U.S. Arctic exclusive economic zone, less than half are what NOAA considers navigationally significant.” Even surveying that area – a quarter-of-a-million square nautical miles (SNM) – would take decades, so NOAA has designated survey priority areas, totaling 38,000 SNM, in the Arctic. If resources remain at their current levels, Trego said, estimates for charting that area range up to 25 years. NOAA has made significant progress in charting the highest priority area, the Bering Strait, with specific focus on the proposed routes identified in the “Port Access Route Study (PARS): In the Chukchi Sea, Bering Strait, and Bering Sea” being conducted by the Coast Guard – a study that aims to establish “rules of the road” and traffic lanes for Bering Strait transit that will protect marine life and reduce the risk of collisions and groundings. The PARS proposes a 4-mile-wide, two-way shipping route that starts at Unimak Pass in the Aleutian Islands and travels north through the strait.

• Navigation One of the biggest obstacles to ensuring safety and access in the Arctic maritime is a simple lack of awareness. Less than 5 percent of the region – mostly the highly trafficked passages in and around the Bering Strait – has been charted to 21st century standards. It remains a hazardous maritime domain. According to a 2009 report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency charged with surveying and charting U.S. and territorial seas, polar cruises compiled a poor safety record from 2000 to 2008: five ships sunk, 16 groundings, 42 environmental or pollution violations, and 28 ships disabled by fire, collision, or propulsion loss. Looking at the vastness of the U.S. maritime Arctic, Trego said, reveals that it would take many decades, if not centuries, to chart it all to modern standards.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS ZAC CRAWFORD

Chief Petty Officer Mark Wanjongkhum and Chief Warrant Officer Michael Allen, both from Surface Forces Logistics Center, walk under the CGC Healy while in dry dock at Vigor Shipyard in Seattle, Washington, March 31, 2016. Healy, a medium oceangoing icebreaker and one of two operational oceangoing icebreakers in the service’s fleet, underwent three months of maintenance.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

One of the biggest obstacles In the meantime, the Healy, equipped with sophisticated bottom mapping equipment, is sending data from its transits to NOAA for use in charting. Healy’s summer missions include mapping the limits of the extended continental shelf off of Alaska, in preparation for a U.S. claim of undersea territory under the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). As of summer 2016, the United States is the only Arctic nation that has not yet ratified the UNCLOS treaty – which it must do in order to have its eventual claim recognized by the United Nations.

to ensuring safety and access in the Arctic maritime is a simple lack of awareness. Less than 5 percent of the region – mostly the highly trafficked

NOAA PHOTO

PARTNERING FOR ARCTIC STEWARDSHIP

passages in and around the

As the development of communications and navigational aids in the Arctic illustrate, the Coast Guard isn’t attempting – nor would it be able – to tackle the many problems of the region alone. While its District 17 personnel fulfill the service’s daily mission requirements, its leaders engage at every level to build awareness and capacity to protect the Arctic people, their environment, and their way of life. In 2013, the Coast Guard outlined its “Arctic Strategy” for stepping up its presence and effectiveness, in alignment with the Obama administration’s “National Strategy for the Arctic Region.” The service outlined three near-future objectives for its work in the region: improving awareness, modernizing governance, and broadening partnerships. Because these goals are shared by all Arctic communities, the Coast Guard and its partners continue to devise policy and reach consensus about how to manage the region’s rapid pace of change. One of the key drivers of international cooperation is the Arctic Council, the high-level intergovernmental forum for addressing issues shared by eight member nations with territory in the region: the United States, Canada, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland. The chairmanship of the council, which rotates every two years, is currently held by the United States. The work of the council is conducted in part through six working groups. The Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) group, for example, develops pollution response protocols and, through an agreement signed in 2013, coordinates exercises simulating spills that cross international boundaries or exceed one nation’s response capabilities. The most recent of these exercises began in May, with a simulated tanker collision in Norwegian waters that prompted officials to submit a request for assistance through the EPPR. Lt. Cmdr. Wes James, who leads the International Coordination Division of the Coast Guard’s Office of Marine Environmental Response Policy, explained that the exercise then continued for more than a month: “For the next two

Bering Strait – has been charted to 21st century standards. It remains a hazardous maritime domain.

An iceberg spotted from the NOAA Ship Fairweather during a mission to map areas of the Arctic.

weeks, all eight Arctic nations exercised internally how they would provide that assistance if requested,” he said, “and then on June 13, in Montreal, we all came together in person, and we had a tabletop exercise, where every country essentially revisited and exercised, how they would provide assistance to Norway, or any country that requested assistance.” The Arctic Coast Guard Forum, established in 2015 in New London, Connecticut, allows heads of the Arctic nation coast guards to work directly together on plans and problem-solving. The forum’s most recent meeting, from June 7-10 in Boston, saw the eight principals reach substantive agreement on a way forward and sign a joint statement that established a framework for future collaboration: rules for information-sharing in combined operations, for example. Forum members

also planned a tabletop exercise for 2016 and a live SAR exercise, the first to involve all members of the forum together, in 2017. Through the U.S. departments of State and Homeland Security (DHS), the Coast Guard already works with several international partners through bilateral agreements – including coordination with Canada and Russia under specific Joint Contingency Plans, focused on spill coordination across shared maritime boundaries, and a Letter of Intent with Norway to foster increased collaboration. Each of these nations was involved, to an extent, in the Arctic Chinook SAR exercise in August 2016: Canada as a direct participant, and Russia and Norway as observers. At the national level, the Coast Guard’s collaboration follows the same pattern: Its high-level

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO BY TECH. SGT. JOHN GORDINIER

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

data necessary to make informed decisions for environmental response. The service also gets plenty of help working in the Arctic from its own experts and thought leaders: Experienced ice rescuers – a time-tested skill in the 9th District (Great Lakes) – visit periodically to offer instruction to their colleagues in District 17. Arctic Shield operations frequently borrow personnel of all kinds from other Coast Guard districts, to increase Arctic awareness service-wide. The service’s own think tank for developing policy recommendations, the Center for Arctic Study & Policy, resides at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, where it promotes research, and collaboration and dialogue among specialists from academia, government, tribal organizations, industry, non-governmental organizations, and the Coast Guard. In 2014, DHS established the Arctic Domain Awareness Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage to develop cutting-edge technological solutions and products to improve awareness and response capabilities for the service and its partners. To the Coast Guard – and particularly to the men and women of District 17 – probably the most important partners in the Arctic are the people in the communities they serve throughout the year. Through outreach and collaboration with the residents of Arctic Alaska, district personnel are able to bring services to remote villages. According to Wilcox, state and local partners helped the Coast Guard bring the Kids Don’t Float program, launched 20 years ago in Homer, Alaska, to encourage life jacket use, to more than 3,000 people – children and adults alike – by mid2016. Much of what the service is able to do on an everyday basis in the Arctic – from the inspection of fishing vessels near the Bering Strait to ensuring the safety of the gold-dredging vessels of Nome Harbor – is possible because of the good working relationships and mutual trust the Coast Guard has cultivated among its Arctic neighbors. At the same time, Wilcox said, there’s still much the Coast Guard doesn’t understand about the Arctic, and as it increases the intensity of its summer operations in the region, it’s also being careful to work in a way that’s sensitive to its people’s way of life. “We don’t fully understand how the increased traffic is going to affect the subsistence efforts of Native Alaskans,” Wilcox said. “So we try to coordinate with them and respect their activities, making sure our work doesn’t interfere with people’s access to their food sources – to the bowhead whale on the North Slope, or to the colonies of walrus and seals near the Bering Strait. We try to make sure our operations are sensitive to them – and to make sure all these new users of the Arctic maritime are aware of each other’s needs.” n

Technical Sgt. Cody Inman, a pararescueman with the 212th Rescue Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is hoisted into an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter during Exercise Arctic Chinook Aug. 24, 2016. Arctic Chinook was a joint U.S. Coast Guard- and U.S. Northern Command-sponsored exercise on the U.S. State Department-approved list of Arctic Council Chairmanship events. The Arctic mass rescue operation exercise scenario consisted of an adventure-class cruise ship with approximately 200 passengers and crew that experience a catastrophic event with the need to abandon ship. Arctic Chinook exercised elements of the Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement to include interoperability, cooperation, informationsharing, SAR services, and joint exercise review.

collaborations with the White House and executive branch agencies are coordinated largely through the Arctic Executive Steering Committee (AESC), established last year by Obama. At the same time, the Coast Guard works closely with federal and state partners on shared issues – with NOAA and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, for example, to improve oil spill planning, preparedness and response in the Arctic. NOAA’s Environmental Response Mapping Application (ERMA), developed in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, provides these partners with an accurate common operating picture for pollution response in the region. The online tool integrates data such as ship locations, weather, currents, and Environmental Sensitivity Index maps to provide the

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Cybersecurity Within the Coast Guard

Every military era since the mid-19th century can be identified with a new weapons technology, from repeating rifles to tanks, airplanes to nuclear bombs, precision-guided munitions to computers to unmanned aerial vehicles. The type, mission, and primary service user of each has covered the full gamut of military operations, but rarely has one affected every layer of all uniformed services, all of government, and every aspect of society, from multinational corporations to criminal enterprises to private citizens. The most ubiquitous and disruptive previous developments were computers and the internet (along with its military and private counterparts). The newest – cybersecurity – grew directly from those two at unprecedented speed. Today, nearly every organization in the world has a cyber person, office, department, or command, almost all created since the turn of the century. In 2008-09, Coast Guard officials held discussions with other military services about the stand-up of their cyber commands and how they would be working with U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM). The service’s commandant at the time, Adm. Thad Allen, directed his deputy to look into what it would take to stand up a Coast Guard Cyber Command (CGCYBER).

In 2013, the U.S. Coast Guard created a servicewide Cyber Command with a vision to achieve “a safe, secure and resilient cyber operating environment that allows for the execution of Coast Guard missions and maritime transportation interests of the United States.” They assessed what efforts would become part of the new command and what would remain within traditional Coast Guard units. All cybersecurity functions that were part of the Telecommunications and Systems Command or C4IT Service Center were added to CGCYBER missions to create a more holistic grouping of the service’s existing cybersecurity units, capabilities, and requirements. The service’s cyber mission is to: identify, protect against, enhance resiliency in the face of, and counter electromagnetic threats to the Coast Guard and maritime interests of the United States; provide cyber capabilities that foster excellence in the execution of Coast Guard operations; support Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cyber missions; and serve as the service component command to U.S. Cyber Command. Part of DHS rather than the Defense Department (DOD), the Coast Guard was the last uniformed service to stand up a service cyber component subordinate to

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS PATRICK KELLEY

B y J. R . W IL S O N

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORALLSECURE

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

USCYBERCOM in a direct-reporting capacity. The other service cyber components are the 24th Air Force/Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER, established in August 2009); Navy Fleet Cyber Command/10th Fleet (FLTCYBER), and Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command (MARFORCYBER), both established in January 2010; and Army Cyber Command/2nd Army (ARCYBER) established in October 2010. In June 2015, the Coast Guard rolled out its new “Cyber Strategy” to ensure all existing Coast Guard cyber-related activities and missions – internal and external – are captured under one strategic document. “Cyber is a new risk factor, but it does not interrupt long-standing and successful regimens for dealing with prevention and response to incidents,” Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft said at the “Cyber Strategy” roll out. “This isn’t about looking for new authorities or missions. We’re doing as we’ve done for 225 years. We’re applying our existing authorities and skills to meet demand in emerging domains.”

The Coast Guard strategy is focused on three goals: • defending Coast Guard cyberspace • enabling Coast Guard operations • protecting critical infrastructure “The first two are more internal, enabling employees to safely use cyberspace. The second allows the Coast Guard to use cyber-based systems to carry out operations. So the first two are looking at things we control,” according to Cmdr. Nick Wong, chief of the Domestic Ports Division and implementing the external portion of the cyber strategy. “The third is focused on the Marine Transportation System and those we regulate – how does the Coast Guard ensure those operations are carried out in a safe, secure, and environmentally sound manner, accounting for the cyber element? “The Coast Guard seeks to make sure maritime transportation operations continue safely. Those operations can impact commerce and national security – where the military may rely on the commercial sector and an operational Marine Transportation System to get military materiel to the ports.” The Coast Guard’s 11 congressionally mandated missions were challenging before cyber emerged as a risk, he added, “but technology changes the operating environment and cyber has impacted our missions. “Cyber is the evolution of how ports and ships operate, and the Coast Guard, industry, and other agencies – local and state government, first responders, etc. – will have to adjust to that. The Coast Guard has been dealing with risk for decades – cyber is just a new element in that. And as industry and technology evolve, so will the Coast Guard,” Wong said. “We have been working to clarify what industry is to report, similar to how they report marine casualties, pollution, and safety issues. We realize the cyber realm is still a bit mysterious to some, so our new guidance is intended to clarify that. The Coast Guard is unique among the uniformed services because we are also regulators, which is the linkage to protecting infrastructure.” Every government agency has been under constant, daily cyberattacks for years. At the Coast Guard, cybersecurity incidents average from two to four a week – 97 percent related to user behavior. The main types of incidents caused by users are plugging unauthorized USB devices into Coast Guard workstations and

Opposite page: Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Paul Zukunft delivers remarks at the “U.S. Coast Guard Cyber Strategy” roll out. Left: Midshipmen and cadets from the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard service academies participate in CyberStakes 2016, an annual cutting-edge Defense Department cyber skills competition, Feb. 5-7.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

OFFICIAL DHS PHOTO BY BARRY BAHLER

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson hosts President Barack Obama at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) Jan. 13, 2015. NCCIC is a cyber situational awareness, incident response, and management center that is a national nexus of cyber and communications integration for the federal government, the intelligence community, and law enforcement. NCCIC’s mission is to reduce the likelihood and severity of incidents that may significantly compromise the security and resilience of the nation’s critical information technology and communications networks.

unauthorized release of information outside Coast Guard networks. Lt. Cmdr. H. Lars McCarter, director of current operations and the Cybersecurity Operations Center (CSOC), CGCYBER Operations Department, said the “Cyber Strategy” was released because cyberspace needed to be codified within the Coast Guard as a warfighting domain, similar to what the DOD services had done. CGCYBER also is partnered with DHS’ National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), which is tasked with fusing the critical infrastructure problem across the government. “The Coast Guard understands all of its operations in the air, land, and sea are wholly dependent on IT systems,” McCarter said. Ensuring these systems are available to support operations is in alignment with the defending cyberspace priority of the strategy and the primary mission area of CGCYBER. “CGCYBER’s role is focused on Coast Guard specific systems and networks. We are also looking at ways to support external efforts in alignment with the protecting infrastructure priority,” he explained. One critical area where the Coast Guard closely aligns to DOD rather than DHS is its information

environment, a subcomponent of the DOD information network (DODIN) and connected through it to the internet, making it subject to the same cybersecurity problems facing DOD. Those range from low-level hackers to high-level nation-state actors. “The vast majority of those are mitigated; the bulk of what makes it through is commodity type malware from external threats,” McCarter said. “We’ve been collecting trend data for a year on cybersecurity incidents and their sources and in excess of 97 percent of all incidents are caused by poor cyber hygiene by Coast Guard users. That ranges from plugging unauthorized devices into the network to using personal email addresses to transmit critical, but not classified, information, which is strictly prohibited. “But our No. 1 technical risk is someone within the Coast Guard clicking on phishing emails, which is currently the easiest way for hackers to get in. At first, we saw that activity at all levels, from the flag level down. But now we see it mostly at the junior or newly joined level, many of whom have not yet received training on basic cyber hygiene. The vast majority of our cybersecurity problems have been routine, although we have

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

“The Coast Guard understands all of its operations in the air, land, and sea are wholly dependent on IT systems.”

had some critical activity, which is dealt with much more aggressively.” Because the Coast Guard’s missions include counterterrorism, anti-piracy, national security, and law enforcement against criminal organizations, it and its stakeholders potentially face greater danger of cyberattack than other potential U.S. targets. “Those certainly are threats that concern us, from nation-states to criminal organizations to individual and small group actors. The Coast Guard poses a threat to them, so we have to recognize that as we plan for future dealings with them, and understand the future potential of a critical threat there,” McCarter said. There are two significant differences between Coast Guard and DOD cyber operations: DOD has a limited mission to protect U.S. civilian infrastructure and the Coast Guard has no offensive cyber capabilities or mission currently. “We are the Coast Guard service cyber component to USCYBERCOM, but because we are not part of DOD, USCYBERCOM cannot yet technically task us to do anything, although due to our presence on the DODIN and our significant alignment with DOD and USCYBERCOM, we follow their lead,” he said. “The Coast Guard does not provide dedicated Coast Guard-funded forces to the joint cyber fight; however, it provides personnel on a reimbursable basis to USCYBERCOM. The DOD services provide both offensive and defensive capabilities to USCYBERCOM.” Although the U.S. Coast Guard ranks as the seventhlargest navy in the world, CGCYBER is only about onefifth the size of its closest U.S. Navy counterpart unit for defensive cyber operations, both as a percentage of service personnel and budgets. “Compared to other government organizations – non-military – we probably are on par in terms of a percentage of total personnel dedicated to cybersecurity. Our size is comparable to other cybersecurity components in DHS; the difference is we often get compared to DOD vice DHS, which is putting significantly more resources toward cybersecurity than the rest of the government,” McCarter explained.

Wong said the Coast Guard prefers the term “cyber risk management” rather than cybersecurity because cyber is a complex risk area, especially for ports and ships, where cyber tools are used for facility operations and security monitoring, to ensure vessels are run optimally, for loading and unloading cargo, etc. The cyber threats are not limited to criminal or nefarious actors; they also include operator errors or simple computer system failures. “Focusing only on security would ignore the other risks,” Wong explained. “Things are getting more and more interconnected. And as systems and operations change, industry needs to continuously look at how they address this risk. The Coast Guard is striving to prevent an incident rather than just preparing for response and recovery, although we will do that as well.” Because cyber is a global issue, the Coast Guard also has been working with international partners to ensure a certain level of consistency. “That is a significant area we will continue working on for the next few years – to get international consistency for vessels. We also are developing voluntary guidelines for the U.S. maritime industry. We’ve already seen how computers and cyber tech have changed industry. The only future limiting factor is innovation, which can be a major challenge for us – keeping up with the pace of technology and how industry uses it,” Wong said. “Cyber is a complicated topic, with no easy solutions,” he continued. “Part of this complexity is how diverse industry is, and their use of cyber varies in so many ways. In government, there is some level of standardization, so if there is a problem, one solution may be applied to a majority. That’s not the case with industry. “Some of the technology in use is several-decadesold systems, but still works; so some may say, ‘If it ain’t broke why fix it?’ The Coast Guard has spent the past 18 months in an educational phase, working with our stakeholders so we are on the same page when it comes to recognizing this risk. We are already starting to see these efforts change that mindset.” n

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Port Facilities, Vessels, and Workers Plan for Security America’s economic strength is dependent on freedom of the seas as well as an efficient system of ports and waterways for commercial movement of people, cargo, and conveyances. The United States has the largest system of ports, waterways, and coastal seas in the world, which includes some 95,000 miles of coastline. The U.S. Marine Transportation System (MTS) contains 26,000 miles of commercial waterways that serve 361 ports; 3,700 marine terminals (ranging from marinas to mega-ports); and 25,000 miles of navigable channels. The system also includes more than 1,500 miles of international maritime border with Canada, connecting population centers to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway System. The “Commandant’s Strategic Intent 2015-2019” states, “Over 90 percent of global trade travels through maritime conveyance, making the safety, security, and environmental stewardship of the MTS a national security and economic imperative.” The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA) calls for vulnerability assessments and security plans for vessels and port facilities, and establishment of Area Maritime Security Committees (AMSCs) for ports to coordinate security so that America’s oceans and sea ports can continue to be gateways for economic growth, opportunity, and prosperity. Dedicated professionals at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters and in the field ensure that the requirements of MTSA are met.

Each facility is different. Some cruise terminals have thousands of incoming and outgoing passengers and crewmembers passing through every day. Others are not much more than a shack on the dock selling trinkets, T-shirts, and tickets. Not every cruise terminal is like Miami, Florida; not every ferry terminal is like Staten Island, New York; and not every cargo terminal is like Los Angeles or Long Beach, California. “That’s why the rules are not prescriptive. When we review the security plan, we want to know how they will protect their perimeter, restricted areas, and critical infrastructure like cargo-handling equipment, power, and potable water supplies. “We approve the plan, or work with them until they are compliant,” she said. “I’m proud to say that we have a really good working relationship with industry. “A lot of agencies work from the top down,” McMenemy said. “We work from bottom up.” The individual security plans are not approved at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Facility security plans are submitted to the captain of the port (COTP), who is in the best position to review the plan. Facility security plans are submitted to and approved by the service’s COTP. The COTP is responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance by vessels and facilities operating within his/her area of responsibility. Local Coast Guard personnel are familiar with each facility and how their operations affect the safety and security of the maritime environment as a whole. With the local sector or marine safety unit, the COTP is familiar with the area, the geography, the traffic and the commerce, and the environment. According to Mark Dubina, vice president of security for Port Tampa Bay, the plan process encourages plan holders to customize protection options that best suit the needs of the facility, while creating meaningful protective measures. “Ports contain a multitude of diverse port industries that cover all types of maritime businesses, from cruise terminals to container facilities, and all types of bulk products. The plan process allows flexibility in each situation, allowing each port to maximize efficiencies and deploy innovative solutions.”

PLAN FOR SUCCESS While safety is always emphasized, Betty McMenemy, a marine transportation specialist at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, said her job’s main focus is to look at security in support of MTSA. “Facilities and vessels have to adhere to rules of MTSA, and the cornerstone is the security plan. Plans have to specify security measures for access control, and how you will keep unauthorized people out.” McMenemy said the standards are not prescriptive. “Facilities tell us what they’re going to do, and, based on operations and location, the Coast Guard can approve.”

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS TARA MOLLE

B y E D WA RD L UND Q UI S T

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Petty Officer 2nd Class Lawrence Schmidt, a marine science technician at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, listens during container inspection training at the Port of Honolulu, Oahu, Jan. 28, 2016. Crewmembers from Coast Guard units in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, Alaska, and Oklahoma, as well as service members from the Marine Corps and Army, attended a five-day training course to learn intermodal hazardous material inspections and transportation regulations.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Crewmembers aboard a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Maritime Safety and Security Team 91107 escort the cruise ship Pride of America out of Honolulu Harbor, Oct. 3, 2015. The Coast Guard conducts escorts of high-capacity passenger vessels to ensure security of the passengers, the vessel, and the port.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS MELISSA E. MCKENZIE

ALTERNATIVE SECURITY PROGRAMS

approved by the Coast Guard, or, said PVA’s Jen Wilk, director of public affairs, security, and development, they can use an already-developed and approved industry-wide alternative. “The Alternate Security Program, developed by the Passenger Vessel Association and approved by the Coast Guard, provides a comprehensive and well-established means of compliance for those domestic passenger vessels, small passenger vessels, and facilities subject to maritime security requirements.” Compliance with the PVA program meets all the security requirements as an approved alternative under Title 33 Code of Federal Regulations parts 101, 104, and 105. “PVA members with a vessel with a passenger capacity of 151 or more may elect to satisfy the requirement to implement a vessel and/or facility security plan using the PVA program,” Wilk said. PVA’s ASP is an important tool to help members meet their security requirements, and Wilk said PVA members in good standing can use this exclusive benefit as a formal security program that meets the functional requirements of the MTSA and its implementing regulations. This ASP addresses security for both vessels and facilities. “Passenger vessel operators take security seriously, and ensure that there are robust security measures in place. PVA’s ASP provides a comprehensive framework for security procedures while at the same time allowing companies the flexibility to address the unique features of their operations and make the program their own,” she said. “PVA’s ASP was developed by PVA member volunteers with years of operations experience. Our ASP is pre-approved by Coast Guard Headquarters, and

But there are Alternative Security Programs, or ASPs, that provide a sort of blanket coverage for groups. For example, industry associations such as the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) and American Chemistry Council (ACC) have developed plans that cover their broad membership so that each member organization doesn’t have to create an individual plan. If the commandant approves an ASP for a group of vessels, such as those that belong to an organization like the PVA, “Their members can use the ASP and fill in the necessary information so the security program becomes vessel specific,” McMenemy said. The company doesn’t have to write the plan, and the COTP doesn’t have to go through a line-by-line review process. More vessels are covered by the various ASPs offered through their respective associations than those with individual security plans. There are about 3,300 vessels with individual security plans, and approximately 7,200 covered under an ASP. PVA members include owners and operators of dinner cruise vessels, sightseeing and excursion vessels, car and passenger ferries, gaming vessels, private charter boats, whale watching and eco-tour vessels, day sailers, and windjammer sailing vessels, overnight cruise ships, and amphibious vessels. PVA members operate U.S. Coast Guard certificated, as well as Canadian Coast Guard or state-inspected vessels. The passenger vessel industry safely carries more than 200 million passengers each year, according to the PVA. To be MTSA compliant, PVA members can write and implement an individual security plan and have it

Right: U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft speaks about cybersecurity at the 2015 Area Maritime Security Committees (AMSCs) meeting in Brooklyn, New York, June 10, 2015. AMSC personnel conduct meetings, create partnerships and networks, share information, conduct training, assess vulnerabilities, and mitigate risks in support of the Area Maritime Security Plan.

members do not need to undergo the challenges of creating their own individual program and subsequently having it approved – especially when it’s time for revisions and renewal every five years,” she said. Wilk said PVA works with the Coast Guard to update the ASP in advance of its regular five-year renewal to make appropriate revisions and federal security policy changes, such as the recent Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC®) reader requirements. PVA communicates with Coast Guard leadership through quality partnership meetings and ASP sponsoring-organizations’ group meetings. PVA also meets regularly with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). “PVA appreciates the open dialogue we have with the Coast Guard,” Wilk said.

effective approach to protecting the maritime environment from [an] intentional act of terrorism and other types of criminal behavior to prevent the disruption in the flow of marine commerce,” said Erny. Because MTSA allows for regulated facilities to implement an alternative security program in lieu of submitting a facility security plan (FSP) to the local COTP, Erny said the ASP is a highly effective and efficient means to comply with Coast Guard security regulations using a sector approach. “In this case, ACC members can opt to comply with the chemical sector ASP that addresses security practices common to chemical plant operations. This approach focuses regulatory requirements that are common to the chemical sector, providing for an efficient process that minimizes duplication and enhances clarity during implementation.” Since ASPs are developed by the private sector in cooperation with the Coast Guard, Erny said the requirements can be updated more frequently to keep pace with the changing security environment. “For example, ACC is finalizing the third edition of the chemical sector ASP. When approved, the new third edition will include a new section on cybersecurity.” Across the industry, Erny said chemical facilities that operate at the port have numerous aspects in common. “Most facilities include a fenced security perimeter surrounding the plant, which is considered the restricted area for regulatory purposes, with discrete access points that are effectively monitored and managed to safely control who and what can be allowed to enter and leave the facility. Personnel access is tightly

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS Transporting chemicals is a significant business for oceangoing carriers, inland barge operators, and other water freight transportation companies. “The chemical industry conducting port operations must comply with the MTSA, and implement rigorous security measures to prevent unauthorized access to restricted areas within covered facilities, such as the loading dock. Such security measures employed include access control, background checks, fencing, monitoring, and security guard patrols,” said Bill Erny of the ACC. In addition to MTSA, the ACC has imposed its own Responsible Care® Security Code, which mandates an additional layer of security and third-party auditing for members. “Both programs together ensure an

U.S. COAST GUARD PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS FRANK IANNAZZO-SIMMONS

Opposite page: Petty Officer 3rd Class Tiago Goncalves, a marine science technician at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston, inspects a Transportation Worker Identification Credential card of a driver arriving at Barbours Cut at the Port of Houston.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS RENEE C. AIELLO

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

process. The TWIC card access control is required to be compliant with MTSA. According to Lt. Cmdr. Brett Thompson, who is in charge of TWIC implementation, the TSA issues the card following a verification of an individual’s background. “The Coast Guard is responsible for enforcement of facilities and vessels to incorporate TWIC as part of their access control measures under MTSA.” Security plans for vessels and facilities must be reviewed and approved every five years to ensure they are current and compliant. If a facility or vessel is subject to MTSA, then it’s subject to TWIC. “We conduct random checks to make sure the correct processes are in place for access control,” Thompson said. A recently promulgated rule requires owners and operators of certain vessels and facilities regulated by the Coast Guard to conduct electronic inspections of TWICs as an access control measure. The new rule requires electronic inspection of the TWIC credentials, to include biometrics, to verify people for access at designated high-risk MTSA-regulated vessels and facilities. According to Cmdr. Frances Fazio, chief of the Cargo and Facility Division, “There are 525 facilities and one vessel designated as part of ‘Risk Group A,’ which come under the ruling. Risk Group A encompasses facilities that handle certain dangerous cargoes [CDCs] in bulk, receive vessels that carry CDC in bulk, or receive vessels that carry more than 1,000 passengers. Additionally, Risk Group A encompasses vessels that carry CDC in bulk, certificated to carry more than 1,000 passengers, or vessels engaged in towing either of the above. “For those facilities with an existing physical access control system, they will need to incorporate certain requirements explained in the rule-making into their existing system to be compliant,” Fazio said. The TWIC reader rule builds upon existing regulations designed to ensure that only individuals who hold a valid TWIC are granted unescorted access to secure areas of Coast Guard-regulated vessels and facilities. “TWIC is a huge part of port security and it goes hand in hand with security plans and programs,” McMenemy said.

controlled and restricted to only those who have been authorized for entry, possess a current Transportation Worker Identification Credential or who are escorted by security personnel.” Erny said the chemical industry has a very good relationship with the U.S. Coast Guard, starting at the local level with the COTP. “We take our security responsibilities under MTSA very seriously – it’s an integral part of safe marine commerce. Our ability to move chemical products in bulk through the inland waterways and along the coastal system is crucial to our nation’s economy, our standard of living, and to the well-being of our communities. To do this effectively, it takes a collaborative approach between the chemical industry and the U.S. Coast Guard. This can be evidenced through the development and effective implement of the ACC Alternative Security Program.”

FEMA PORT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM A number of facilities have procured necessary security equipment and systems using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) port security grants. Many facilities in lower risk groups already have the equipment, although lower risk-group vessels and facilities may continue to verify TWIC visually. The FEMA Port Security Grant Program has helped ports make tangible improvements to their security. “The Port Security Grant Program has funded patrol

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

vessels, video surveillance and access control systems, TWIC readers and infrastructure, sonar equipment, cybersecurity assessments, and numerous other projects to enhance maritime domain awareness and improve response and mitigation capabilities of first responders,” said John N. Young, director of Freight and Surface Transportation Policy for the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA). “Seaports are the international borders and gateways to America. That’s why AAPA is concerned that drastic cuts in recent years to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s preparedness grant programs, and in particular to the Port Security Grant Program, threaten the ability of our nation to maintain or expand our current level of security,” Young said.

everything that happens. Working with the partners at the different levels is the most fulfilling part of the job,” he said. Stakeholder membership and participation is voluntary. While the Coast Guard has a leadership role, Wong said industry’s role is equally important as many of the problems identified and solutions proposed come from industry. “They can inform us of what works best,” said Wong. “The AMSCs foster partnership by identifying shared concerns and collaborating to reach a common consensus on strategies and goals,” said Dubina. “Face-to-face meetings create trust and familiarity among diverse groups and disciplines. “The partnerships between federal, state, and local authorities foster ... the AMSCs and regular joint training opportunities act as a force multiplier that magnifies and enhances the Coast Guard’s unique powers and expertise,” Dubina said. Ed Alford, director of corporate security for Jacksonville, Florida-based Crowley Maritime, said his company is an active participant in the local AMSCs. Having industry partners on the water and the waterfront helps with safety and security. “We have [a] good understanding of what’s normal, and what isn’t,” Alford said. For example, Port Everglades, Florida, has a very short approach from the sea buoys to the dock. While that can be efficient, it also means that there are short reaction times to respond to potential threats. “Everyone has to be vigilant,” said Alford. Alford said the AMSCs help industry learn about trends that can affect their business, such as narcotics trafficking routes or locations where stowaways are coming aboard vessels bound for the United States. They also share information about new vessels, port facilities, or regulations that have an impact on their operations. Trusted members of the AMSC may also be briefed on highly sensitive information from law enforcement or intelligence sources. Whether his company is dealing with security of vessels or ports, Alford said the Coast Guard team is superb. “They have a real tough job. South Florida is a busy maritime environment, with fishing, cruise, cargo, pleasure boaters, natural disasters, and crime. Everything is coming at you. The Coast Guard people we deal with are ultra-professional. They know their stuff. It makes the whole community stronger.” A key strength in the maritime community is the seasoned veterans, said Alford. “There are a lot of knowledgeable and experienced people you can turn to.” The key, Wong said, is to have the right people working with each other. “Fortunately, we have a lot of very experienced people who know how to work with the right partners at all levels.” n

AREA MARITIME SECURITY COMMITTEES Cmdr. Nicholas Wong is the Coast Guard’s chief of Domestic Ports Division and the program manager for the AMSCs. As the local Federal Maritime Security Coordinator (FMSC), the COTP chairs the AMSC. There are 43 COTP zones, and each has an AMSC. Working together, the AMSC develops the overall security plan for that region. The committees assist and advise the FMSC in the development, review, and implementation of a coordination and communication framework to identify risks and vulnerabilities in and around ports. Additionally, AMSCs coordinate resources to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from security incidents. In addition to the Coast Guard, AMSC membership includes other federal, state, local, tribal, and commercial entities. “The AMSC fosters relationships and partnerships at the local level,” said Wong. The AMSC brings key stakeholders together to create a true partnership to ensure the safe, secure, environmentally responsible, and efficient operation of the MTS in that area. As an enterprise, the MTS encompasses more than a port itself, but also includes the waterways, roads, rails, and other intermodal landside connections that move people and goods to, from, and on the water. According to Wong, collaborative planning, coordination, open lines of communication, working relationships, and unity of effort are essential to providing layered security and effective measures across all segments of the MTS. “Everyone benefits from the marine transportation system,” said Wong. “In my position, I see the big picture of the intricacies, and the cause-and-effect relationships. It’s all interdependent, so we work together to ensure the MTS is safe, secure, and environmentally responsible. There are so many moving parts, and there [are] so many second- and third-order effects to

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

MISSIONS OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD

“A few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.” – Alexander Hamilton, founder

• Living Marine Resources • Marine Safety • Defense Readiness • Migrant Interdiction • Marine Environmental Protection • Ice Operations • Other Law Enforcement

• Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security • Drug Interdiction • Aids to Navigation • Search and Rescue

In the following pages, you’ll read about the Coast Guard’s missions and their history as well as 11 members of the service who describe their roles in support of these missions.

The crew of the CGC Alex Haley conducts boardings in the Bering Sea.

U.S. COAST GUARD

Congress authorized the secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to create a maritime service – a system of cutters, later called the Revenue Cutter Service – to enforce customs laws in 1790. The missions of the U.S. Coast Guard have evolved and expanded over its 226 years. Today, there are 11 congressionally mandated missions:

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

ON AN AVERAGE DAY, THE COAST GUARD: conducts

45 search and rescue cases

escorts

5capacity high-

passenger vessels

conducts 105

completes 26

safety examinations on

conducts

foreign vessels

waterborne patrols of critical maritime infrastructure

services 82 buoys and fixed aids to navigation

screens 360 merchant vessels

pollution incidents investigates 14 marine casualties involving commercial vessels

for potential security threats prior to arrival in U.S. ports

interdicts

saves more than

illegal migrants

saves

lives

conducts security boardings in and around U.S. ports

investigates

marine inspections

$1.2 million

seizes

874

in property

pounds of cocaine and

214

conducts 14 fisheries conservation boardings

facilitates movement of $8.7 billion worth of goods and commodities through the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marine Transportation System

pounds of marijuana

The Coast Guard is Semper Paratus (Always Ready) and has been for 226 years. 77

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Pictured from left to right, a 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water, a 29-foot Response Boat-Small II, and two 45-foot Response Boat-Mediums from Coast Guard Station Sand Key, Florida, are shown near the station, Feb. 29, 2016. Crewmembers from the station are responsible for the safety and security of more than 2,000 square miles off the west coast of Florida.

Mission

from sabotage as well as to safeguard waterfront property, supervise vessel movements, and establish anchorages and restricted areas. It also granted the Coast Guard authority to control and remove people aboard vessels.Â When the United States entered World War II, the missionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mandates expanded to include responsibilities such as control of anchorage and movement of all vessels in port; fire-prevention measures including inspections, recommendations, and enforcement; supervision of the loading and stowage of explosives and military ammunition; boarding and examination of vessels in port; licensing of vessels for movement in local waters and for departure; guarding of key facilities; enforcement of all regulations governing vessels and waterfront security; and general enforcement of federal laws on navigable waters and other miscellaneous duties.

The Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security (PWCS) mission protects people and property in the U.S. Marine Transportation System by preventing, disrupting, and responding to terrorist attacks, sabotage, espionage, or subversive acts.

History Dating back to 1888, the Revenue Cutter Service (a predecessor of the Coast Guard), was charged with the movement and anchorage of vessels in New York. The mission expanded to include all U.S. territorial waters. By 1915, when the modern-day Coast Guard was formed, the service was tasked to create anchorage rules for vessels in U.S. rivers, bays, harbors, and other navigable waters. During World War I the service was tasked, through the Espionage Act, to protect merchant shipping

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS ASHLEY J. JOHNSON

PORTS, WATERWAYS, AND COASTAL SECURITY

One particular incident I was involved in came after the master of a deep-draft tanker ship notified the Coast Guard that he and his wife were locked in his stateroom after the ship’s cook assaulted him with a kitchen knife. I was on the joint team that boarded the vessel and included the Sector Boarding Team from MSU [Marine Safety Unit] Texas City, Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless, a team from Coast Guard Cutter Skipjack, and Customs and Border Protection [CBP]. We did a sweep of the ship and found the cook without incident, and … transferred him into CBP custody. Thankfully the master was not severely injured, averting what may have become a more serious situation. Since the master was locked in his stateroom, that vessel was forced to sit in the Galveston Fairway anchorage until the situation was under control. PWCS is one of the most important jobs we do. Most of the focus within PWCS is in the preparation, prevention, and deterrence, where the ideal measure of success is that nothing happens. Because of that, the job may not seem all that exciting, but at the same time, it’s incredibly important because the repercussions for a failure of PWCS are extremely steep. Even a brief closure of the Houston Ship Channel or surrounding petrochemical infrastructures would have an immediate national impact. As division officers working to ensure ports, waterways, and coastal security, the safety of people, property, and infrastructure is always on our minds.

Ensign Alex Kloo Enforcement Division Officer Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston Time in Service: 1 year Hometown: Manasquan, New Jersey

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS DUSTIN R. WILLIAMS

Describe a typical day on the job. Being an enforcement division officer at Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston [Texas] means being responsible for law enforcement, ports, waterways, and coastal security at the fourth-largest petrochemical port complex in the world. My duties also include assisting in the support and management of five small boat stations and four coastal patrol boats in the sector’s area of responsibility, which encompasses [an area] from Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Freeport, Texas. We also stand as law enforcement duty officers to support our teams in the field. Our shop supports several law enforcement missions including living marine resources [LMR], drug and migrant interdiction, and recreational boating safety.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission.

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DRUG INTERDICTION Mission The Drug Interdiction mission supports national and international strategies to deter and disrupt the market of illegal drugs, dismantle transnational organized crime, and prevent these threats from reaching U.S. shores. The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency authorized to track and board vessels, confiscate illegal substances, and apprehend drug traffickers. The service coordinates closely with other federal agencies and allied partners to disrupt and deter the flow of illegal drugs within a 6-millionsquare-mile area, the transit zone.

Lt. Cmdr. James K. Terrell Operations Officer CGC Bertholf Time in Service: 16 years Hometown: El Paso, Texas

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS SONDRA-KAY KNEEN

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS CHRISTOPHER M. YAW

History In 1870, Chinese immigrants became the firstknown drug traffickers when they began smuggling opium in merchant ship cargoes and baggage. The first documented opium seizure was made by the Revenue Cutter Wolcott on Aug. 31, 1890, when its crew boarded the steamer George E. Starr. During the 1920s, Congress charged the Coast Guard with enforcing the 18th Amendment, known as Prohibition. The service conducted its first Coast Guardcontrolled seizure on March 8, 1973. Today, it continues counter-drug operations in partnership with the Defense Department-led Joint Interagency Task Force South. In fiscal year 2016, the Coast Guard and its interagency partners removed more than 416,600 pounds of cocaine worth more than $5.6 billion.

Describe a typical day on the job. [I’m] constantly on top of available fixed-wing air support, weather, and known smuggling routes to keep the ship in optimal position for a drug bust in the Eastern Pacific. On a good day, I’m making plans for helicopter and cutter boat launch to intercept a drug-laden panga or narco-sub, then quarterbacking the take-down and supporting the boarding teams from back on the ship. There’s always a problem to solve at sea; if it’s not a bust, there’s a multitude of ship-to-ship contraband transfers, driving the cutter safely in and out of port, and keeping up with training requirements. It gives me the highest personal satisfaction to be a direct contributor to meeting Coast Guard mission goals, and a personal goal of mine to cover the bridge-wings in coke stickers. A “coke sticker” is a sticker shaped like a snowflake with an “X” through it representing a cocaine interdiction. Cutter crews receive a coke sticker every time they get a bust, of which the Cutter Bertholf has 41. Since the Bertholf was commissioned in 2008, Coast Guardsmen aboard the cutter have seized more than 82,000 pounds of cocaine worth over $1.2 billion.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. We recently busted two narco-subs. Drug-subs are extremely elusive and inherently dangerous to board, presenting a number of unique challenges that other targets don’t. The payoff is huge though: They carry about 10 times the amount of cocaine than a go-fast does. Bertholf’s crews managed to intercept two in a relatively short period; neither of them had time to scuttle the sub before the teams were able to remove the traffickers from it, enabling the crews to seize the entire loads. Even more impactful on me, though, was executing seven counter-drug seizures in an eight-day period. We were the only cutter playing “goalie” in a highly trafficked area, moving quickly from case to case, doing our best to manage fatigue for a number of teams. I think it highlights both the capabilities of our newest major cutters, and the strong resolve of Coast Guard operators.

CGC Waesche crewmembers are shown with seized cocaine in San Diego, Oct. 27, 2016. Nearly 20 tons of cocaine were interdicted in international waters off the coast of Central and South America during Operation Martillo. The operation is a joint, interagency, and multinational collaborative effort to deny transnational criminal organizations air and maritime access to the littoral regions of the Central American isthmus.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Mission The Aids to Navigation (ATON) mission essentially involves marking the nation’s Marine Transportation System, including waterways, ports, and intracoastal and intermodal landside connections. The Coast Guard assesses and mitigates risks to safe navigation by providing and maintaining an extensive system, including electronic and visual aids and vessel traffic management services. Today, the Coast Guard establishes, maintains, and operates approximately 49,700 visual ATON, requiring the efforts of 2,564 service personnel assigned to 76 cutters and 65 aids to navigation teams.

History The ATON mission of the U.S. Coast Guard has a history dating back to 1716, when the first American lighthouse was built and illuminated on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor. On Aug. 7, 1789, the First Congress passed the Lighthouses Act, which established the U.S. Lighthouse Service. With its passage, the Congress accepted control of the nation’s lighthouses that had previously been established and run by the colonies. The Lighthouse Service was rolled into the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS ZAC CRAWFORD

AIDS TO NAVIGATION

From left to right, then-Lt. Cmdr. Michele Schallip, chief of the Waterways Management Branch, Coast Guard District 13, Petty Officer 1st Class Joe Tenorio, engineering petty officer of Aids to Navigation Team (ANT) Kennewick, Seaman Adam Lopez, of ANT Kennewick, and Petty Officer 1st Class Chase Severns, executive petty officer, also from ANT Kennewick, perform maintenance on a buoy while conducting operations on Lake Roosevelt located nearly 300 miles away from the Pacific Ocean in northeastern Washington state.

Cmdr. Michele Schallip Chief, Waterways Management Coast Guard District 13 Time in Service: 17 years Hometown: Neebish Island, Michigan

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Describe a typical day on the job. As chief of Waterways Management [Branch] for the 13th Coast Guard District, my role is to lead support for the Aids to Navigation [ATON] mission in the navigable waterways of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. Our area of responsibility includes the U.S.’ largest domestic ferry system, thirdlargest domestic port, and third-largest cruise ship industry, as well as the notorious Columbia River Bar and the River System through which 50 percent of U.S. grain exports flow. The recreational boating in San Juan Islands and other parts of our area are some of the most popular in the world for kayaks, paddleboards, skiffs, and yachts. Additionally, small inlets along the coast harbor robust fishing communities, such as Tillamook and Coos Bay, [and] provide haven for smaller fishing vessels [that] ply the waters for tuna, whiting, and crab. While our district is responsible for 1,700 ATON, only 5 percent of the Coast Guard’s total inventory, the remote areas, harsh winter weather, shifting sand bars, and strong currents provide a unique and dynamic canvas for the women and men of the three buoy tenders and four aids to navigation teams [ANTs] to maintain the buoys and beacons that facilitate a safe, secure, and resilient waterway. Each day, the Waterways Management staff provides up-todate information to mariners on any discrepancies of buoys and beacons through broadcast notices to mariners, and weekly summaries on the published “Local Notice to Mariners.” We routinely evaluate and implement changes to the ATON system to leverage technology, such as AIS-ATON [Automatic Identification System-Aids to Navigation], and “traditional” buoys and beacons to complement the two types to provide the best service to a very diverse set of mariners in the Pacific Northwest. Our private aids to navigation manager works with local entities to administer the more than 1,600 privately owned ATON. On staff, we have two technical experts, a boatswain’s mate chief and electrician’s mate first class, who travel around the region to provide on-site training on maintenance of the lanterns, tower climbing, and other training to support the readiness of the cutters and ANTs. In addition to the buoys and beacons, we have program oversight on the Vessel Traffic System [VTS] for the Puget Sound region. In a unique partnership with Canadians, the VTS provides another layer of safety information for the 320,000 vessel movements through the Puget Sound each year. My personal role is to ensure the many components of the District 13 Aids to Navigation program support the Marine Transportation System and work together to provide the best possible service to all. Pacific Northwest mariners enjoy a robust waterway for pleasure, transportation, and for sustaining the U.S. economy. Aids to navigation help protect lives and property to those who benefit from the many rewards of the waterways. If you ask anyone who has served in the mission of aids to

navigation, they will tell you it is one of the most fun, and tangibly rewarding, missions of the USCG.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. Sucia Island, located in the San Juan Islands, is one of the most visited islands by recreational boaters in Puget Sound. Sucia Island State Park boasts hiking trails, camp sites, fire pits, beaches, and scuba diving attractions which draw in mariners to tie off at the privately maintained mooring balls and enjoy the location. Making the entrance challenging are shallowly submerged reefs, which can cause damage to the vessels. One in particular is Ewing Reef. For many years, the reef was marked by a single pile structure, which succumbed to the elements. The reef was in a highly trafficked area and was a large risk to mariners, so a new structure needed to be built. Unlike many other districts, District 13 does not have a vessel which can do tower builds in the water … but we do have an outstanding resource in Mr. Doug Cameron, our hardware specialist, who is a master of leveraging Coast Guard resources. Utilizing funding from CEU [Civil Engineering Unit] Oakland, he oversaw the construction of the tower by his staff and local U.S. Job Corps student welders. He then coordinated a 175-foot buoy tender, an aids to navigation team, and an MH-60J [Jayhawk helicopter] to build a base of concrete in a very short tidal window when the reef was above water. Using the MH-60J, concrete was sling-loaded in to crewmembers of the 175-foot and ANT who were guiding the dump buckets. Once the concrete set, he oversaw the setting of the tower. Finally, day boards and a lamp were placed on the structure to provide mariners with a reference point for the danger that lurked beneath. The use of Coast Guard assets and work saved thousands of dollars in contracting costs. By working together, the units were able to improve the safety of navigation in one of the gems of the Puget Sound area. It greatly mitigated the potential for damage, or worse, on a submerged reef.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

A Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook boatcrew and New York Fire Department (FDNY) Marine Eight rescue crew responded to a boat fire near Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Sept. 25, 2016. Coast Guard and FDNY crews arrived on scene where a good Samaritan had safely transferred eight people off the vessel.

SEARCH AND RESCUE Mission

and others who grew up along America’s shores – from shore-based stations in Massachusetts with equipment and buildings. The Life-Saving Service ultimately merged with the Revenue Cutter Service to form the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915. According to the Coast Guard Historian’s Office, during its 44 years of independent operations, the LifeSaving Service went to the aid of 28,121 vessels and assisted 178,741 passengers and crew. Today, the Coast Guard employs a system of assets with varying capabilities to perform the surveillance, detection, identification, classification, prosecution, and command and control functions needed for SAR mission success, as well as reduce both false and hoax SAR events. In 2015 alone, the service conducted approximately 16,400 SAR cases, resulting in more than 3,500 lives saved.

The Search and Rescue (SAR) program aims to: prevent loss of life or injury and minimize property loss or damage by rendering aid to people in distress in the maritime environment, including domestic and international waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans; the Great Lakes; inland rivers; and the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY STATION SANDY HOOK

History SAR is one of the Coast Guard’s oldest missions and the one that is foremost in the public’s mind for assisting those “in peril upon the seas.” The organization that contributed the most to the service’s image as lifesavers, the U.S. Life-Saving Service, began in 1848, when the federal government supported a cadre of volunteers – fishermen, lobstermen, crabbers,

Matthew Chase

of Washington Island [Teraina] over 1,000 miles from Oahu. After looking at the location of the atoll, we realized it would take almost four hours to fly each way to the search location. So, we decided to operate out of Christmas Island about 200 miles to the south of Washington Island. We flew over 10 hours the first day of searching and talked with local sailing vessels over the radio to see what the drift patterns in the area were like. We landed in Christmas Island, got some rest and immediately planned to get back to the plane, so we could get back to searching. On the second day of searching, utilizing all the drift and weather data we could, we located the small boat with the five fishermen and dropped them supplies and a raft. Because they had now drifted over 240 miles from shore in just four days, there were no vessels in the area to assist them. We stayed above them as long as we could, flying close to 11 hours the second day before returning to Christmas Island to rest. We returned to locate the boat as soon as we could the third day and we directed a good Samaritan tanker vessel to their position. It was incredibly gratifying to watch them climb on board the tanker vessel, knowing they would safely and successfully be returned home to their families. After flying 26 hours in just three days, we returned to Oahu, enjoying our success and readying ourselves for the next mission.

HC-130H Aircraft Commander Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii Time in Service: 5 Years Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland Describe a typical day on the job. As a Coast Guard aviator, my typical day on the job will often vary and bring new challenges. If I am not flying, I dedicate the day to studying the multitude of topics involved with operating a Coast Guard aircraft safely. If I am on duty or flying, I can spend the day flying a routine trainer, moving an aids to navigation team and their trucks to a neighboring island, or even transporting an endangered monk seal between islands to a rehabilitation center. The C-130 [Hercules] can perform so many missions that it seems I am always getting to do something new with the aircraft, which is often the best part of the job.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. One of the most memorable missions in my career involved five missing fishermen from the small atoll

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Petty Officer 2nd Class Garth Booye, an aviation maintenance technician at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, ensures a carrier transporting two rehabilitated Hawaiian monk seals is properly secured in an HC-130 Hercules Sept. 3, 2015. Coast Guard crews, working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, transported the seals from the Big Island to Oahu for future release back to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

LIVING MARINE RESOURCES

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS TARA MOLLE

Mission

In 1879, the Bering Sea patrol began to monitor the harvest of seals, otters, and whales in the Alaska territory. In 1884, the Revenue Cutter Service stationed officers on Pribiloff Island to monitor and protect the seal stock against illegal hunting. Fast forward to the 20th century, when the service was given further responsibilities, such as the authorization to protect imperiled species through the Endangered Species Act in 1972. The LMR mission was expanded further with the enactment of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as well as subsequent regulations. The Coast Guard’s LMR mission has evolved and will continue to evolve to meet ever-changing demands.

The Coast Guard’s Living Marine Resources (LMR) mission is conducted to enforce all applicable laws on domestic commercial, recreational, and charter fishing vessels in inland, coastal, and offshore operational areas and to support conservation and management of living marine resources and their habitat, including protected species and areas and critical habitats.

History The mission traces its roots back to 1822, when the Revenue Cutter Service was ordered to protect federal live oak timber reserves in Florida.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

BM1 Charles Seif Instructor Northeast Regional Fisheries Training Center, Cape Cod, Massachusetts Time in Service: 18 years Hometown: Atlantic City, New Jersey

PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS ANDREW BARRESI

Describe a typical day on the job. Your first day at the Northeast Regional Fisheries Training Center [NRFTC] starts off with an introduction to the complex fisheries regulations of the Northeast. Our mission is to give students the tools necessary to be confident and proficient during an atsea fisheries boarding. This is accomplished through intensive classroom instruction followed by hands-on training, including mock boardings and practical use of our boarding officer job aid kit [BOJAK]. Classroom instruction consists of PowerPointÂŽ presentations that introduce students to complex Fisheries Management Plans [FMPs] as well as giving them their first look at our BOJAK. First, FMPs are comprised of classes that include Northeast multispecies, Atlantic sea scallops, American lobster, highly migratory species, and many more. We teach the code of federal regulations [CFRs] to the student by deciphering the CFRs into plain language that is more easily comprehended. Additionally, we show the students where to find the CFRs so they can further their knowledge in fisheries. Finally, we take the students outside to learn how to inspect gear commonly used by fisherman in the Northeast. We teach the students nomenclature and inspection procedures so that they may ensure proper use and configuration at sea. Students are also taught to properly document all aspects of the inspections by using gear inspection worksheets produced by NRFTC. After we ensure the students are proficient, we put it all together in scenario-driven mock boardings. Our mock boardings are very intricate and use all aspects of the training the students have been through. We use our instructors as role players and our fishing vessels are outfitted with all the proper gear essential to creating an environment that is as realistic as possible. Each boarding is monitored by a qualified instructor and every scenario starts from the time the vessel is sighted, covering every aspect of the pre-boarding phase, boarding phase, and post-boarding phase. Students are given all the time and instruction necessary to ensure they understand each aspect

and phase of the boarding and how to properly use the BOJAK.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. A patrol boat in the Northeastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary job, besides search and rescue, is LMR. Typically, there are no news stories or articles in a paper about the violations you have found. You spend time in smelly fish holds and hot pilot houses filled with smoke, sweating because of all the gear you are wearing and filling out paperwork in a space no bigger than a closet that is rocking back and forth. In the last year before returning to NRFTC for my second tour of duty as an instructor, I have partaken in many fishery boardings. I have been an international fisheries inspector, where I ride with the Canadian Coast Guard out to the Flemish Caps to conduct international boardings on foreign vessels in a program called NAFO [Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization]. Fisheries have become a big part of my career being stationed in D1 [Coast Guard District 1] since 2001. It is complex, and living on Cape Cod and getting to know the industry like I have, you become passionate about helping our country sustain our fisheries and keeping honest families in business and flourishing.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Coast Guard crewmembers conduct inspections aboard the motor vessel Roger Blough, May 31, 2016, at Gros Cap Reefs in Lake Superior. They were aboard the Roger Blough to investigate the cause of its grounding and to ensure safety of all operations involved with the salvage.

Mission

The Coast Guard was empowered to control shipping in major U.S. ports in 1917 through the Espionage Act. This led to the creation of captains of the ports. In 1942, Executive Order 9083, as a wartime measure, transferred the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation (another predecessor to the Coast Guard) temporarily to the control of the U.S. Coast Guard. This marked the first time in the nation’s history that all functions of maritime safety came under one agency. The transfer was made permanent by Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1946. The Small Passenger Vessel Act of May 10, 1956, expanded many of the service’s marine safety protocols: vessel inspections by marine inspectors, to include life saving and fire-fighting equipment, as well as vessel machinery and electrical installations, hull strength, and stability considerations; operator licensure and minimum manning requirements; and the route or routes in which the vessel may operate and the maximum number of passengers that may be carried are established by the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard conducts the Marine Safety mission to prevent personnel casualties, accidents, and property losses in the maritime environment by establishing standards; conducting vessel, container, and facility inspections; partnering with state and boating safety organizations to reduce recreational boating accidents and deaths; investigating marine casualties; and licensing U.S. mariners.

History In 1716, the first American lighthouse was lit at Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor, which led, in 1789, to the creation of the Lighthouse Establishment (later referred to as the Lighthouse Service, one of the forerunners to today’s Coast Guard). In 1838, the Steamboat Inspection Service was created. It wasn’t until 1871 that previous acts were combined to craft a comprehensive Marine Safety Code, on which the Coast Guard’s present Marine Safety Code has been built.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY CRAIG GROMAN

MARINE SAFETY

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

In addition to vessel casualty investigations, the Coast Guard is also responsible to the public to ensure that mariners are properly licensed and follow laws and regulations. When they do not, we investigate the mariners and organizations to determine if any remedial action should be taken to enhance safety. Drug use, misconduct, and negligence are all violations for which the Coast Guard can take action against a mariner. The purpose is to ensure that these vessels are the safest that we can make them for passengers and crew and prevent any problems and casualties from happening. We also make sure that the mariners have the appropriate credential and training to operate a vessel. If they are required to have a credential that has certain prerequisites and they fail to have it, then they are operating illegally and can be subject to fines and credential suspension and revocation. It is my job to investigate, determine any causes, and recommend actions to be taken to the command. The Marine Safety Unit also protects the marine environment from pollution and responds to reports of pollution. Through proactive patrols of harbors and outreach with marinas and operators on the lakes, we endeavor to prevent any pollution before it occurs. However, when pollution does occur, we respond to ensure that proper cleanup is conducted as well as hold those responsible accountable for damage to our environment.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. As a member of a port state control team, we continued an examination begun by Marine Safety Unit Detroit and performed a port state control examination of the foreign cargo vessel Cornelia. During the examination, there was evidence of an environmental crime, prompting us to conduct and expand the examination into their oily waste disposal operations. We interviewed crew and collected evidence that ultimately determined that there was substantial evidence that the vessel had discharged oily waste into the water on multiple occasions. With the help of the Coast Guard Investigative Service and with cooperation from Transport Canada to gather more evidence, we successfully referred the case to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. The investigation into the Cornelia resulted in a $1 million fine to the operating company of the vessel for failure to maintain proper records for the disposal of oily waste, a three-year probation for the company and its vessels, and the company is required to implement a rigid compliance system on all of their vessels. The Coast Guard is committed to stewardship of the environment and this case highlights to the maritime community and the public at large the value of [Coast Guard] efforts and maritime regulations and how seriously violations are taken. The promotion of safety in the marine transportation industry as well as the protection of the environment is the reason for the Marine Safety program, and the Cornelia case demonstrates how we can promote both through our daily activities.

Lt. Patrick Lammersen Senior Investigating Officer Marine Safety Unit Duluth, Minnesota Time in Service: 17 years Hometown: Sacramento, California

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Describe a typical day on the job. The primary mission of the Marine Safety Unit is the inspection of maritime infrastructure such as vessels and facilities as well as prevention of, and response to, pollution incidents. Any vessel that carries more than six passengers for hire is subject to inspection, from small tour and fishing guide boats to 1,000foot lake vessels that ship iron ore throughout the Great Lakes. Foreign vessels are also subject to inspection. In addition, there are waterfront facilities that require safety and security inspections to ensure they also meet U.S. regulations and International Maritime Organization standards. Additionally, if a vessel or crewmember has an accident, a marine casualty investigation must take place. An accident can be anything from a slip and fall, a serious injury to a crewmember, a loss of machinery and propulsion, or the grounding and sinking of a vessel. The purpose of the investigation process is to identify why accidents happen and then provide recommendations to vessel, companies, and regulators on how to prevent it from happening again.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Coast Guard Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) members patrol the waters of the Potomac River in support of the State of the Union address response, Jan. 9, 2016. MSST members from Georgia and Massachusetts deployed to Washington, D.C., to provide shoreside and maritime protection with one major objective: to guard against an attack.

DEFENSE READINESS Mission

History The Coast Guard’s history to enforce laws dates to Aug. 4, 1790, when then-Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton created a “system of cutters” to enforce customs’ laws. In March 1799, legislation directed that the Revenue Cutter Service shall, at the discretion of the president, “cooperate with the Navy of the United States, during which time they shall be under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy …” The Coast Guard and the Revenue Cutter Service have engaged in or supported every major American military conflict. Coast Guard members, to this day, deploy worldwide in support of combatant commanders and joint forces.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS LISA FERDINANDO

The mission of Defense Readiness is to ensure the service’s assets are ready to deploy to counter threats to the homeland. This mission supports the national military strategy and Defense Department operations. There are eight national defense sub-missions: 1) maritime interception/interdiction operations; 2) military environmental response; 3) port operations, security, and defense; 4) theater security cooperation; 5) coastal sea control operations; 6) rotary-wing air intercept operations under North American Aerospace Defense Command’s Operation Noble Eagle mission; 7) combating terrorism operations; and 8) maritime operational threat response support. These missions are crucial military tasks assigned to the Coast Guard as a component of joint and combined forces in times of peace, crisis, and war.

Lt. Katherine O. Voth

the citizens of our nation’s capital. We pride ourselves in our ability to accomplish scrambles safely, efficiently, and effectively. In fact, the Coast Guard has maintained a 99 percent reliability rate since we started doing RWAI in 2004. Our superb mission execution directly contributes to the Coast Guard’s overall success in the defense readiness mission set as well as NORAD’s [North American Aerospace Defense Command] ONE [Operation Noble Eagle] mission, and has set a precedence for our stellar reputation within the national defense community.

MH-65D Duty Standing Pilot National Capital Region Air Defense Facility, detached duty from Air Station Atlantic City, New Jersey Time in Service: 16 years Hometown: Lawrence, Kansas

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JASMINE MIESZALA

Describe a typical day on the job. Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission.

Our job at the NCRADF [National Capital Region Air Defense Facility] is to protect the National Capital Region’s [NCR] Special Flight Rules Area from any unknown airborne entities that penetrate the airspace. We accomplish this mission through rotarywing air intercept, or RWAI, meaning we fly our helicopter next to an aircraft that has violated the no-fly area, get the attention of the aircraft through various means of communication, and divert the aircraft away from [the] NCR. On a typical day of standing the alert duty, I’ll show up for the daily watch relief brief, help prepare the aircraft for the possibility of a launch – also known as a scramble – conduct a training flight, and stand ready until the end of the duty, always waiting in anticipation for the scramble alarm to go off. This mission is unique to anything else I’ve done in the Coast Guard. It’s literally heart-pounding flying at high rates of speed and taking the aircraft to the edge of its limits to intercept an unknown flying target while protecting

Last October my crew and I were scrambled for an unknown track of interest [TOI] north of Reagan National [Airport]. On the scramble, we were given the flight profile of the TOI. We received this information and quickly spotted the violator aircraft. We intercepted the aircraft, attempted communications, and led the aircraft away from NCR and over to Frederick, Maryland. Once we saw the aircraft land and taxi to parking, we returned home. It turns out that the elderly pilot was not in communication with anyone during the flight and didn’t know he was in prohibited airspace until he saw us flying next to him. This event demonstrates not only how important it is for us to be the “eye in the sky” and accurately depict what’s happening in real time, but also how we are still in the lifesaving business while doing this mission, even though we are not doing search and rescue.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Twelve Cuban migrants in a 1951 Chevy truck that was converted into a makeshift boat attempt to reach the United States. The Coast Guard interdicted them in June 2003.

Mission

slaves from the United States to another nation or between foreign nations. From 1794 through 1980, the service conducted migrant interdiction only secondarily to a primary mission such as search and rescue (SAR) or through the boarding of a suspicious vessel. In 1965, the first large-scale exodus – the Camarioca Boatlift – of Cuban migrants attempted to enter the United States, solidifying migrant interdiction as a policy concern and primary Coast Guard mission. This emigration was followed in 1980 with migrants leaving Cuba during the Mariel Boatlift. Both emigrations increased greatly the service’s SAR mission; more than 1,300 SAR cases were carried out during the Mariel Boatlift alone.

The Coast Guard conducts its Migrant Interdiction mission to promote safe, legal, and orderly migration by enforcing U.S. immigration laws, upholding international conventions against human smuggling through at-sea interdictions, and repatriating undocumented migrants attempting to reach the United States, its territories, and possessions. The service conducts this mission with other federal, state, and local agencies as well as partner nations.

History Migrant interdiction on the high seas began in 1794, four years after the Coast Guard’s formation, when Congress declared that Americans may not carry

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MIGRANT INTERDICTION

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Describe a typical day on the job.

Lt. Cmdr. Brian Finn

Being homeported in Key West [Florida], the southernmost location in the United States, our primary job is to interdict vessels attempting to illegally enter the United States. We are tasked to patrol approximately 55,000 square NM [nautical miles] of ocean bordering two countries’ territorial seas, looking for “homemade” vessels built on the shores of Cuba with the sole purpose of getting people from Cuba to the U.S. We are constantly working with partner agencies such as Customs and Border Protection [CBP] Air and Marine branch that has vessels and aircraft

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Commanding Officer CGC Charles David Jr., Key West, Florida Time in Service: 11 years Hometown: San Pedro, California

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

patrolling the area looking for these unseaworthy vessels, as well as other cutters and CG aircraft. At any point throughout a given day, one would be able to see at least a couple cutters patrolling the waters off the coast of Florida, aircraft flying overhead, and station boats steaming around the coast in efforts to find these vessels. Once a vessel matching the description of one of these homemade vessels is detected, our job is to interdict them as far from U.S. territory as possible to ensure the safety of those on board, ensuring they do not illegally enter the United States via maritime means. The U.S. constantly works with the Bahamian government to help monitor their waters to locate migrants that may have landed on one of their vast [number of] uninhabited islands. The U.S. also works with the Cuban government in efforts to safely interdict their people and repatriate them as soon as possible. Due to the help of our national partners, key state and federal partnerships, and robust state-of-theart air and surface assets, the U.S. Coast Guard has been able to save countless lives and strengthen our nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s borders.

Once we got within 5 NM of the aircraft, they reported the vessel had made landfall and the people were on land waving their arms requesting help. We [proceeded] closer to the island and made preparations to launch our small boat, a 26-foot rigid-hull vessel capable of going 35 knots. Within a half mile from the shore, we launched our small boat with a team of three people and sent them to the last known position of the migrants. Once near the island, the small boat noticed the group of seven people waving their arms attempting to get the attention of the crew. The small boat made their way to the rocky coast and found the best location to safely embark the migrants. Upon their return, the remainder of the crew that hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been in the boat quickly scurried to the decks to assist the migrants onto the cutter. But our job wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t over at that point. We swiftly coordinated with [leadership in] District 7 to meet up with another cutter that was capable of taking the people to Freeport [Bahamas]. While we were heading north toward Miami to meet up with the cutter, we got word of another group that was spotted by a CBP aircraft approximately 40 NM north of our position in international water. We ensured our new guests had blankets and water to make their stay as comfortable as possible and headed towards the next vessel. As the first case took a major part of the day, the sun was quickly setting and the clouds were starting to form all around the cutter. With the sun setting and the rain coming, we needed to find the vessel. The aircraft directed us to the vessel and we quickly launched the small boat. The 11 people jumped into the small boat and we repeated the drill from earlier in the day. But that too was not the end, because not more than 5 miles from where we were, the aircraft spotted another vessel. We quickly secured everything on deck and proceeded to the boat. We got on scene just as the sun was setting. The small boat was launched and the lights of the cutter went on. Once alongside, the boarding officer reported that two of the four people were unconscious and needed medical attention. Throughout the night, the crew administered care and watched all migrants. In the morning, we transferred the group to a larger cutter and received 58 Cuban migrants for repatriation to Cuba.

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. A significant operation my cutter has been involved in that played a role in border security happened in March and encompassed roughly 10 hours. The cutter was 40 NM off the coast of Key West and a CG aircraft noticed a homemade vessel heading north from Cuba into Bahamian [BA] waters. Due to their proximity to a BA island and the time it was going to take for us to get to their location, I knew they were going to land on the island before we could get to them. We requested the aircraft to stay above the vessel and monitor them throughout our transit for safety of those on board the homemade craft. Prior to getting within visual range of the vessel, I worked with [my leadership in] District 7 to communicate with the BA government to request permission to enter their waters. Within minutes, the BA government authorized us to go within their territorial waters and, if needed, go onto land to intercept the migrants.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Marine science technician 1st Class Ryan J. Witterschein, dressed out in Level B personal protective equipment, uses a Spilfyter strip, which tests for oxidizers, PH, petroleum products, and fluoride risk of the contents in an open vat.

MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Mission

The shipping of chemical cargoes late in the 19th century expanded further the service’s mission, and its role in oil and chemical spill response officially began in 1924, when Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act. In the ’70s, Congress tasked the service with monitoring unauthorized substance discharge, enforcing ballast water regulations, and ensuring that commercial vessels met U.S. environmental maintenance and safety standards. Following the March 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90); the Coast Guard was assigned enforcement of OPA 90 regulations, which became the single-largest law enforcement assignment of the service since Prohibition. Today, the service supports five environmental protection sub-missions: prevention, enforcement, surveillance, response, and in-house abatement.

The Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Protection mission aims to reduce the risk of harm to the ecosystem of the nation’s oceans and waterways by developing and enforcing regulations to avert the introduction of invasive species, prevent and respond to oil spills and hazardous substance discharges, and stop unauthorized ocean dumping.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

History This mission dates back to 1822, when Congress tasked the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service with monitoring federal forest preserves for construction of U.S Navy warships. During the late 1800s, the service’s environmental mission expanded to protect endangered resources, including fish, whales, and fur-bearing marine mammals.

Marine Science Technician 1st Class Ryan J. Witterschein

for leading and managing the response technicians and response members during [an environmental] response. Response supervisors are charged with managing all field-response operations and mission tactics, as well as being a liaison with the federal on-scene coordinator.

Chemical Shop Response Supervisor National Strike Force, Atlantic Strike Team, Fort Dix, New Jersey Time in Service: 12 years Hometown: Cape Canaveral, Florida

One of the Atlantic Strike Teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent large-scale oil response cases was the Enbridge Energy oil spill in Michigan. This was the largest inland oil spill in United States history, and during longterm cleanup operations, I oversaw the response throughout three separate deployments and provided management of the $260,000 budget used to clean Kalamazoo River. I provided a federal presence to over 450 contractors conducting extensive excavation and dredging of the riverbed for the sunken and buried remnants of the 1 million gallons of crude oil released into the river. I assisted in the development of the site safety plan and minimized significant risks to the spill cleanup personnel, provided air monitoring, and eliminated threats to the surrounding community.

Describe a typical day on the job. As a petty officer in the chemical shop at the Atlantic Strike Team, I am directly responsible for maintaining over 100 pieces of air-monitoring, oil response, and chemical warfare detection equipment worth $1.5 million. That equipment needs to be operationally tested and calibrated every month, as well as sent to the factory for annual calibrations. This equipment is a vital component for responder safety while operating in the field. [On] the Atlantic Strike Team, the highest enlisted level of qualification is response supervisor. Being a response supervisor, I am responsible

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

ICE OPERATIONS Mission The Ice Operations mission involves breaking ice in the Great Lakes and Northeast regions to facilitate safe maritime commercial activities and to protect communities in emergency situations. Aside from domestic ice operations, the Coast Guard operates one heavy (Polar Star) and one medium (Healy) icebreaker in support of research and to resupply annually the McMurdo Station research center in Antarctica (Polar Star, Operation Deep Freeze). Both icebreakers are capable of providing year-round access to the polar regions. The service also manages and operates the International Ice Patrol (IIP), which monitors icebergs in the North Atlantic Ocean in order to provide significant iceberg warnings to the maritime community.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY LT. MICHAEL PATTERSON

History

The Coast Guard cutters Mobile Bay and Katmai Bay come close aboard in the St. Marys River to exchange supplies to keep both cutters operational during an escort of the Algoma Olympic, March 27, 2015. The cutters were working alongside the commercial fleet in the Great Lakes to deliver economic cargo during Operation Taconite.

When the United States acquired the Alaskan Territory from Russia in 1867, the vessel Lincoln, of the Revenue Cutter Service, transported delegates to the transfer ceremony. In the same year, the Revenue Cutter Service became the “presence of the federal government in the new territory.” In 1913, a year after the RMS Titanic sank, the Revenue Cutter Service began patrolling the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in search of icebergs. The following year, in 1914, the IIP was established and the Revenue Cutter Service was charged with the IIP mission. The IIP has been conducted each season – except for the years of both world wars. In 1994, the CGC Polar Sea, steaming with the CCCS Louis S. Ste. Laurent, became the first U.S. surface vessel to reach the North Pole. Today, the Coast Guard operates four classes of ice breaking vessels.

Supporting the US

Coast Guard since 2002

Carmanah has been the trusted supplier to the US Coast Guard with over 20 years of experience. Carmanahâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s M800 series lanterns are the chosen product for Small and Large Self-contained LED lanterns for the US Coast Guard.

Lt. Cmdr. Cary Godwin Commanding Officer CGC Mobile Bay, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin Time in Service: 25 years Hometown: Shreveport, Louisiana Describe a typical day on the job. The Coast Guard is responsible for providing domestic ice breaking support to facilitate the safe movement of commercial vessels through ice-covered waters, provide flood relief assistance to communities [affected] by ice dams, and provide assistance to isolated communities and passenger ferry operations [affected] by ice. Coast Guard icebreakers keep commercial ships, affectionately known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;lakers,â&#x20AC;? moving through the harsh winter months in order for cargoes critical to the economies of Great Lakes regional communities to reach their destination. Winter comes early to the Great Lakes, with ice forming in mid-December and lasting into May during the harshest of winters. Without the Coast Guard providing icebreaker support, commerce would sit idle for up to five months. A typical day aboard an icebreaker operating in the dynamic ice conditions and narrow channels within the Great Lakes demands the strictest attention to detail and vigilance of the entire crew. Some lakers are as large as 1,000 feet long and 100 feet wide, thus requiring the icebreaker to establish a track [broken path of ice] wide enough for the laker to follow without getting stuck. The Mobile Bay, at 140 feet long and 37 feet wide, must make several passes through the ice along the channel to establish a wide enough track. As such, it may take half the day to prepare a track before the laker can begin transiting through the waterway. The Mobile Bay and her sister ships can break ice up to 3 feet thick continuously and, if necessary, much thicker ice by backing and ramming. Once the track is prepared, the icebreaker commences an escort through the ice, maintaining position just ahead of the laker until reaching open water or lighter ice conditions within the capabilities of the laker. During the busy spring season, an escort may include multiple vessels in a convoy and multiple icebreakers preparing the ice tracks. When the day is done, the icebreaker finds a location to stop in the ice for the night. Overnight, the ice track re-freezes, requiring the cutter and crew to do it all again in support of the next customer.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. During the winter of 2014-2015, the Great Lakes experienced a record-setting ice season similar to the epic winter of 20132014. At the peak of the winter, ice coverage on the Great Lakes exceeded 90 percent, and the month of February was the coldest in recorded history in the northern region of the Great Lakes. In February, the M/V Arthur M. Anderson, a 767-foot bulk carrier, decided to attempt one last delivery to a port in Lake Erie. When the Anderson arrived outside of the port of Conneaut Harbor, she encountered ice up to 10 feet thick, and after five days, efforts to reach the port were aborted. The Anderson headed north again,

bound for Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and some much-needed maintenance at the shipyard. The Anderson made it as far as the Straits of Mackinac before hitting heavy ice and becoming stuck in ice once again. The Mobile Bay was dispatched to assist. The ice coverage in Lake Michigan extended south for over 100 miles with only small pockets of open water and pressure ridges of ice over 10 feet thick scattered throughout the area. It took us a day and a half to reach the Anderson, a transit that normally takes less than 12 hours. Once on scene with the Anderson, we began to establish a track through the ice, but high winds were causing large sheets of ice over a mile wide to shift, making it impossible to establish a permanent track. Instead of continuing our attempts to establish a track, we changed our plan to first free the Anderson from the pressurized ice field she was stuck in. The first day on scene with the Anderson we made over 50 close-aboard passes along her sides, getting as close as 15 feet, in order to loosen the ice holding her in place. After 12 hours of work, we had moved the Anderson a total of 500 yards! Day two brought better weather with lighter winds and clear visibility. The ice sheets had stopped moving overnight and we were able to set a track through the ice, and by the afternoon, we were ready to attempt to free the Anderson and commence an escort towards Sturgeon Bay. We cleared the heaviest ice around 2 a.m. but soon encountered a large ice field of intermittent 10-foot pressure ridges, plate ice 18 to 24 inches thick, and sporadic narrow openings between the ice plates. With our visibility limited and the path of least resistance unclear, we presented our options to the Anderson; we could attempt to negotiate the ice field, following the best path we could see, or we could stop and wait for daylight and hope the ice didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t close in on us. The Anderson preferred to attempt to punch through. A 767-foot laker does not turn quickly, but the captain of the Anderson was somehow able to keep up with us as we swerved left and right dodging heavy ice for another three hours until we reached lighter ice conditions. It was just before sunrise when we arrived at the Sturgeon Bay ship canal with the Anderson close behind. The Anderson ended her two-week odyssey safely and we refueled and headed out for another mission the next day.

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Karl H. Mueller International Section Chief District 17 Time in Service: 7 years Hometown: Orem, Utah My position is responsible for [the] planning and execution of all international fisheries enforcement missions throughout the North Pacific. One of the main international missions is to eliminate illegal fishing on the high seas. Regular correspondence, interaction, and coordination is conducted with Japan, Russia, China, Canada, and Korea to detect and deter illegal, unreported, and unregulated [IUU] fishing activity, including large-scale drift net fishing on the high seas, in accordance with multilateral international agreements. My position coordinates the enforcement efforts of the United States by participation at two international forums, the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission and the North Pacific Coast Guard Forum. Operation North Pacific Guard [NPG] is an annual mission conducted by the Coast Guard, which is the U.S. at-sea enforcement contribution to the multilateral effort by North Pacific nations in combating IUU fishing. The Coast Guard embarks shipriders from China on their cutters during NPG to ensure the rule of law can be applied to Chinese vessels on the high seas. In addition to carrying out the logistical and operational planning for the surface patrol portion of Op NPG, we are also responsible for C-130 deployments out of U.S. air bases in Japan, which provide maritime domain awareness for surface assets. Now in its third year, obtaining initial approval for staging out of U.S. air bases in Japan was a significant event that was close to 10 years in the making. Because of the proximity to patrol areas, the ability to conduct patrol flights out of Japan allows enforcement assets the best possible support for effective employment. Another important mission handled by D17 [District 17] focuses on Coast Guard International Strategic guidance, which highlights the need to sustain the strong relationship with Russia through operational meetings with the Russian border guard [RBG]. As a fluent Russian linguist, my language skills are utilized on a regular basis through the in-depth, day-to-day exchange of critical operational information that is the primary reason that this extraordinary partnership between the Coast

Boarding team members aboard a cutter boat-small depart the CGC Sequoia en route to a fishing vessel in the Pacific Ocean in order to conduct an at-sea boarding April 15, 2016. The Sequoia crew recently returned from a 30-day deployment to promote regulatory compliance of the $7 billion tuna fishing industry in remote areas within Oceania.

OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT Mission The Coast Guard’s Other Law Enforcement mission protects the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from encroachments by foreign fishing vessels and enforces authorities and agreements to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. The United States has sovereign rights over all living and nonliving resources within its EEZ, which encompasses more than 4.5 million square miles of waters within 200 nautical miles of the U.S. coastline.

History On Aug. 4, 1790, the first Congress of the United States created within the Treasury Department a “system of cutters” (aka Revenue Service and Revenue Marine, ultimately renamed the Revenue Cutter Service), a forerunner of the Coast Guard, to enforce customs’ laws at sea. In 1799, Congress permitted cutter officers to board, search, and examine all U.S. and foreign ships. In 1976, Coast Guard law enforcement of fishery operations was extended 200 miles from the U.S. coastline. Today, the service continues its law enforcement responsibilities to protect the U.S. EEZ, conducting more than 5,100 boardings each year.

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U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO COURTESY USCGC SEQUOIA

Describe a typical day on the job.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Guard and RBG is so successful, particularly in monitoring IUU fishing activity in and around the exclusive economic zones of both countries in the Bering Sea.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

Describe a significant operation or event you recently participated in that relates to the mission. On 3 June 2014, the U.S. Coast Guardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 17th District transferred custody of the fishing vessel Yin Yuan, a 164-foot fishing vessel seized 625 miles east of Tokyo, Japan, in the North Pacific Ocean, for large-scale high-seas drift net fishing, to patrol vessels from the Chinese coast guard. High-seas drift net fishing is a destructive fishing practice and a form of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing that indiscriminately kills massive amounts of fish and other marine life such as whales, sea birds, sharks, and turtles by means of enormous nets suspended for miles in open water. The practice is universally condemned and is a significant threat to ocean ecosystems and to the food and economic security of nations and communities that rely on fisheries resources. A Canadian CP-140 aircraft conducting Operation Driftnet sighted the Yin Yuan on the high seas of the North Pacific Ocean. The vessel displayed characteristics of large-scale high-seas drift net fishing. The sighting information was passed to the U.S. Coast Guard

Cutter Morgenthau, which [was] currently on patrol conducting Operation North Pacific Guard. A team from CGC Morgenthau boarded the vessel and interviewed the master. The master of the vessel admitted to having 3.3 kilometers of nets on board, but admitted that he had thrown the drift nets and other equipment overboard prior to interception by the USCGC Morgenthau. The boarding team found approximately one half-ton of salmon on board the fishing vessel Yin Yuan. Three suspected serious fisheries violations were also identified: use of prohibited fishing gear, including more than 3.3 kilometers of high-seas drift net; failure to maintain sufficient records of catch and catchrelated data; and fishing without a license, permit, or authorization issued by a sanctioned authority. In addition, violations of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships [MARPOL 73/78] were also documented. As the only U.S. agency with the infrastructure and authority to project law enforcement presence throughout the U.S. exclusive economic zone and in key areas of the high seas, the U.S. Coast Guard is the lead U.S. agency for at-sea enforcement of living marine resource laws. This case reflects the value of having a multi-mission maritime service adequately equipped to protect critical marine resources.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Coast Guard Boats Have Large Presence on the Water B y E D WA RD L UND Q UI S T

CUTTER BOATS The largest of the cutter boats is the 36-foot Long Range Interceptor (LRI) high-speed boat with an overthe-horizon capability. It can be launched and recovered with the 418-foot national security cutter (NSC) using the NSC’s stern ramp. The LRI can deploy on 24-hour-long missions up to 250 nautical miles away from the host ship. The LRI has sectional foam fendering and a complete aluminum hull, and is powered by diesel engines and waterjets to reach speeds up to 35 knots. It can be dispatched for search and rescue (SAR), inspections, or intercepting and boarding suspect vessels. The LRI has radar and is armed. The newest version, the LRI-II, is built by MetalCraft Marine U.S. The 26-foot Cutter Boat Over-the-Horizon-IV (CB-OTH-IV) joins the LRI as the quick response boat for the NSC and other cutters. It is built by SAFE Boats International LLC of Bremerton, Washington. Forty CB-OTH-IVs have been delivered, including boats for the five NSCs and 19 FRCs in service. They can be launched and recovered with the stern ramp on the NSC and the FRC, or by side-davits on other cutters.

STATION BOATS The Defender-Class 25-foot Response Boat-Small (RB-S) has been a workhorse. Built by SAFE Boats International, the RB-S also serves in a number of international navies and coast guards. The Coast Guard had 450 RB-S boats. There are still about 140 of them in service, and they will all be replaced by 2019. “We’re replacing them with 355 RB-S IIs,” said DeTar. “The newer boats will have a higher availability rate, allowing the service to reduce the inventory.”

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COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS LOUMANIA STEWART

Today, the sophistication and capabilities of the Coast Guard’s boats are anything but small, and fittingly they are now referred to simply as boats. The Coast Guard used to refer to a vessel smaller than a cutter as a “smallboat.” “Anything under 65 feet in length is a boat,” said Cmdr. Rick DeTar, chief of the Boat Platform Division in the Office of Boat Forces, responsible for policy, training, and platforms. The boat fleet can be divided into two categories: those that are assigned to stations and training centers, and cutter boats that can be carried aboard cutters. While there continues to be many kinds of boats in the inventory, the service has dramatically reduced the number of different types of boats. Before 2002, the boat managers in the different Coast Guard districts were responsible for buying boats for their stations. It wasn’t a centralized process. The result was a fleet of 99 different boat types and 2,000 boats. “We wanted to standardize the way we manage boats,” said DeTar. “With all the different types, it was hard to do maintenance and keep the training up. Units would have to train to maintain proficiency on each of their platforms.” Today, the Coast Guard boat inventory is 1,689, a figure that is updated every two weeks. “The number doesn’t change much, because we do one-for-one swaps if we have to replace a boat,” DeTar said. “We try to keep the current fleet having the best operational capabilities. The new acquisitions go to the operating units.” Boats removed from service are made available for sale by General Services Administration auction or brought to the National Marine Center in St. Augustine, Florida, where they can be repaired or made ready for service, and held in reserve until needed for a contingency; or used for parts.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

CGC Strattonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crewmembers aboard its cutter boat return to Stratton after a humanitarian assistance/disaster relief event for the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2016, July 13, 2016.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Crew members aboard a 25-foot Response Boat-Small from Maritime Safety and Security Team (MSST) Miami conduct a security patrol in Tampa Bay, Florida. The MSST conducts security patrols in support of the Coast Guard’s Ports, Waterways, and Coastal Security mission, and has recently undertaken additional responsibilities to support the Coast Guard’s “Western Hemisphere Strategy.”

We’re recapitalizing those boats. We have not identified a replacement but are currently completing the requirements and will be sending it out to the industry for open competition.” DeTar’s office is also responsible for aids to navigation boats, transportable port security boats, and special law enforcement craft (SPC-LE). Built by SAFE Boats International, the 33-foot SPC-LE is powered by three Mercury Verado 300-horsepower outboard motors, delivering a zero-to-plane time in under three seconds, and a top speed of more than 60 miles per hour. The armed SPC-LE has a climate-controlled cabin and shock-mitigating seats.

STATION PORT CANAVERAL, FLORIDA Chief Warrant Officer 4 David Ladomirak is the commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral, which has one 45-foot RB-M and four 29-foot RBS-IIs. “Our mission is search and rescue; law enforcement; and ports, waterways, and coastal security,” he said. “We have 48 active crew, and about the same number of reservists. We also have five volunteer Auxiliary flotillas – that totals about 300 people,” Ladomirak said. “We are also the tenant base for two 210-foot medium endurance cutters – the Vigilant and Confidence – and an 87-foot patrol boat, the Shrike.” The 45-foot RB-M replaces the 41-foot Utility Boat in the Coast Guard inventory.

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U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS ASHLEY J. JOHNSON

The 29-foot RB-S II is powered by two 225-horsepower outboard motors, with a maximum speed of 45 knots. The RB-S II is built by Metal Shark Aluminum Boats of Jeanerette, Louisiana, and is made from aluminum with a rigid polyethylene foam collar. It can be operated by a crew of two to four, but can carry up to 10 people, such as boarding parties. It’s small enough to be carried inside a cargo aircraft like a C-130 Hercules, or placed on a trailer for transportation as required. It has a range of about 175 nautical miles. The boat forces have relied on the 47-foot Motor Lifeboat for heavy weather SAR duties for many years. The 107 47s in the inventory are now nearing the end of their 25-year service life. All will undergo a service life extension to keep them for another 20 years at a cost less than buying a new copy, where they can serve in high-surf areas in the Pacific Northwest and the northeastern part of the country. The Response Boat-Medium (RB-M), built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine of Marinette, Wisconsin, and Kvichak Marine of Seattle, Washington, is serving at 105 stations in 30 states and territories. Unlike the RB-S, the RB-M is an offshore asset. The RB-M is the cornerstone for SAR, and even has a “survivor’s compartment” that can accommodate five people. DeTar said the Coast Guard also has eight ice airboats than can scoot across a frozen surface, and are currently assigned to the Great Lakes. “We are operating both 20-foot and 22-foot airboats – four of each.

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS LEVI READ

A Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay boatcrew, out of Newport, Oregon, gets underway to learn about the features on the station’s newly acquired 29-foot Response Boat-Small II, Sept. 15, 2016. The response boat is a high-speed, easily deployable asset designed to operate year-round in shallow waters along coastal borders.

Ladomirak said the 45 is an outstanding platform. “It’s a more modern platform, with the benefits of technology. We drive it with joysticks, and we can see at night and in poor visibility with our FLIR [forwardlooking infrared (technology)].” The waterjets are also an improvement, and make the RB-M highly maneuverable, but Ladomirak said they can generate a significant wake, and because they are not as deep in the water than the screws on the older platforms they can sometimes come out of the water in heavy seas. The 41-foot Utility Boat was an outstanding platform, but the RB-M can handle rougher seas, he said. “We have three display screens on the RB-M, and we can adjust what we want to see on them. Usually we’ll have one screen for the radar and chartplotter; another as an option for the FLIR camera display; and the seat for the engineer can see the engine gauges as well as the engine room camera picture,” Ladomirak said. “This reduces the amount of time we have to make periodic physical rounds into the engine spaces. “The required maintenance is demanding, because the boats are run a lot. Last year, we received an

additional 29 so we could give the engineers a little breathing room,” he said. “The RB-M is used for offshore work,” Ladomirak said, “such as SAR missions. The RB-S IIs are used for inshore assignments, and because they are trailerable, we can position them anywhere there is a boat ramp.” In fact, Ladomirak said he keeps one 29 on a trailer at all times to quickly respond to a call. The 45 usually carries a crew of four, with a coxswain, engineer, and two crewmembers, and is used for SAR missions offshore. “If our offshore platform is down for maintenance, we can ask our neighboring stations to cover. We would ask Station Fort Pierce to take the southern part of our area, and Station Ponce Inlet to take our northern area,” said Ladomirak. “We do the same for them when needed.” “Our 29s don’t need an engineer. They usually have a three-person crew, but we prefer to have four on board, because we like to get our people trained and certified,” said Ladomirak. The command is divided into two watch sections and stands port and starboard duty. Crews are on duty for two days, then off for two. Weekend duty is three days,

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Friday through Sunday. “The senior personnel will rotate between officer of the day and boat coxswain, so everyone can maintain their readiness posture,” he said. “We can use the 45 for an offshore SAR mission, and the 29s for escorts and port, waterway, and coastal security patrols,” said Ladomirak.

SPACEPORT

STATION CASTLE HILL, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND Chief Warrant Officer 4 (BOSN) Steve Engle is the commanding officer of Coast Guard Station Castle Hill. Station Castle Hill is currently authorized two RB-Ms and two RB-S IIs. “The RB-M is just right for the job,” Engle said. “These boats are amazing. Unequivocally these are the best boats we’ve had in my 27 years in the Coast Guard. They’re fast, very agile, and highly reliable. With the inline six cylinder Detroit DieselMTU 825 horsepower engines, the boats are very powerful. They can mount automatic weapons; they have shallow draft; and a self-righting capability, which is uncommon for boats that have these other characteristics.” If there’s a drawback, Engle said the RB-Ms are limited to 12-foot waves. But, he said, “They’re the best all-around package we have.

U.S. Coast Guard personnel from Coast Guard Station Honolulu transport members of the Honolulu Police Department (HPD) Specialized Services Division aboard a 45-foot Response BoatMedium in Honolulu Harbor, Sept. 26, 2016. Station Honolulu served as a platform for HPD to conduct underway ship-boarding exercises aboard the Star of Honolulu.

“We have 19 different municipalities in our area, so we work closely with the other first responders at the state and local level. We work with fire departments, state police, harbormasters, and other first responders. The state is broken up into zones, and my officer of the day will dispatch our vessels to the proper zone through Metro Control, which dispatches first responders for the entire state of Rhode Island. We have one of the better cooperatives I’ve ever seen as far as response for emergencies.” There are formal schools at the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia, as well as on-the-job training to help Station Castle Hill personnel qualify. “When a new person arrives, they start out as a basic communications watchstander like a dispatcher,” said Engle. “They work in conjunction with the sector command center. Once they’re certified there, they’ll go out on the boats. They’ll spend six to nine months on the boats to get qualified, and certain specialties will

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U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTOS BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS TARA MOLLE

Port Canaveral is unlike other assignments. They don’t call it “spaceport” for nothing. The proximity to the NASA Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral means the station will have frequent patrols to ensure that the safety and security zone downrange of the launch site is free of traffic. The Air Force 45th Space Wing is located at the port, as is the Naval Ordnance Training Unit, which involves ballistic missile submarines calling at the port in preparation to conduct missile test firings at sea. New commercial space activity is coming to the area, and SpaceX has not only launched rockets, but recovered them at sea on barges that are then returned to Port Canaveral for refurbishing. And Amazon’s Blue Origin is establishing a facility at the port. There are also bulk carriers, container ships, and some of the world’s largest cruise ships that call at the port. In fact, Port Canaveral is the biggest cruise terminal in the world by some metrics. “We work closely with Brevard County Sheriffs Office, which provides security for the port, as well as Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol, and Homeland Security investigations,” Ladomirak said. “We have great relations with our port partners.” Ladomirak said duty at Port Canaveral is highly desirable. “We have some unique missions, and people like living in Cocoa Beach. We couldn’t hand pick a better crew.”

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

On March 9, 2016, crewmembers aboard their 26-foot Cutter Boat Over-the-Horizon-IV from the CGC Valiant transports seized contraband from one of eight vessels interdicted during their eight-week patrol in the Eastern Pacific.

get qualified as boat driver or boat commander role, which may take up to two years to do that. “Most of the senior petty officers will have previously qualified before coming to us, but they need to keep their certifications current,” Engle said. “We have about 50 personnel assigned, and about 12 are currently qualified as coxswain, although we have an allowance for 19.”

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO, CGC VALIANT

MECCA FOR SAILBOATS “We’re a level I port waterway and coastal patrol unit,” Engle said. Engle said the Newport area is beautiful, and a mecca for sailboats. There are large commercial ships such as bulk carriers and auto carriers, and in between them, there’ll be a six-year-old on a 3-meter Opti sailboat. Known for its high society and America’s Cup races, Newport also attracts the $300 million-plus mega yachts, especially during special events like the Newport Jazz Festival. “We do a lot of marine events here, and we provide the command and control in the harbor,” Engle said. “We work with our port partners to understand the threats. We also work closely with the Navy, and we enforce their exclusion zones.” Engle said the station gets a lot of calls from the public when they see something that appears to be out of the ordinary to them. “We had a lady call us because she saw a ship at anchor that she had never seen before, and she’s been in Newport and watching ships for 30 years. “With the new technology, we’re able to respond faster,” Engle added. “The MARFLIR allows us to see through the dark and fog to pick somebody out in the water. We also integrate our operations so our boats can work together. And it’s not just the boats. Our sector command centers are more effective, and we have improved cooperation and interoperability with our port partners. The probability of mission success has greatly improved.” Engle said the station’s boats carry mounted automatic weapons, including the M240B machine gun, as well as M16 rifles, and Remington 870 riot shotguns. “Our boatcrews also carry the Sig Sauer sidearm. We’re armed when we’re underway. There may be some events where we don’t have our weapons out, but we’ll at least have them on board.

“Training is our foundation. We basically train and operate, and maintain in between.” Engle said his crewmembers learn boat driving, seamanship, and navigation skills. “We run the boats a lot, but we have to maintain our boats. There’s a balance between maintenance and casualty repair. Engineers don’t work in ideal conditions. They work between missions in the rain with the engine hatches open so we don’t miss that next call,” Engle said. “We have two of the oldest 45s in the Coast Guard. They’re both as good as our one-year-old. “We can do a little over 40 knots, and sometimes we have to do that in heavy boat traffic at high speed, with lights and sirens,” said Engle. “We train to be able to do that.” And, he said, when it comes to law enforcement, a young 22-year-old Coast Guardsman in charge of an armed boat on patrol in Narragansett Bay has a lot of responsibility and authority. “He or she is in charge of a $2-plus million armed vessel, with a lot of law enforcement authority. They do it with integrity, and in front of the public every day. “They’re appreciated and respected,” said Engle. “The amount of trust we have in those young people is unmatched. The impact they have is directly to the customer, not an enemy or foreign entity. They’re serving the public every day. Some units are highly supervised and regulated, but here they’re given almost total freedom. They have the opportunity to make bad choices, but they don’t. They consistently do the right thing every time.” Engle is proud of his crew. “We have the best people and the best equipment, and the boats are a big part of that. Without those vessels, we don’t have a job.” n

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

The CGAA’s Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl

In 1977, four former Coast Guard pilots formed a purely social organization called the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl, a fraternal association open to all pilots who had flown or were flying Coast Guard aircraft. By 2005, however, the group had begun contacting schools, museums, and other organizations as part of its research and felt it needed a more formal name – the U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Association (CGAA). The association continued its social side, with an annual gathering where former pilots could get together and talk about their personal experiences. It also developed bylaws expressing goals it wanted to see happen, one of which was to secure Coast Guard aviation history, another to support active-duty forces. In cooperation with the Coast Guard, it also created a set of annual awards named for famous Coast Guard aviators and maintenance personnel. Those include the flight safety award named for Capt. Marion “Gus” Shrode, one of the original founders; the Victor Roulund Rescue Swimmer Meritorious Achievement Award; the Chief Oliver Berry Aviation Maintenance Award; the

Commander Elmer Stone Fixed Wing Rescue Award; and the Captain Frank Erickson Rotary Wing Rescue Award. “Only those who have willfully placed themselves in harm’s way and have known that innermost feeling which comes from the personal experience which results in the saving of life or property can understand the bonding and uniqueness of Coast Guard aviation crewmembers,” according to the association’s website history. “Considerable emphasis has been placed on recognizing the accomplishments of our current active duty aviation force,” it reads, “continuing the enlargement and perpetuation of Coast Guard aviation history within the service and continuing to support Coast Guard Aviation at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, and at other appropriate museums.” The association’s website (aoptero.org) also maintains a public repository of historical information contained in photographs, video, logos, documents, and publications that has been continuously expanded since it was created

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in February 2003. Courtesy of the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl, the repository contains copies of images archived at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola; the Coast Guard Historian’s Office; the Coast Guard Academy Museum; or in private collections. When retired Coast Guard Capt. Mont J. Smith became association president in 2006, he started an aggressive program to reach new members from new communities, including aviation maintenance and other support personnel, and even civilians providing some kind of support to Coast Guard aviation. A former helicopter, C-130, and VC-4 pilot, Smith also set out to educate the public about Coast Guard aviation and garner public support for Coast Guard aviation and its goals. “In the last decade, the energy of the association got a big boost,” Smith said, outlining some of the group’s activities. “We created an art program a few years ago to portray the men and women of Coast Guard aviation. When a C-130 [Hercules] was lost just offshore from San Diego, killing seven crewmembers on impact, we worked with a local group to acquire a similar

COURTESY CGAA

B y J. R . W IL S O N

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS DAVID R. MARIN

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

aircraft and build a memorial. We did the same in Hawaii with a memorial for a helicopter that was lost.” One of CGAA’s biggest accomplishments to date, working with the Coast Guard, was the Phoenix Project – an effort to acquire and restore to museum quality a Coast Guard helicopter of historical note to become the first of the service’s aircraft to be displayed by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Begun in 2005, it took a full decade to find and begin work on a candidate platform – an HH-52A Seaguard helicopter (Tail No. 1426). That helicopter is considered to have performed one of the greatest at-sea rescues in Coast Guard history: pulling 22 survivors from the burning wreckage of two ships

– the tanker Burmah Agate and freighter Mimosa – that had collided near Galveston, Texas, on Nov. 1, 1979. Despite heat, smoke, turbulent air, and the danger of further explosions, the three-man crew made repeated trips between the wreckage and a nearby oil platform, on each trip taking on survivors until they had exceeded the helicopter’s maximum allowable weight. In April 2016, the Seaguard was formally installed at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, taking its place alongside World War II’s B-29 Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb, and the space shuttle Discovery, world record holder for most spaceflights.

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U.S. Coast Guard HH-52A Seaguard helicopter Tail No. 1426 is displayed during its induction ceremony into the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, April 14, 2016. The Seaguard is the first Coast Guard aircraft to be inducted into the Smithsonian.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Other association projects of note have included: • assisting with funding and historical research for a Coast Guard Aviation Memorial Monument at Elizabeth City, North Carolina • helping fund and support memorial monument fundraising for: –– an HH-65A (Tail No. 6505) on display at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii –– an HC-130H (Tail No. 1705) on display at Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, California –– Lt. Jack Rittichier memorial at Kent State University, Ohio –– Monument to a Century of Flight

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CGAA PHOTO BY STU HARTLEY

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at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina –– Coast Guard Vietnam Memorial at the Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut –– Greenland Patrol Memorial at the Coast Guard Academy donating funding for Coast Guard aviation exhibit at the National Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida –– overseeing exhibit expansions –– helping with addition of vintage RD-4, HO-4S, HH-52A, HH-3F aircraft –– providing Ancient Albatross and Enlisted Ancient Albatross trophies establishing and sponsoring the Coast Guard Aviation Hall of Honor at Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama providing funding for a Coast Guard aviation exhibit at the Aerospace Museum in Sacramento, California helping fund and coordinate acquisition and relocation of an HU-16E airframe for display at Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City, North Carolina helping coordinate and fund Change of Watch ceremonies for the ancient albatross of the Coast Guard and the enlisted ancient albatross of the Coast Guard – honoring the longest-serving activeduty Coast Guard aviators providing funding for the Coast Guard Academy Aviation Club

CGAA’s 2015 Roost Awards.

• commissioning Coast Guard aviation art • committing to the establishment of local groups of association members to provide direct support to Coast Guard aviation commands wherever possible • conceiving and sponsoring annual awards for Coast Guard active-duty personnel The CGAA serves as a liaison between the Coast Guard’s 6,000 active aviators, former aviators, and 1,933 association members, comprising 57 percent current, retired, or former Coast Guard aviators; 36 percent current, retired, or former aviation crewmembers; and 6 percent Coast Guard auxiliarists, flight surgeons, civilians, or “other” active-duty (former Coast Guard exchange pilots from Canada, England, Australia, and the U.S. Air Force) personel. “We want to encourage activeduty pilots, UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] pilots, enlisted crewmembers, and anyone with a sustaining interest in [the] Coast Guard [to join the association]. That’s part of our continuous outreach,” Smith said. “When I was president, I wanted to make [membership] much more inclusive, so I encouraged rescue swimmers to join. Then flight surgeons, Coast Guard auxiliarists, and others were invited to join. I’d like

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to see a lot more enlisted members, women, and minorities in our future.” The association also champions modern aircraft for the fleet and has built memorials for a number of flyers lost in aviation crashes. “The big thing now is to support new programs coming online and new young pilots and crewmembers, with an emphasis on safety and risk management. So we’re working on education programs and highlighting awards to those who have demonstrated excellence in flight safety, maintenance, and flight operations, celebrating their professionalism,” he added. Each year since its founding, the association has held a “Roost,” which goes back to the Pterodactyl name, usually close to a Coast Guard station. The 2016 Roost in Mobile, Alabama, celebrated the 100th anniversary of Coast Guard aviation. “Mobile is the informal home of Coast Guard aviation; many Coast Guard helicopter pilots trained by the Navy in Pensacola ultimately come to Mobile to transition [and] train on the helicopters they will fly in the Coast Guard,” Smith said. “The fixed-wing people are a bit different. C-130 pilots, for example, are all trained by the USAF at Little Rock, [Arkansas].

National Coast Guard Museum Become a Plankowner Today! The National Coast Guard Museum Association is proud to offer our supporters the opportunity to be a National Coast Guard Museum “Plankowner.” As many of you know, in nautical terms a Plankowner is any individual who served as an original crewmember on a new vessel. Anyone can become a Plankowner by simply establishing a recurring donation of any amount and by utilizing an Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) deduction through your banking institution. In return, you will be honored with your own Plankowner Certificate, a beautifully hand-drawn work of art by retired Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Schon Russell. To become a National Coast Guard Museum Plankowner, visit CoastGuardMuseum.org/plankowner Artistic rendering of the National Coast Guard Museum.

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

“There is a new HC-44 twinengine aircraft they do transition to in Mobile. We’re also acquiring a number of C-27J Spartan aircraft from the Air Force that have been in temporary storage for several years until we got Congress to transfer them to the Coast Guard.” Smith believes the CGAA is growing in relevancy, both to the Coast Guard and the nation. “I think it’s becoming more important as more people realize we are willing to undertake difficult and sometimes expensive projects in the public interest, and, in some cases, in partnership with the Coast Guard,” he said, but added that does not include lobbying Congress or otherwise trying to directly influence the direction or budgeting of Coast Guard aviation, instead relying on a sister organization to do that. “The Navy League does a very creditable job of lobbying Congress on behalf of the Navy for systems they feel are necessary for our national defense. We started out as a very small group, originally a social group, and have avoided getting involved with politics, although a 501(c) [tax-exempt nonprofit] charter does not preclude that. I never thought it was in our or the Coast Guard’s best interest for the association to take on a political role.”

In its public service capacity, the association also works to enhance citizen awareness of what Coast Guard aviation does for them. “We usually get excellent coverage by local media for the events we conduct or support. We look for things that have happened in a particular area, perhaps for 100 years, but also are continuing today. And that is very effective,” Smith said. “When someone comes up with an idea, we pick it apart to see if it is something we can support. And we’ve accomplished some pretty amazing things in the 40 years we’ve been in business. We do receive gifts from companies, as a 501(c) organization, and see to it their money is spent in an appropriate way.” The association is especially proud of the work it did to modernize the tombstone of Cmdr. Elmer Fowler Stone, the service’s first aviator. The highly decorated Stone (Navy Cross, British Royal Air Force Cross, Portuguese Order of the Tower and Sword, Congressional Gold Medal) was a pioneer in the days of wood and fabric airplanes. He graduated from Pensacola, Florida, in 1917, and two years later was one of three pilots selected to fly the Navy’s NC-4 flying boat that made the first successful (though not nonstop) transAtlantic flight.

IMAGE COURTESY OF PAMELA FINK

A rendering of the National Coast Guard Museum exterior. The museum is being built in New London, Connecticut, home of the Coast Guard Academy.

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He later helped the Navy develop the catapult and arresting gear for Navy carriers and test-flew dozens of aircraft before returning to the Coast Guard in 1926, where he went back to sea as commanding officer of a former Navy destroyer the Coast Guard was using to combat rumrunners. He also did a lot of test and evaluation on modern aircraft being built in the 1930s. “His tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery, on Coast Guard Hill, was in sad repair and had an incorrect inscription. We got approval from his family to have the tombstone modernized, reinscribed, and rededicated on the anniversary of his death in May 1936,” Smith said. A major project in the CGAA’s future is the new National Coast Guard Museum being built in New London, Connecticut, home of the Coast Guard Academy. “It’s in a rather unusual location called the Transportation Center, where they have ferries and rail together. It will be three or four stories, but with limited square footage, probably not enough to display any aircraft,” Smith said. “So how do we tell the story of a century of Coast Guard aviation without any airplanes? We have very little time to pull everything together as that museum soon will start building. “Museums in general are now becoming much more interactive with their visitors. So you have to think about how helpful are paintings, dioramas, segments of platforms, virtual scenarios, etc. Just looking at certificates and medals and such can get old, and it doesn’t really give the visitor an idea of what Coast Guard men and women do. For example, as the Coast Guard gets more involved with the Arctic in future years, there will be a lot more scientific studies embarking on Coast Guard ships. Young people want to know if the Coast Guard is a worthwhile career and how do they get involved.” n

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

The Cutters, Boats, and Aircraft of the U.S. Coast Guard PROFESSIONALLY AND PROFICIENTLY OPERATED BY THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD, the service’s cutters, boats, and aircraft are standing by 24/7 to respond to safety and security threats in all weather conditions, day or night. As the lead federal agency in the maritime domain for law enforcement, incident response, homeland security, and disaster management, these specialized capabilities enable the Coast Guard to save lives, protect the environment, enforce federal laws on the high seas, and defend the homeland. In recent years, the Coast Guard realized several achievements with recapitalizing its assets. The service christened the sixth national security cutter (NSC), Munro, in November 2015. The fifth NSC, James, was commissioned in August 2015. The service commissioned its 19th fast response cutter late in 2016, and 14 HC-27J aircraft are being transferred from the Air Force and modified for Coast Guard missions. Despite these milestones, fleet and aircraft recapitalization time lines lag service need, endangering the ability to be “Always Ready” to prepare for, respond to, and quickly recover from major incidents. Moving forward, the Coast Guard will thoughtfully pursue and achieve a balanced and executable acquisition program for the deteriorating offshore, coastal, and inland assets.

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ICEBREAKERS The Coast Guard operates three oceangoing icebreakers, the newest of which, the CGC Healy (WAGB 20), commissioned in July 2000, is the service’s largest ship. The Coast Guard also operates one icebreaker on the Great Lakes – the CGC Mackinaw (WLBB 30), which replaced an older ship of the same name. Icebreakers are painted with an “icebreaker red” hull to make them noticeable in ice-covered waters. One oceangoing icebreaker, the Polar Sea, was scheduled to be decommissioned and its parts used to help keep its sister, Polar Star, in operation, but Congress blocked the move and Polar Sea is still awaiting disposition.

• Length: 420 feet • Beam: 82 feet • Displacement: 16,000 tons • Power plant: Four diesels, two shafts, 30,000 shaft horsepower (shp) • Speed: 17 knots • Range: 16,000 nautical miles at 12.5 knots; 37,000 miles at 9.25 knots Vessel in this class: • Healy (WAGB 20) Seattle, Washington

Icebreaker, 420-foot Healy class (WAGB)

Icebreakers, 399-foot Polar class (WAGB)

The Coast Guard’s largest ship, the CGC Healy, was launched in 1997 and commissioned in 2000, joining the two Polar-class icebreakers in their homeport of Seattle, Washington. The Healy is designed to conduct a wide range of research activities, providing more than 4,200 square feet of scientific laboratory space, numerous electronic sensor systems, oceanographic winches, and accommodations for up to 50 scientists. Healy is capable of breaking 4.5 feet of ice continuously at 3 knots and can operate in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees F. The scientific community provided invaluable input on lab layouts and scientific capabilities during design and construction of the ship. As a Coast Guard cutter, the Healy is also a capable platform for supporting other potential missions in the polar regions, and is capable of accommodating two H-65 Dolphin helicopters or one Dolphin and one H-60 Jayhawk helicopter.

The Polar-class icebreakers, built in the 1970s, were designed for open-water ice breaking and have reinforced hulls, special ice breaking bows, and a system that allows rapid shifting of ballast to increase the effectiveness of their ice breaking. These ships are capable of continuous progress through ice 6 feet thick at a speed of up to 3 knots. The CGCs Polar Sea and Polar Star were built to serve in the Arctic and Antarctic, supporting science and research as well as providing resupply to remote stations, but their capabilities also enable them to perform search and rescue, ship escort, environmental protection, and enforcement of laws and treaties in places most ships cannot reach. They are fully equipped for helicopter berthing and deck operations, and can carry two H-60 Jayhawks or H-65 Dolphins. Polar Star was reactivated in December 2012 after three years of refurbishment and modernization. Polar Sea remains laid up while its disposition is determined. The Coast

COAST GUARD PHOTO

CGC Healy

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Vessel in this class: • Mackinaw (WLBB 30) Cheboygan, Michigan

CUTTERS

CGC Polar Star

Guard is conducting requirements generation and associated preliminary acquisition tasks for a new heavy icebreaker. • Length: 399 feet • Beam: 83.5 feet • Displacement (28-foot draft): 13,194 tons full load • Power plant: Six Alco diesels, 3,000 bhp each, three gas turbines, 25,000 shp each, electric drive, three shafts, 66,000 shp • Speed: 18 knots • Range: 16,000 nautical miles at 18 knots; 28,275 at 13 knots

The term “cutter” identifies a Coast Guard vessel 65 feet in length or greater, with accommodations for a crew to live aboard. Major cutters like the national security cutter are capable of carrying multiple cutterboat types, including the over-the-horizon (CB-OTH-IV) rigid-hull inflatables, and long-range interceptors (CB-LRI-II). Polar-class icebreakers also carry an Arctic survey boat (ASB), a polar variant of the CB-OTH-IV, and landing craft. Most cutters more than 200 feet in length are capable of accommodating helicopters.

National Security Cutters (NSC) 418-foot Legend class The first major cutter to join the Coast Guard as part of the fleet recapitalization plan, the national security cutter (NSC) is the largest and most technologically advanced of the service’s new cutters. At 418 feet in length, capable of speeds up to 28 knots, with a crew complement of 122 and a displacement of 4,500 long tons, the Legend-class cutters are capable of better seakeeping and higher sustained

Vessels in this class: • Polar Star (WAGB 10) Seattle, Washington • Polar Sea (WAGB 11) deactivated, Seattle, Washington

CGC Mackinaw

The CGC Mackinaw (WLBB 30), like its predecessor of the same name, was designed specifically for the Great Lakes, where its mission has been to keep the shipping lanes open through as much of the winter as possible. Like the former Mackinaw (WAGB 83), the new ship is homeported in Cheboygan, Michigan, and remains the only U.S. heavy ice breaking resource assigned to the Great Lakes. The ship performs ice breaking as well as ATON (aids to navigation), search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement, and other missions. It has a crew of nine officers and 46 enlisted members. The Mackinaw features state-of-the-art navigation, communication, and security systems and is able to carry a smaller crew than its namesake. The vessel also has a 20-ton crane for servicing aids to navigation, and an oil spill recovery system on board. It uses two podded propulsors and a bow thruster to provide excellent maneuverability, and is designed to break through 32 inches of ice at 3 knots.

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• Length: 240 feet • Beam: 58 feet, 6 inches • Draft: 16 feet • Displacement: 3,500 tons full load • Power plant: Three 4,200-bhp ABT diesel generators; two ABT 3,350-kw azipod propulsion units • Speed: 15 knots • Range: 4,000 nautical miles

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS RACHEL FRENCH / PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS GEORGE DEGENER

Icebreaker, 240-foot Great Lakes class (WLBB)

NORTHROP GRUMMAN PHOTO BY STEVE BLOUNT

CGC Waesche

speeds as well as greater endurance than legacy cutters. The ships, being acquired by the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate, feature modern command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities and provide interoperability with U.S. Navy systems and a common operational picture to enhance maritime domain awareness. In addition to a helicopter deck, the class has a stern ramp for launching and recovering two classes of rigid-hull inflatable (RHIB) cutterboats that deploy with the NSC: the 35-foot CB-LRI-II and the 26-foot CB-OTH-IV. The NSC can carry a total of three boats: one LRI-II and two CB-OTH-IVs. The first cutter, Bertholf, was commissioned Aug. 4, 2008, and completed its first extended operations in 2009. The second cutter, Waesche, was commissioned May 7, 2010. The third, Stratton, was commissioned March 31, 2012. Hamilton, the fourth NSC, was commissioned in December 2014. The fifth, James, was commissioned in August 2015. The sixth NSC, Munro, is scheduled to commission in April 2017. The seventh, Kimball, and eighth, Midgett, are under construction. The Coast Guard planned construction of eight national security cutters; however the FY 2016 budget allocated funds for a ninth yet-to-be-named NSC. The NSC is armed with a 57 mm/Mk. 110 gun, which is also employed by the Navy’s littoral combat ships, and four M2 .50-caliber machine guns. The NSC can accommodate two H-65s, or one H-65 or H-60 and two vertically launched unmanned aerial vehicles, or other combinations.

On Oct. 3, 2016, the Coast Guard began installation of a small unmanned aircraft system on board the CGC Stratton. • Length: 418 feet • Beam: 54 feet • Displacement: 4,500 long tons full load • Power plant: Combined diesel and gas (CODAG); one 30,565 SHP gas turbine engine and two 9,655 HP diesel engines • Speed: up to 28 knots • Range: 12,000 nautical miles • Armament: Mk. 110 57 mm gun; Phalanx 20 mm close-in weapon system; Mk. 53 decoy launching system (NULKA); and four M2 .50-caliber machine guns Vessels in this class: • Bertholf (WMSL 750) Alameda, California • Waesche (WMSL 751) Alameda, California • Stratton (WMSL 752) Alameda, California • Hamilton (WMSL 753) Charleston, South Carolina • James (WMSL 754) Charleston, South Carolina • Munro (WMSL 755) under construction, future homeport Alameda, California • Kimball (WMSL 756) under construction, future homeport Honolulu, Hawaii • Midgett (WMSL 757) under construction, future homeport Honolulu, Hawaii • (WMSL 758) long lead-time materials ordered

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Vessels in this class: • Mellon (WHEC 717) Seattle, Washington • Sherman (WHEC 720) San Diego, California • Morgenthau (WHEC 722) Honolulu, Hawaii • Munro (WHEC 724) Kodiak, Alaska • Midgett (WHEC 726) Seattle, Washington

CGC Midgett

High Endurance Cutters, 378-foot Secretary class (WHEC) Highly versatile and capable of performing a variety of missions, these cutters operate throughout the world’s oceans. Because of their high endurance and their capabilities, similar to those of Navy warships, Secretary-class cutters occasionally deploy as part of Navy carrier battle groups. CGC Hamilton (WHEC 715), commissioned in 1967, was first of the class, which formed the mainstay of the Coast Guard from the 1970s into the 2010s. The Secretary-class cutters are ideally suited for long-range, high-endurance missions, and for fulfilling the maritime security role, which includes drug interdiction, illegal immigrant interception, and fisheries patrol. The ships are powered by diesel engines and gas turbines, in a combined diesel and gas (CODAG) plant, and have controllable pitch propellers. Equipped with a helicopter flight deck, retractable hangar, and the facilities to support helicopter deployment, these 12 cutters were introduced to the Coast Guard inventory in the 1960s, and seven remain in service. The entire class was modernized through the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) program between 1985 and 1992, modernizing their helicopter flight deck facilities, radars and other sensors, and fire-control systems. With a crew of 160, each displaces 3,340 tons. Each is capable of accommodating a single HH-65 Dolphin helicopter. Secretary-class cutters have been given upgraded C4ISR capabilities under the Deepwater project. The Chase and Hamilton were transferred to the Nigerian and Philippine navies, respectively, in 2011. The Dallas and Jarvis were decommissioned in 2012 and transferred to the Philippine and Bangladeshi navies, respectively. Gallatin was decommissioned in March 2014 and has since been transferred to the Nigerian navy. Rush transfered to the Bangladeshi navy in May 2015 and Boutwell was transferred to the Philippine navy in July 2016. Ships of the class will continue to be retired as national security cutters enter the fleet.

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• Length: 378 feet • Beam: 43 feet • Displacement: 3,340 tons full load • Power plant: Two diesel engines 3,500 bhp each/two gas turbine engines 18,000 shp each, two shafts 36,000 shp • Speed: 29 knots • Range: 2,400 nautical miles at 29 knots or 9,600 miles at 19 knots (on gas turbines); 12,000 nautical miles at 14 knots (on diesels) • Armament: One Mk. 75 76 mm gun; two Mk. 38 25 mm guns; one Phalanx CIWS; two .50-caliber machine guns; two SRBOC launchers

Offshore patrol cutters (OPCs) will provide the midrange capability in the Coast Guard’s layered defense concept, filling the role between the NSC and FRC and replacing the service’s two classes of aging medium endurance cutters. The OPC is to feature increased range and endurance, more powerful weapons, a larger flight deck, and improved C4ISR equipment, and will accommodate aircraft and boat operations in higher sea states. Using a two-phase acquisition strategy that emphasizes affordability as a major requirement, the service awarded three Phase I contracts in February 2014 for preliminary and contract design (P&CD) to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport LLC (Lockport, Louisiana); Eastern Shipbuilding Group Inc. (Panama City, Florida); and General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works (Bath, Maine). In September, the Coast Guard awarded the Phase II contract to Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., for production of the lead OPC.

295-foot Cutter Eagle (WIX) The tall ship Eagle is a three-masted sailing barque with 21,350 square feet of sail, homeported at the Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut. It is the only active (operational) commissioned sailing vessel in the U.S. maritime services. Seventh in a line of cutters to bear its name, the CGC Eagle was built in 1936 by Blohm and Voss in Hamburg, Germany, as a training vessel for German naval cadets. It was taken as a war prize in 1946, commissioned into Coast Guard service as the Eagle, and sailed from Bremerhaven,

CGC Eagle

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS LEVI READ / U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS PATRICK KELLEY

Offshore Patrol Cutters

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CGC Alex Haley

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• Length: 295 feet • Beam: 39 feet • Displacement: 1,824 tons full load • Power plant: Diesel, one shaft, 1,000 bhp, 21,350-square-foot sail area • Speed: 10 knots under power; 16 knots under sail • Range: 5,450 nautical miles under power

Vessel in this class: • Eagle (WIX 327) New London, Connecticut (refitting at Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland)

Medium Endurance Cutter 282-foot Alex Haley class (WMEC) The cutter Alex Haley (WMEC 39) is a one-of-a-kind Coast Guard ship, named for the service’s first chief journalist, who later wrote Roots and won a Pulitzer Prize. Commissioned in 1971 as the Navy salvage and rescue ship USS Edenton (ATS 1), the vessel was transferred to the Coast Guard in November 1997 for conversion into a medium endurance cutter. The cutter’s primary missions are law enforcement, domestic fisheries enforcement, and SAR in Alaskan waters. With a crew of 99, the ship can accommodate a single H-65 Dolphin or MH-60 Jayhawk. • Length: 282 feet • Beam: 50 feet • Displacement: 3,000 tons full load • Power plant: Four Caterpillar diesels, two shafts; bow thruster • Speed: 16 knots • Range: 10,000 nautical miles at 13 knots • Armament: Two Mk. 38 25 mm cannons; two .50-caliber machine guns Vessel in this class: • Alex Haley (WMEC 39) Kodiak, Alaska

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JESSE KRISTOFFERSON

Germany, to New London, Connecticut. The Eagle serves as a seagoing classroom for approximately 175 cadets and instructors from the academy. On the Eagle, cadets apply the navigation, engineering, and other skills they develop in classes at the academy. Eagle’s hull is built of steel, four-tenths of an inch thick. It has two full-length steel decks with a platform deck below and a raised forecastle and quarterdeck. The weather decks are 3-inch-thick teak over steel. When at home, the Eagle is moored at the Fort Trumbull State Park on the Thames River. Eagle began the first phase of a four-year refit and renovation program at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, Sept. 26. The work will proceed in phases so that training periods at sea can continue. The first phase included maintenance of the rudder, hull and rigging, lead ballast replacement, and berthing area renovations. The second phase included hazardous material determination, additional berthing renovations, an upgraded 110-volt electrical panel and wiring, and a mainmast inspection. Phase 3, which began in September 2016, will include hull plate renewal, continued lead coating abatement, and more berthing improvements, with completion of this phase scheduled for spring 2017.

Medium Endurance Cutters 270-foot Famous class (WMEC) The first of 13 Famous-class cutters, the Bear (WMEC 901), entered service in 1983, and these ships have become a familiar sight on the world’s oceans ever since. Together with the 14 Reliance-class vessels, Famous-class cutters are the service’s primary tools for law enforcement, counterdrug, and SAR missions. These ships are the most modern and advanced medium endurance cutters, with a modern weapons and sensor suite. They have long been equipped with a Command, Display, and Control (COMDAC) computerized ship control system that was significantly updated in the 1990s and makes these ships effective with smaller crews. Famous-class ships operate with a crew of 100. Armament includes a Mk. 75 76 mm fully automatic gun capable of firing up to 80 rounds per minute. The Shipboard Command and Control System (SCCS) uses radar, LORAN (long range navigation), and GPS (Global Positioning System) technologies. SCCS is an integrated and sophisticated system that brings the ship’s electronic resources together to facilitate operations. Famous-class cutters are able to land, launch, and service the H-65 Dolphin, and some can also operate the Jayhawk. A Dolphin and a five-member aviation detachment usually deploy with the ship. The cutter’s active stabilization system extends the operating parameters of the cutter aircraft team by providing a stable platform for flight evolutions during rough sea conditions. This allows the cutters to serve the vital role of search and rescue in almost any storm or location. For law enforcement boardings, these cutters carry a 23-foot Over-the-Horizon Cutter Boat and a 19-foot rigidhull inflatable boat. Under the Mission Effectiveness Project (MEP), Famousclass cutters received capability enhancements, major maintenance, and replacement of obsolete, unsupportable, or

maintenance-intensive equipment, which included installing improved C4ISR suites. The Reliance-class ships also underwent MEP. All 270-foot cutters finished their MEP in September 2014, ensuring their operational reliability until their replacement by the offshore patrol cutter. • Length: 270 feet • Beam: 38 feet • Displacement: 1,820 tons full load • Power plant: Two 3,650-hp V-18 Alco diesel engines, two shafts • Speed: 20 knots • Range: Just under 3,800 nautical miles at 19.5 knots; 9,900 nautical miles at 12 knots • Armament: One Mk. 75 76 mm gun, two .50-caliber machine guns, two SRBOC launchers Vessels in this class: • Bear (WMEC 901) Portsmouth, Virginia • Tampa (WMEC 902) Portsmouth, Virginia • Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) Portsmouth, Virginia • Northland (WMEC 904) Portsmouth, Virginia • Spencer (WMEC 905) Boston, Massachusetts • Seneca (WMEC 906) Boston, Massachusetts • Escanaba (WMEC 907) Boston, Massachusetts • Tahoma (WMEC 908) Kittery, Maine • Campbell (WMEC 909) Kittery, Maine • Thetis (WMEC 910) Key West, Florida • Forward (WMEC 911) Portsmouth, Virginia • Legare (WMEC 912) Portsmouth, Virginia • Mohawk (WMEC 913) Key West, Florida

Seagoing Buoy Tenders, 225-foot Juniper class (WLB) Juniper-class buoy tenders are seagoing Coast Guard

U.S. NAVY PHOTO BY CHIEF PETTY OFFICER BILL MESTA

CGC Thetis

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• Length: 225 feet • Beam: 46 feet • Displacement: 2,000 tons • Buoy deck area: 2,875 square feet • Power plant: Two Caterpillar 3608 diesels, one shaft, 6,200 bhp • Speed: 15 knots • Range: 6,000 nautical miles at 12 knots • Armament: Two .50-caliber machine guns Vessels in this class: • Juniper (WLB 201) Newport, Rhode Island • Willow (WLB 202) Newport, Rhode Island • Kukui (WLB 203) Honolulu, Hawaii • Elm (WLB 204) Atlantic Beach, North Carolina • Walnut (WLB 205) Honolulu, Hawaii • Spar (WLB 206) Kodiak, Alaska • Maple (WLB 207) Sitka, Alaska • Aspen (WLB 208) San Francisco, California • Sycamore (WLB 209) Cordova, Alaska • Cypress (WLB 210) Pensacola, Florida • Oak (WLB 211) Newport, Rhode Island • Hickory (WLB 212) Homer, Alaska • Fir (WLB 213) Astoria, Oregon • Hollyhock (WLB 214) Port Huron, Michigan • Sequoia (WLB 215) Apra Harbor, Guam • Alder (WLB 216) Duluth, Minnesota

CGC Diligence

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CGC Spar

Medium Endurance Cutters, 210-foot Reliance class (WMEC) The 14 Reliance-class cutters work alongside the Famousclass ships, carrying out primarily law enforcement and search and rescue missions. The 210-foot ships were the first true post-World War II Coast Guard cutters. Outwardly, these ships reflect evolving Coast Guard operations during the latter part of the 20th century – sleek lines, flight decks, and a high pilothouse giving the bridge crew excellent all-around visibility. They do not have a helicopter hangar but can operate a single H-65 Dolphin on deck. It has a crew complement of 77. Although lightly armed, these cutters were designed to carry additional armament including a 3-inch gun, a total of six .50-caliber machine guns, an SQS-17 sonar (later suggestions included using an SQS-36), an anti-submarine projector (Hedgehog), and/or two torpedo launchers. None of this armament was ever actually installed. From 1986 to 1996, ships of this class underwent a midlife maintenance availability to upgrade machinery and equipment. There were 16 Reliance-class cutters, but budget cuts prompted the decommissioning of the Courageous (WMEC 622) and the Durable (WMEC 628) in 2001. To prolong the longevity of the remaining cutters, the Coast Guard began the MEP in 2005 to increase operational availability by installing capability enhancements, performing major maintenance, and replacing obsolete, unsupportable, or maintenance-intensive equipment. The successful conclusion of the MEP in September 2014 ensures the operational reliability of these cutters until replacement by the offshore patrol cutter. • Length: 210 feet • Beam: 34 feet • Displacement: 1,000 tons • Power plant: Two Alco 16V-251 diesel engines, two shafts, 5,000 bhp • Speed: 18 knots • Range: 6,100 nautical miles at 12 knots • Armament: One Mk. 38 25 mm cannon and two .50-caliber machine guns Vessels in this class: • Reliance (WMEC 615) Kittery, Maine • Diligence (WMEC 616) Wilmington, North Carolina • Vigilant (WMEC 617) Patrick Air Force Base, Florida • Active (WMEC 618) Port Angeles, Washington

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTOGRAPHS

cutters responsible for maintaining short- and long-range ATON such as fixed structures and buoys. They have replaced the aging Balsam class of World War II-era buoy tenders. Buoy tenders provide light ice breaking in ice-laden domestic waters. Buoy tenders are multi-mission vessels, and conduct maritime law enforcement, homeland security, and defense operations, as well as provide search and rescue assistance should the need arise. The 225-foot Juniper’s twin diesel engine propulsion system supplies the speed and maneuverability necessary to tend coastal and offshore buoys in exposed locations. Perhaps the most important advance is the use of a new Dynamic Positioning System (DPS). DPS uses a differential GPS to fix positions. Using this technology, the crews are able to maintain the vessel’s position within a 10-meter circle in winds of up to 30 knots and waves of up to 8 feet. The Juniper-class cutters are to undergo midlife renovation under the In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) program. The Oak was the first to complete overhaul in October 2016.

CGC George Cobb

• Confidence (WMEC 619) Port Canaveral, Florida • Resolute (WMEC 620) St. Petersburg, Florida • Valiant (WMEC 621) Miami Beach, Florida • Steadfast (WMEC 623) Warrenton, Oregon • Dauntless (WMEC 624) Galveston, Texas • Venturous (WMEC 625) St. Petersburg, Florida • Dependable (WMEC 626) Little Creek, Virginia • Vigorous (WMEC 627) Little Creek, Virginia • Decisive (WMEC 629) Pascagoula, Mississippi • Alert (WMEC 630) Warrenton, Oregon

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO / U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS TOM ATKESON

Coastal Buoy Tenders, 175-foot Keeper class (WLM) The 175-foot Keeper-class coastal buoy tenders are a new era in buoy tending, equipped with Z-drive propulsion units instead of the standard propeller and rudder configuration. The propulsion units are designed to independently rotate 360 degrees. Combined with a thruster in the bow, they give the Keeper-class cutters unmatched maneuverability. With state-of-the-art electronics and navigation systems including DPS, which uses differential GPS and electronic chart displays, it is possible to maneuver and position navigation aids with a smaller crew. Carrying a crew of 24, ships in this class are named for well-known lighthouse keepers. Although not classified as icebreakers, these ships can move through 9 inches of ice at 3 knots. • Length: 175 feet • Beam: 36 feet • Displacement: 845 tons

• Power plant: Two Caterpillar 3508TA diesels, two Ulstein Z-drive, 2,040 bhp • Speed: 12 knots • Range: 2,000 nautical miles at 10 knots Vessels in this class: • Ida Lewis (WLM 551) Newport, Rhode Island • Katherine Walker (WLM 552) Bayonne, New Jersey • Abbie Burgess (WLM 553) Rockland, Maine • Marcus Hanna (WLM 554) South Portland, Maine • James Rankin (WLM 555) Baltimore, Maryland • Joshua Appleby (WLM 556) St. Petersburg, Florida • Frank Drew (WLM 557) Portsmouth, Virginia • Anthony Petit (WLM 558) Ketchikan, Alaska • Barbara Mabrity (WLM 559) Mobile, Alabama • William Tate (WLM 560) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Harry Claiborne (WLM 561) Galveston, Texas • Maria Bray (WLM 562) Atlantic Beach, Florida • Henry Blake (WLM 563) Everett, Washington • George Cobb (WLM 564) San Pedro, California

CGC Pamlico

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Inland Construction Tenders (WLIC) The Coast Guard’s inland construction tenders are broken into three classes, all designed for the construction, repair, and maintenance of fixed ATON and all operating on inland waters. The 160-foot WLICs are single units without barges. The 75-foot WLICs push either a 68- or 84-foot construction barge. The one 100-foot WLIC pushes a 70-foot construction barge. The barges are equipped with cranes and other ATON equipment to drive piles and work the smaller-sized buoys. The earliest of these tenders date to the 1940s and have crews of 13 to 15. 160-FOOT WLIC CLASS: • Length: 160 feet • Beam: 30 feet • Displacement: 411 tons • Power plant: Two Caterpillar D379 diesels, two shafts, 1,000 bhp • Speed: 11 knots • Range: 1,205 nautical miles at 6.5 knots Vessels in the 160-foot WLIC class: • Pamlico (WLIC 800) New Orleans, Louisiana • Hudson (WLIC 801) Miami Beach, Florida • Kennebec (WLIC 802) Portsmouth, Virginia • Saginaw (WLIC 803) Mobile, Alabama 100-FOOT WLIC CLASS: • Length: 100 feet • Beam: 24 feet • Displacement: 178 tons • Power plant: Two Caterpillar 3412, two shafts, 1250 bhp • Speed: 10 knots • Range: 1,200 nautical miles at 7 knots Vessel in the 100-foot WLIC class: • Smilax (WLIC 315, oldest commissioned cutter) Atlantic Beach, North Carolina

COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS SETH JOHNSON

75-FOOT WLIC CLASS: • Length: 75 feet • Beam: 22 feet • Displacement: 145 tons • Power plant: Two Caterpillar D353, two shafts, 750 hp; or two Caterpillar 3412 or V1312TI, two shafts, 1,250-1,350 hp • Speed: 10 knots • Range: 1,050-1,300 nautical miles at 9 knots; 2,400-2,500 nautical miles at 5 knots Vessels in the 75-foot WLIC class: • Anvil (WLIC 75301) Charleston, South Carolina • Hammer (WLIC 75302) Mayport, Florida • Sledge (WLIC 75303) Baltimore, Maryland • Mallet (WLIC 75304) Corpus Christi, Texas • Vise (WLIC 75305) St. Petersburg, Florida • Clamp (WLIC 75306) Galveston, Texas • Hatchet (WLIC 75309) Galveston, Texas • Axe (WLIC 75310) Morgan City, Louisiana

CGC Penobscot Bay

Ice Breaking Tugs, 140-foot Bay class (WTGB) The 140-foot Bay-class cutters are single-screw tugs used primarily for domestic ice breaking duties. They are named after American bays and are stationed mainly in the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes. They use a lowpressure-air hull lubrication or bubbler system that forces air and water between the hull and ice. This system improves ice breaking capabilities by reducing resistance against the hull, thereby reducing horsepower requirements. A 120-foot ATON barge augments the CGCs Bristol Bay and Mobile Bay. The Bayclass cutters have begun a midlife renovation project under the In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) program to renew the most elderly or vulnerable components. The CGC Sturgeon Bay is the fifth of nine Bay-class cutters to undergo ISVS. • Length: 140 feet • Beam: 37.5 feet • Displacement: 662 tons full load • Power plant: Two Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, electric drive, one shaft, 2,500 shp • Speed: 14.7 knots • Range: 1,500 nautical miles at 14.7 knots; 4,000 nautical miles at 12 knots Vessels in this class: • Katmai Bay (WTGB 101) Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan • Bristol Bay (WTGB 102) Detroit, Michigan • Mobile Bay (WTGB 103) Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin • Biscayne Bay (WTGB 104) St. Ignace, Michigan • Neah Bay (WTGB 105) Cleveland, Ohio • Morro Bay (WTGB 106) New London, Connecticut • Penobscot Bay (WTGB 107) Bayonne, New Jersey • Thunder Bay (WTGB 108) Rockland, Maine • Sturgeon Bay (WTGB 109) Bayonne, New Jersey

River Buoy Tenders (WLR) The Coast Guard operates 18 tenders of 75-foot and 65-foot lengths on rivers in the western United States, deploying ATON buoys and day boards to mark river channels and to ease

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the efficient flow of commerce. WLRs push barges equipped with cranes that work ATON. Some WLRs are equipped with “jetting” devices that are used to set and anchor buoys in rivers with sandy or muddy bottoms. The barges are an integral part of the ATON mission. Barge lengths vary: 90 feet, 99 feet, and 130 feet. 75-FOOT KANKAKEE-CLASS RIVER BUOY TENDERS: • Length: 75 feet • Beam: 22 feet • Displacement: 175 tons • Power plant: Two Caterpillar 3412 diesels, two shafts, 1,024 bhp • Speed: 10 knots • Range: 600 nautical miles at 10 knots Vessels in this class: • Kankakee (WLR 75500) Memphis, Tennessee • Greenbrier (WLR 75501) Natchez, Mississippi 75-FOOT GASCONADE-CLASS RIVER BUOY TENDERS: • Length: 75 feet • Beam: 22 feet • Displacement: 140 tons • Power plant: Two Caterpillar D353 diesels, two shafts, 660-750 hp; or two Caterpillar 3412, two shafts, 1,250 hp

CGC Sangamon

• Speed: 10 knots • Range: 3,100 nautical miles at 6.5 knots Vessels in this class: • Wedge (WLR 75307) Demopolis, Alabama • Gasconade (WLR 75401) Omaha, Nebraska • Muskingum (WLR 75402) Sallislaw, Oklahoma • Wyaconda (WLR 75403) Dubuque, Iowa • Chippewa (WLR 75404) Buchanan, Tennessee • Cheyenne (WLR 75405) St. Louis, Missouri • Kickapoo (WLR 75406) Vicksburg, Mississippi

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USCGAUX PHOTO BY LEN SCHULTE / U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY SEAMAN PAUL JIRASEK

CGC Greenbrier

CGC Elderberry

• Kanawha (WLR 75407) Pine Bluff, Arkansas • Patoka (WLR 75408) Greenville, Mississippi • Chena (WLR 75409) Hickman, Kentucky 65-FOOT CLASS RIVER BUOY TENDERS: • Length: 65 feet • Beam: 21 feet • Displacement: 145 tons • Power plant: Two Caterpillar D353 diesels, two shafts, 660-725 hp • Speed: 10 knots • Range: 3,500 nautical miles at 6 knots Vessels in this class: • Ouachita (WLR 65501) Chattanooga, Tennessee • Cimarron (WLR 65502) Buchanan, Tennessee • Obion (WLR 65503) Owensboro, Kentucky • Scioto (WLR 65504) Keokuk, Iowa • Osage (WLR 65505) Sewickley, Pennsylvania • Sangamon (WLR 65506) East Peoria, Illinois

USCG PHOTO

Inland Buoy Tenders, large-small (WLI) 100-FOOT INLAND BUOY TENDERS: • Length: 100 feet • Beam: 24 feet • Displacement: 174 tons full load • Power plant: Two diesels, two shafts, 600-660 bhp

• Speed: 10.5 knots • Range: 2,000-2,700 nautical miles at 7 knots Vessels in this class: • Bluebell (WLI 313) Portland, Oregon • Buckthorn (WLI 642) Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan 65-FOOT INLAND BUOY TENDERS: • Length: 65 feet • Beam: 17 feet • Displacement: 71 tons • Power plant: Two GM diesels, two shafts, 400 hp (WLI 65401); one GM diesel, one shaft, 300 hp (WLI 65303) • Speed: 9 knots (WLI 65303); 11.3 knots (WLI 65401) • Range: 1,700 nautical miles at 6 knots; 1,500 nautical miles at 5 knots (WLI 65303) Vessels in this class: • Bayberry (WLI 65400) Long Beach, North Carolina • Elderberry (WLI 65401) Petersburg, Alaska

PATROL BOATS The diverse range of Coast Guard duties is reflected dramatically by the number and variety of its patrol boats, which are assigned to most of the service’s missions. Islandclass cutters are high-speed vessels that offer an operating radius of almost 1,000 nautical miles, making them highly

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CGC Isaac Mayo

Fast Response Cutters (WPC) 154-foot Sentinel class The Sentinel class is a key component of the Coast Guard’s recapitalized fleet and is critically needed to replace the aging 110-foot Island-class patrol boat fleet. The first cutter in this class, Bernard C. Webber, was delivered in February 2012. To honor past Coast Guard members, each fast response cutter (FRC) in this class will be named for one of the service’s many enlisted heroes. These cutters will be able to deploy independently to conduct the service’s missions, such as ports, waterways, and coastal security; fishery patrols; drug and migrant interdiction; law enforcement; SAR; and national defense operations. The cutters’ C4ISR suites will be completely interoperable with U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Department of Defense, and Department of Homeland Security assets. The 154-foot cutters have a speed of more than 28 knots, and are based on an existing patrol boat design from Damen Shipyards. This vessel class is planned for a total of 58 patrol boats.

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• Manufacturer: Bollinger Shipyards Inc. • Parent craft designer: Damen

• Length: 154 feet • Beam: 25 feet • Displacement: 353 metric tons • Power plant: Two 4,300 Kw MTU diesel engines • Speed: 28-plus knots • Endurance: five days • Crew: 24 (four officers, 20 enlisted) • Armament: One stabilized 25 mm machine gun mount and four non-stabilized crew-served .50-caliber machine guns Vessels in this class: • Bernard C. Webber (WPC 1101) Miami Beach, Florida • Richard Etheridge (WPC 1102) Miami Beach, Florida • William Flores (WPC 1103) Miami Beach, Florida • Robert Yered (WPC 1104) Miami Beach, Florida • Margaret Norvell (WPC 1105) Miami Beach, Florida • Paul Clark (WPC 1106), Miami Beach, Florida • Charles David Jr. (WPC 1107) Key West, Florida • Charles Sexton (WPC 1108) Key West, Florida • Kathleen Moore (WPC 1109) Key West, Florida • Raymond Evans (WPC 1110) Key West, Florida • William Trump (WPC 1111) Key West, Florida • Isaac Mayo (WPC 1112) Key West, Florida • Richard Dixon (WPC 113) San Juan, Puerto Rico • Heriberto Hernandez (WPC 1114) San Juan, Puerto Rico • Joseph Napier (WPC 1115) San Juan, Puerto Rico

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS MARK BARNEY

effective for illegal immigrant interdiction operations (AMIO) and a range of other duties. However, the Island class are aging, and are being replaced by the fast response cutter. Eighty-seven-foot Marine Protector-class vessels have an IEBS (integrated electronic bridge system) and a sternlaunched rigid-hull inflatable boat useful for various duties including carrying boarding crews.

• Winslow Griesser (WPC 1116) San Juan, Puerto Rico • Donald Horsley (WPC 1117) San Juan, Puerto Rico • Joseph Tezanos (WPC 1118) San Juan, Puerto Rico • Rollin Fritch (WPC 1119) Cape May, New Jersey • Lawrence Lawson (1120) accepted delivery, Cape May, New Jersey Under Construction: • John McCormick (1121) Ketchikan, Alaska • Bailey Barco (1122) ordered, Ketchikan, Alaska • Benjamin Dailey (1123) ordered • Donald Horsley (1124) ordered • Jacob Poroo (1125) ordered • Joseph Gerczak (1126) ordered

Patrol Boats, 110-foot Island class (WPB) The Coast Guard 110-foot Island-class patrol boats are modified versions of a well-regarded British-designed patrol boat. These ships have excellent range and seakeeping capabilities, but are wearing out rapidly and are to be replaced by the fast response cutter. Seventeen 110-foot WPBs were renovated under the Mission Effectiveness Project (MEP) to ensure the 110-foot WPB fleet remains a reliable entity until the arrival of the FRC. The MEP was completed in 2012. Built in the late 1980s, they are equipped with advanced electronics and navigation equipment. WPBs are being decommissioned as more fast response cutters join the fleet. • Length: 110 feet • Beam: 21 feet • Displacement: 154-165 tons

• Power plant: Two Alco-Paxman Valenta diesel engines, 5,820 bhp; WPB 1338-1349: Caterpillar 3516 diesel engines, 5,460 bhp • Speed: 28 to 30 knots • Range: 3,380 nautical miles at 8 knots • Armament: One Mk. 38 25 mm cannon; two .50-caliber machine guns Vessels in this class: • Maui (WPB 1304) Manama, Bahrain • Ocracoke (WPB 1307) South Portland, Maine • Aquidneck (WPB 1309) Manama, Bahrain • Mustang (WPB 1310) Seward, Alaska • Naushon (WPB 1311) Homer, Alaska • Sanibel (WPB 1312) Woods Hole, Massachusetts • Edisto (WPB 1313) San Diego, California • Nantucket (WPB 1316) Atlantic Beach, North Carolina • Baranof (WPB 1318) Manama, Bahrain • Chandeleur (WPB 1319) Valdez, Alaska • Cushing (WPB 1321) Atlantic Beach, North Carolina • Cuttyhunk (WPB 1322) Port Angeles, Washington • Key Largo (WPB 1324) Gloucester, Massachusetts • Monomoy (WPB 1326) Manama, Bahrain • Orcas (WPB 1327) Coos Bay, Oregon • Sitkinak (WPB 1329) Bayonne, New Jersey • Tybee (WPB 1330) Woods Hole, Massachusetts • Washington (WPB 1331) Apra Harbor, Guam • Wrangell (WPB 1332) Manama, Bahrain • Adak (WPB 1333) Manama, Bahrain • Liberty (WPB 1334) Auke Bay, Alaska • Anacapa (WPB 1335) Petersburg, Alaska • Kiska (WPB 1336) Hilo, Hawaii • Assateague (WPB 1337) Apra Harbor, Guam • Galveston Island (WPB 1349) Honolulu, Hawaii

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO/PA3 ROB SIMPSON

CGC Liberty

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U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO/PA3 ROB SIMPSON

Coastal Patrol Boats (WPB) 87-foot Marine Protector class The Marine Protector is an innovative, multi-mission class of vessel capable of performing search and rescue, law enforcement, fishery patrols, drug interdiction, illegal immigrant interdiction, and homeland security duties up to 200 miles offshore. The 73 cutters in this class carry an 11-person crew and are capable of achieving a maximum continuous speed of 25 knots. The class offers numerous improvements over the former 82-foot Point-class vessels, including improved seakeeping abilities (up to sea state 5), enhanced habitability, and compliance with current and projected environmental protection laws. The Marine Protector class also employs an innovative stern launch and recovery system using aluminum-hulled cutterboats propelled by inboard diesel-powered waterjets. The vastly larger pilothouse is equipped with an integrated bridge system, including an ECDIS (electronic chart display system), which interfaces with surface search radars used by U.S. warships. Four were built specifically to protect Navy ballistic missile submarines while they are in transit in and out of Kings Bay, Georgia, and Bangor, Washington. Production was completed in 2009. • Length: 87 feet • Beam: 19.4 feet • Displacement: 91 tons full load • Speed: 25 knots

• Range: 900 nautical miles • Power plant: Two MTU 8V diesel engines Vessels in this class: • Barracuda (WPB 87301) Eureka, California • Hammerhead (WPB 87302) Woods Hole, Massachusetts • Mako (WPB 87303) Cape May, New Jersey • Marlin (WPB 87304) Fort Myers Beach, Florida • Stingray (WPB 87305) Mobile, Alabama • Dorado (WPB 87306) Crescent City, California • Osprey (WPB 87307) Port Townsend, Washington • Chinook (WPB 87308) New London, Connecticut • Albacore (WPB 87309) Little Creek, Virginia • Tarpon (WPB 87310) Tybee Island, Georgia • Cobia (WPB 87311) Mobile, Alabama • Hawksbill (WPB 87312) Monterey, California • Cormorant (WPB 87313) Fort Pierce, Florida • Finback (WPB 87314) Cape May, New Jersey • Amberjack (WPB 87315) Port Isabel, Texas • Kittiwake (WPB 87316) Honolulu, Hawaii • Blackfin (WPB 87317) Santa Barbara, California • Bluefin (WPB 87318) Fort Pierce, Florida • Yellowfin (WPB 87319) Charleston, South Carolina • Manta (WPB 87320) Freeport, Texas • Coho (WPB 87321) Panama City, Florida • Kingfisher (WPB 87322) Mayport, Florida • Seahawk (WPB 87323) Carrabelle, Florida • Steelhead (WPB 87324) Port Aransas, Texas

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• Beluga (WPB 87325) Little Creek, Virginia • Blacktip (WPB 87326) Oxnard, California • Pelican (WPB 87327) Abbeville, Louisiana • Ridley (WPB 87328) Montauk, New York • Cochito (WPB 87329) Little Creek, Virginia • Manowar (WPB 87330) Galveston, Texas • Moray (WPB 87331) Jonesport, Maine • Razorbill (WPB 87332) Gulfport, Mississippi • Adelie (WPB 87333) Port Angeles, Washington • Gannet (WPB 87334) Dania, Florida • Narwhal (WPB 87335) Corona Del Mar, California • Sturgeon (WPB 87336) Grand Isle, Louisiana • Sockeye (WPB 87337) Bodega Bay, California • Ibis (WPB 87338) Cape May, New Jersey • Pompano (WPB 87339) Gulfport, Mississippi • Halibut (WPB 87340) Marina Del Rey, California • Bonito (WPB 87341) Pensacola, Florida • Shrike (WPB 87342) Port Canaveral, Florida • Tern (WPB 87343) San Francisco, California • Heron (WPB 87344) Sabine, Texas • Wahoo (WPB 87345) Port Angeles, Washington • Flyingfish (WPB 87346) Boston, Massachusetts • Haddock (WPB 87347) San Diego, California • Brant (WPB 87348) Corpus Christi, Texas • Shearwater (WPB 87349) Portsmouth, Virginia • Petrel (WPB 87350) San Diego, California • Sea Lion (WPB 87352) Bellingham, Washington • Skipjack (WPB 87353) Galveston, Texas • Dolphin (WPB 87354) Miami, Florida • Hawk (WPB 87355) St. Petersburg, Florida • Sailfish (WPB 87356) Sandy Hook, New Jersey • Sawfish (WPB 87357) Key West, Florida • Swordfish (WPB 87358) Port Angeles, Washington • Tiger Shark (WPB 87359) Newport, Rhode Island

• Blue Shark (WPB 87360) Everett, Washington • Sea Horse (WPB 87361) Portsmouth, Virginia • Sea Otter (WPB 87362) San Diego, California • Manatee (WPB 87363) Corpus Christi, Texas • Ahi (WPB 87364) Honolulu, Hawaii • Pike (WPB 87365) San Francisco, California • Terrapin (WPB 87366) Bellingham, Washington • Sea Dragon (WPB 87367) Kings Bay, Georgia (Navy owned) • Sea Devil (WPB 87368) Bangor, Washington (Navy owned) • Crocodile (WPB 87369) St. Petersburg, Florida • Diamondback (WPB 87370) Miami Beach, Florida • Reef Shark (WPB 87371) San Juan, Puerto Rico • Alligator (WPB 87372) St. Petersburg, Florida • Sea Dog (WPB 87373) Kings Bay, Georgia (Navy owned) • Sea Fox (WPB 87374) Bangor, Washington (Navy owned)

65-foot Small Harbor Tugs (WYTL) Built between 1962 and 1967, the small, 65-foot harbor tugs are multi-mission cutters that have the distinction of being used only on the East Coast, from Maine to Virginia. With a crew of six, their primary missions are domestic ice breaking, port security, search and rescue, and law enforcement operations on rivers and in littoral areas. They are capable of breaking ice up to 12 inches thick. • Length: 65 feet • Beam: 16 feet • Displacement: 72 tons full load • Power plant: One diesel, one shaft, 500 bhp • Speed: 10 knots • Range: 850 nautical miles at 9.8 knots; 2,700 nautical miles at 5.8 knots

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PA3 ANNIE R. BERLIN

CGC Hawser

47-foot Motor Lifeboat

Vessels in this class: • Capstan (WYTL 65601) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Chock (WYTL 65602) Baltimore, Maryland • Tackle (WYTL 65604) Rockland, Maine • Bridle (WYTL 65607) Southwest Harbor, Maine • Pendant (WYTL 65608) Boston, Massachusetts • Shackle (WYTL 65609) South Portland, Maine • Hawser (WYTL 65610) Bayonne, New Jersey • Line (WYTL 65611) Bayonne, New Jersey • Wire (WYTL 65612) Saugerties, New York • Bollard (WYTL 65614) New Haven, Connecticut • Cleat (WYTL 65615) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY CHIEF PETTY OFFICER DAVID MOSLEY

BOATS Coast Guard vessels under 65 feet in length are classified as boats and usually operate near shore, on inland waterways, or attached to cutters. The service has about 1,689 altogether, although the number fluctuates. These craft include heavy weather response boats, special purpose craft, ATON boats, and cutter-based boats. Sizes range from 64 feet in length down to 12 feet. The new emphasis on homeland security has produced a corresponding emphasis on smaller, fast boats such as the Response Boat-Small and Response Boat-Medium. An added capability for the ATON forces is the procurement of new work boats that replaced those that have exceeded their economic service life and are no longer cost effective to maintain. The new boats brought into service are ATON Boat-Small

(AB-S), a 20-foot aluminum hull with a range of 70 nautical miles, and ATON Boat-Skiff (AB-SKF), a 16-foot aluminum hull with a range of 50 nautical miles. Both boats are outfitted with standard electrical systems and ample working deck space. Coast Guard boats include:

47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB) The 47-foot MLB is primarily designed as a fast-response rescue vessel in high seas, surf, and heavy weather environments. But the unique feature of this boat is that it can self-right in only 30 seconds if knocked over by waves or surf. With stateof-the-art electronically controlled engines, fuel management systems, and integrated electronics suite, the 47-foot MLB has become the ideal platform for operations in extreme sea and weather conditions. The 47-foot MLBs are planned to undergo refit and renovation under the In-Service Vessel Sustainment (ISVS) project. There are currently 107 MLBs in inventory.

45-foot Response Boat-Medium (RB-M) The 45-foot RB-M is being procured to replace the 41-foot Utility Boat (UTB). It is an all-aluminum boat that has a wireless crew communication system and is powered by twin diesel engines and water jet propulsion. Unlike the 41-foot UTB, the RB-M has the ability to self-right if it should ever capsize. This feature allows the RB-M to operate in higher seas, ensuring the crew (and rescued survivors) comes home safely. For example, RB-Ms are an offshore asset and the

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survivability parameters are 12-foot seas and 50 knots of wind, whereas the UTBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limits are 8-foot seas and 30 knots of wind. The RB-M has a top speed in excess of 40 knots and cruises at 30 knots, compared to the 41-foot UTBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top speed of 26 knots. All 174 RB-Ms have been delivered.

Brought into service in 2003 to replace shore-based nonstandard boats, the RB-S features a reinforced bow, full shockmitigating seating, and a large cabin. It can tow up to 10 tons, operate in winds up to 25 knots and seas of up to 6 feet, and has a range of 150 nautical miles. The second-generation boats (RB-S II) are now in production (355 total) and will replace the original RB-S classes. The RB-S IIs are 29 feet long and have a range of 220 nautical miles. Approximately 140 RB-S boats are in service, all of which will be replaced by 2019. The Coast Guard has ordered 264 RB-S IIs. By the end of fiscal year 2016, 218 RB-S IIs had been delivered to 30 states and territories.

32-foot Transportable Port Security Boat (TPSB) Operated by Port Security Units (PSUs), which are composed of Reserve and active-duty personnel, the TPSB provides for defense readiness operations in the United States and when PSUs are deployed overseas. It travels at 43-plus knots, and carries a .50-caliber machine gun and two M60 machine guns. There are 52 in operation.

33-foot Special Purpose Craft

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25-foot Response Boat-Small

16- to 64-foot Aids to Navigation Boats These boats assist in maintaining the nearly 50,000 navigation aids on the marine transportation system. They include the 64-foot Self-Propelled Barge that primarily operates on protected rivers and protected waters; 55-foot aluminum hull that can operate in moderately rough weather in coastal and inland waters; 49-foot Stern Loading Buoy boat that supports the short-range ATON mission; 26-foot Trailerable ATON boat that serves as the workhorse for ATON teams; 20-foot ATON Boat-Small; and 16-foot ATON Boat-Skiff.

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 1ST CLASS BRANDYN HILL / U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS TARA MOLLE

25-foot Response Boat-Small (RB-S)

18- to 64-foot Special Purpose Craft The special purpose craft are designed to meet specific mission requirements or provide a capable and safe asset in a unique operating environment. A few of these boats are: 64-foot Screening Vessel; 52-foot Heavy Weather; 42-foot Near Shore Lifeboat; 36-foot Boarding Team Delivery; 33-foot Law Enforcement; 24-foot Shallow Water; skiffs that can be used to support natural disaster response; and ice boats that are used for conducting ice rescues.

14- to 38-foot Cutter-based Boats The cutterboats provide fast and effective surface capabilities that, in most cases, enable cutters to interdict boats on the high seas and conduct boardings. Included in this asset base are: 38-foot Arctic Survey Boat; 36-foot Long Range Interceptor; 24- to 19-foot Cutter Boat-Large; 24-foot ATONLarge; 24-foot and 26-foot Over-the-Horizon; 18-foot ATONMedium; 17-foot Cutter Boat-Medium; and 13-foot Cutter Boat-Small, just to name a few.

27-foot Utility Boat-Medium With a closed cabin, these aluminum-hulled boats are used for law enforcement, search and rescue, or ATON missions. They are being replaced by standard boats.

17- to 28-foot Utility Boat-Light (UTL) With generally an open cabin, these boats are either fiberglass or aluminum hulled and are assigned to ATON cutters and shore units.

AIRCRAFT The Coast Guard operates approximately 200 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft – airplanes and helicopters – to support its work as a law enforcement arm, a military service branch, and a seafaring service. Nearly all Coast Guard aircraft have some role in homeland security operations, and some are now armed. The Coast Guard operates its aviation fleet on the principle that it cannot afford a fleet of aircraft intended solely for specialized missions, and has concentrated on aircraft that can carry out a wide range of diversified missions.

HC-144A Ocean Sentry, Medium Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) A medium-range maritime patrol version of the EADS CASA CN 235-300M cargo aircraft, the HC-144A is performing missions previously carried out by the HU-25 fleet as well as surveillance, rescue, and transport roles performed by the HC-130Hs. The HC-144A – equipped with a new command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) suite, radar and EO/ IR sensor mission systems pallet – is designed to serve as an on-scene command platform for SAR and homeland security operations and perform transport missions. The Coast Guard has accepted delivery of 17 Mission System Pallets (MSP), a roll-on, roll-off suite of electronic equipment that enables Ocean Sentry aircrews to compile data from the aircraft’s multiple integrated sensors and transmit and receive classified and unclassified information with other aircraft, surface vessels, and shore facilities. With multiple voice

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY DAVE SILVA

HC-144A Ocean Sentry

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C-37A Gulfstream V

and data communications capabilities as well as satellite communications, the MSP contributes to the common tactical and operating pictures. The HC-144A provides extended on-scene loitering capabilities while also being capable of performing maritime patrol, law enforcement, SAR, disaster-response, and cargo and personnel transport missions. The Ocean Sentry also is capable of maintaining secure communications with the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and allied forces. The Coast Guard completed planned work under this project with the delivery of its 18th HC-144A in September 2014. Ocean Sentries are currently operating from Coast Guard Air Stations Mobile, Alabama; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Miami, Florida; and Corpus Christi, Texas. Procurement has ended in light of the acquisition of 14 C-27J Spartans.

HC-144 Air Stations: • CGAS/CG Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama • CGAS Miami, Florida • CGAS Cape Cod, Massachusetts • CGAS Mobile, Alabama • CGAS Corpus Christi, Texas

HC-27J Medium Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft The Coast Guard is integrating 14 ex-U.S. Air Force C-27J Spartan aircraft into its medium-range surveillance aircraft fleet, to work alongside the HC-144A Ocean Sentry. The C-27Js are already outfitted with weather radar and

ALENIA AERMACCHI GRAPHIC / U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO

HC-27J Spartan • Power plant: Two 1,750 shp (1,305 kW) General Electric CT7-9C3 turboprop engines • Maximum cruising speed: 236 knots • Range: up to 2,000 nautical miles (depending on configuration) • Range with payload: (6,000 pounds) 1,000 nautical miles (cargo configured) • Max endurance: 11.0 hours • Maximum takeoff weight: 36,380 pounds • Dimensions: Length, 70 feet, 2 inches; wingspan, 84 feet, 7 inches

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HC-130H Hercules, HC-130J Super Hercules

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• Length: 74 feet, 5 inches • Wingspan: 94 feet, 2 inches • Height: 31 feet, 8 inches • Weight: 70,000 pounds • Speed: 290 knots • Range: Up to 2,674 nautical miles • Endurance: 12 hours • Ceiling: 30,000 feet

C-37A Gulfstream V Command and Control Aircraft The service operates two Gulfstream V aircraft as its principal command and control transport for senior Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security officials. On long flights, the C-37A can carry 12 passengers and a crew of four with a range of 6,500 nautical miles, all with considerable fuel efficiency. The C-37A enjoys commonality of parts and supplies with more than a dozen C-37As operated by the other military branches. • Power plant: Two 14,750-pound thrust BMWRolls-Royce BR710-48 turbofan engines • Max cruising speed: Mach 0.885/459 knots • Certified ceiling: 51,000 feet • Range: 5,500 nautical miles • Gross weight: 90,900 pounds • Dimensions: Wingspan, 93 feet, 6 inches; length, 96 feet, 5 inches; height, 25 feet, 10 inches C-37A Air Station: • CGAS Washington, D.C. (Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport)

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY DAVE SILVA

military communications equipment capable of supporting transport and other Coast Guard missions. All 14 aircraft are planned to be modified with a standard Coast Guard fixedwing Mission Systems Pallet, an integrated surface search radar, electro-optical/infrared sensors, and night vision goggle capability. Nine C-27Js have completed the regeneration process to bring them out of long-term storage. Four are operating out of Air Station Sacramento, California; they reached IOC in July. The other five are stationed at the HC-27J APO in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The service received approval in November to proceed with C-27J mission systems integration. The Coast Guard plans to accept two more aircraft in 2016.

HC-130H Hercules and HC-130J Super Hercules, Long Range Surveillance (LRS) Aircraft The Coast Guard currently operates a long-range turboprop aircraft fleet consisting of 22 HC-130H Hercules and seven HC-130J Super Hercules. However, the HC-130H Hercules aircraft are reaching the end of their useful service lives. The Coast Guard conducted a limited sustainment and enhancement project to modernize systems on its HC-130Hs and is continuing with the acquisition of the more capable and costeffective HC-130J. The remaining HC-130Hs will be systematically retired as the HC-130Js are accepted into service. The HC-130 provides a versatile platform capable of serving as an on-scene command-and-control platform with extended loitering capabilities as well as performing various missions, including maritime patrol, law enforcement, search and rescue, disaster response, and cargo and personnel transport. As a surveillance platform, it provides the critical means to detect, classify, and identify targets. For each of these missions, the information is shared with operational forces capable of interdicting drugs or migrants, protecting living marine resources, and enforcing economic, safety, and security zones. The HC-130 uses a powerful multimode surface-search radar and a nose-mounted electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR)

device combined with an Airborne Tactical Workstation and military satellite communications capability to improve mission effectiveness. In 2001, the Coast Guard received funding for the acquisition of six HC-130Js. Full operational capability with missionization was completed in mid-2010. In recent years, the service has received additional funding for five more aircraft, three of which were ordered through the U.S. Air Force in September 2012. The service received its seventh missionized HC-130J in May 2016. The Air Force contracted for another Coast Guard HC-130J in April 2016. The Coast Guard’s 13th Super Hercules is expected to be delivered in March 2019. • Power plant: (HC-130H) Four 4,910-hp Allison T56-A15 turboprop engines; (HC-130J) four 5,600-hp Rolls-Royce AE2100D turboprop engines driving six-bladed propellers • Performance: (HC-130H) Cruising speed, 280 knots/ max 320 knots; service ceiling, 33,000 feet; range, up to 4,300 nautical miles; (HC-130J) cruising speed, 280 knots/max 362 knots; service ceiling, 39,000 feet; range, up to 5,200 nautical miles • Weight: Maximum gross weight at takeoff,

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS ANN MARIE GORDEN

MH-60T Jayhawk

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155,000 pounds; normal max 175,000 pounds (EWP-Emergency War Planning) • Dimensions: Wingspan, 132.6 feet; length, 99.6 feet; height, 38.6 feet; wing area, 1,734 square feet HC-130 Air Stations: • CGAS Sacramento, California • CGAS Clearwater, Florida • CGAS Elizabeth City, North Carolina • CGAS Kodiak, Alaska • CGAS Barbers Point, Hawaii

MH-60T Jayhawk Medium Range Recovery Helicopter

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An all-weather, medium range recovery helicopter similar to the Navy MH-60R and MH-60S Sea Hawk, with roots

going back to the Army’s basic H-60 Black Hawk transport, the Coast Guard MH-60 is a medium range recovery helicopter that is capable of a variety of missions. The service began to operate the aircraft in 1990 as a replacement to the nowretired HH-3F Pelican. The Coast Guard has 45 MH-60Ts. Jayhawks are crewed by two pilots, a flight mechanic, and a rescue swimmer, and can carry up to six seated survivors. It is capable of limited shipboard operations as well as landbased operations out to 300 nautical miles, with a 45-minute on-scene time. The MH-60T employs full night-vision-device capability. Primary tactical navigation is accomplished through blended GPS and inertial navigation system receivers. In addition to a rescue hoist – rated for 600 pounds – the Jayhawk is equipped with a heavy-lift external sling with a capacity of 6,000 pounds. The MH-60 carries sensors and

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS JENNIFER A. NEASE

MH-65D Dolphin

equipment for SAR missions, law enforcement, and homeland security missions. Upgrades completed in 2008 providing armed response capability precipitated an airframe designation from HH-60J to MH-60J. The MH-60T is an upgrade of the MH-60J with “glass” cockpit, new electro-optical and infrared sensors, new radar, and upgrades to the engines. All MH-60Ts are equipped with Airborne Use of Force (AUF) capabilities. These upgraded MH-60Ts are expected to serve until 2027. The final MH-60T conversion was delivered in February 2014. The service completed the Block 2 software upgrade in August 2016. • Power plant: Two 1,560-shp General Electric T700-GE-401C turboshaft engines • Dimensions: Rotor diameter: 53 feet, 8 inches; length, 64 feet, 8 inches; height, 17 feet; main rotor disc area, 2,261 square feet • Performance: Maximum speed, 180 knots; service ceiling, 13,000 feet DA; range, 700 nautical miles • Weights: Empty, 14,500 pounds; gross weight, 21,884 pounds • MH-60 Armament: .50-caliber precision fire weapon, M240 7.62 mm machine gun MH-60T Units: • CGAS/CG Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama • CGAS Kodiak, Alaska • CGAS Sitka, Alaska • CGAS San Diego, California • CGAS Clearwater, Florida • CGAS Cape Cod, Massachusetts • CGAS Elizabeth City, North Carolina • CGAS Astoria, Oregon

MH-65C/D Dolphin Short Range Recovery Helicopter The H-65 Dolphin is the Coast Guard’s oldest and most numerous current helicopter, dating to the 1980s when it was selected for the short-range rescue mission, and one of the service’s first helicopters without the capability to perform water landings. The H-65 is a short range recovery aircraft. This twinengine, single-rotor helicopter is certified for all weather and night time operations, but it is prohibited from flying under known icing conditions. The strengths of this aircraft include its speed, flexibility, and integrated electronics package. The H-65 is the Coast Guard’s standard shipboard-deployable aircraft and operates from all flight deckequipped cutters. Navigation inputs are processed through a central mission computer unit, which can generate search patterns from pilot-provided input. This minimizes the attention needed to navigate the aircraft and maximizes search effectiveness. Endurance of the H-65 is limited, with a maximum endurance profile at 75 knots of 3.5 hours. The aircraft can sprint at speeds up to 165 knots for short periods and sustain speeds of more than 140 knots. An AUF capability was added to all H-65s, resulting in their redesignation as MH-65C. The MH-65C also obtained

SATCOM capability, an integrated EO/IR system, and a night vision goggles (NVG) heads up display (HUD) to help pilots maintain situational awareness during nighttime operations. The MH-65Cs used by Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) Jacksonville, Florida, for counterdrug operations carry an M240 machine gun and an M107 .50-caliber precision fire weapon for disabling fire. The MH-65D is the result of the latest incremental modernization project, Segment 4 of a six-segment modernization plan, which commenced in August 2010 and was completed in December 2015, will extend the aircraft’s service life through 2027. It addresses immediate critical mission degraders as well as replacing additional obsolete subsystems, including the aircraft’s navigation system and gyros, with digital GPS and inertial navigation. It adds a new digital Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS), integrated flight deck with sensor display screens, and a robust, effective C4ISR suite. The service’s 99th and final MH-65D upgrade was completed in December 2015. Segment 5 will add a secure shipboard handling, securing, and traversing system. Segment 6, which brings the fleet to MH-65E standard, will replace the analog automatic flight control with digital systems, and install digital weather radar and digital glass cockpit instruments, among other modernization upgrades. Data applies to MH-65C/D. • Power plant: HH-65C – two 853-shp Turbomeca Arriel 2C2-CG turboshaft engines • Performance: Maximum speed, 175 knots; cruising speed, 120 knots; operational ceiling, approximately 10,000 feet; range, 375 nautical miles • Weights: Empty weight, 6,200 pounds; max gross weight, 9,480 pounds • Dimensions: Main rotor diameter, 39 feet, 2 inches; main rotor disc area, 1,204 square feet; length, 44 feet, 4 inches; height, 13 feet, 4 inches • MH-65C Armament: .50-caliber precision fire weapon, M240B 7.62 mm machine gun H-65 Air Stations: • CGAS Traverse City, Michigan • CGAS Barbers Point, Hawaii • CGAS Borinquen, Puerto Rico • CGAS Atlantic City, New Jersey • CGAS Corpus Christi, Texas • CGAS Detroit, Michigan • CGAS Houston, Texas • CGAS Humboldt Bay, California • CGAS Los Angeles, California • CGAS Miami, Florida • CGAS/CG Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama • CGAS New Orleans, Louisiana • CGAS North Bend, Oregon • CGAS San Francisco, California • CGAS Port Angeles, Washington • CGAS Savannah, Georgia • CGAS Kodiak, Alaska • HITRON Jacksonville, Florida

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Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

WORKFORCE

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

Total Active Duty 40,992

Total Reserve

7,000

Part-Time Workforce

Total Civilian

8,577

Total Auxiliary Total Workforce 31,000 87,569

All-Volunteer Workforce

U.S. COAST GUARD UNITS HEADQUARTERS ORGANIZATION FORCE READINESS COMMAND ATLANTIC AREA (LANTAREA) • 1st DISTRICT – Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, a portion of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island • 5th DISTRICT – North Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, and part of Pennsylvania • 7th DISTRICT – South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia • 8th DISTRICT – North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama • 9th DISTRICT – Michigan and portions of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota

PACIFIC AREA (PACAREA) • 11th DISTRICT – California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona • 13th DISTRICT – Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho • 14th DISTRICT – Western Pacific: Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa • 17th DISTRICT – Alaska, Northern Pacific, Bering Strait

Admirals

FLAG LEADERSHIP PAUL F. ZUKUNFT

CHARLES D. MICHEL

Commandant

Vice Commandant

MARSHALL B. LYTLE III

Vice Admirals

KARL L. SCHULTZ Commander, Atlantic Area

FRED M. MIDGETTE

SANDRA L. STOSZ

CHARLES W. RAY

Commander, Pacific Area

Deputy Commandant, Mission Support

Deputy Commandant, Operations

Director, C4 / Cyber

VINCENT B. ATKINS

BRUCE D. BAFFER

LINDA L. FAGAN

Rear Admirals (Upper Half)

MICHAEL F. McALLISTER Commander, 17th Coast Guard District

STEVEN D. POULIN Commander, 1st Coast Guard District

SCOTT BUSCHMAN

DAVID R. CALLAHAN

Commander, 7th Coast Guard District

Commander, 14th Coast Guard District

Assistant Commandant, Engineering & Logistics

Deputy, Operations Policy & Capabilities

Commander, 8th Coast Guard District

MARK E. BUTT

THOMAS W. JONES

JOSEPH VOJVODICH

JAMES E. RENDON

DANIEL B. ABEL

Commander, 13th Coast Guard District

Deputy, Mission Support

Assistant Commandant, Acquisition & Chief Acquisition Officer

Superintendent, Coast Guard Academy

Director, Operations, SOUTHCOM

Public Health Service

CHRISTOPHER J. TOMNEY Director, Joint Interagency Task Force South

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JOSEPH A. SERVIDIO Deputy Commander, Atlantic Area

PETER J. BROWN

JUNE E. RYAN

PAUL F. THOMAS

Assistant Commandant, Response Policy

Commander, 9th Coast Guard District

Assistant Commandant, Prevention Policy

ERICA G. SCHWARTZ, M.D. Director, Health, Safety & Work-Life

Rear Admirals (Lower Half)

MEREDITH L. AUSTIN

WILLIAM G. KELLY

ANTHONY VOGT

SCOTT McKINLEY

ROBERT HAYES

Commander, 5th Coast Guard District

Assistant Commandant, Human Resources

Director, Governmental & Public Affairs

Human Capital Strategy Implementative Lead

Assistant Commandant, Intelligence

PETER W. GAUTIER

MICHAEL J. HAYCOCK

Senior Director, Response Policy, National Security Council

Director, Acquisition Programs & Program Executive Officer

JAMES M. HEINZ

MATTHEW T. BELL JR.

DAVID M. DERMANELIAN

JOHN P. NADEAU Assistant Commandant, Capability

STEVEN J. ANDERSEN Judge Advocate General & Chief Counsel

Director, Operational Logistics

Commander, Personnel Service Center

JOANNA NUNAN

KEITH M. SMITH

ANDREW J. TIONGSON

Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security

Director, Joint Interagency Task Force West

TODD A. SOKALZUK Commander, 11th Coast Guard District

Senior Reserve Rear Admirals

Assistant Commandant, Resources & Chief Financial Officer

USCYBERCOM Director, Exercises & Training

DAVID G. THROOP Commander, Force Readiness Command

PAT DeQUATTRO Deputy Commander, Pacific Area

MELISSA BERT Deputy Director, Operations, NORTHCOM

KEVIN E. LUNDAY Assistant Commandant, C4IT & Commander, CG CYBERCOM

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard

Chaplain

STEVEN W. CANTRELL

CAPT. GREGORY N. TODD

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Reserve Forces

Chaplain of the Coast Guard

Commodore of the Coast Guard Auxiliary

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE

KURT B. HINRICHS (UPPER HALF) Director, Reserve & Military Personnel Policy

FRANCIS S. PELKOWSKI (UPPER HALF) Senior Reserve Officer, Deputy Commandant, Operations

ERIC L. JOHNSON

RICK WASHBURN

Master Chief, Coast Guard Reserve Force Master Chief

National Commodore, Coast Guard Auxiliary

149

U.S. Coast Guard Response Boat - Small

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Senior Executive Service

BRIAN P. BURNS

PRISCILLA NELSON

CRAIG A. BENNETT

MICHAEL BERKOW

Deputy, Chief Information Officer

Strategic Advisor, Intelligence Community Investigation

Deputy Assistant Commandant, Resources

Director, Coast Guard Investigative Services

ELLEN ENGLEMAN CONNORS

ALBERT CURRY

MICHAEL W. DERRIOS

TERRI A. DICKERSON

WILLIAM R. GRAWE

JEFFREY G. LANTZ

Director, National Pollution Funds Center

Director, Commercial Regulations & Standards

MICHAEL D. EMERSON

MARK A. ROSE

DANA S. TULIS

Director, Incident Management & Preparedness Policy

WALTER J. BRUDZINSKI Chief Administrative Law Judge

Director, Marine Transportation Systems Management

Deputy Director, Governmental & Public AffairsÂ

Director, Financial Operations/Comptroller

Deputy Assistant Commandant, Engineering & Logistics

DR. GLADYS BRIGNONI Deputy Commander, Force Readiness Command

JAMES L. KNIGHT

Senior Procurement Executive & Head of Contracting Activity

Director, Civil Rights Staff

CALVIN LEDERER

THOMAS P. MICHELLI

ERIC J. NESTOR

CURTIS B. ODOM

Deputy Judge Advocate General & Deputy Chief Counsel

Deputy Assistant Commandant, C4IT & Chief Information Officer

Assistant Judge Advocate General, Acquisition & Litigation

Director, Civilian Human Resources, Diversity & Leadership

KELLI SEYBOLT

ALEX S. BROWN

Director, International Affairs & Foreign Policy Advisor

Deputy Assistant Commandant, Acquisition & Director, Acquisition Services

Strategic Advisor to the Assistant Commandant, Intelligence & Criminal Investigations

Current as of Dec. 2, 2016

151

Coast Guard OUTLOOK 2016-2017 Edition

U.S. COAST GUARD PHOTO BY PETTY OFFICER 3RD CLASS DAVID WEYDERT

The CGC Waesche is shown at the pier at Base Alameda in Alameda, California, June 6, 2016, at sunset. The Waesche is a 418-foot Legend-class national security cutter.

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