The Multimission U.S. Coast Guard Ready, Aware, and Responsive – with Renewed Focus on Mission Execution

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GORDON I. PETERSON AND SCOTT C. TRUVER1 THE MULTIMISSION U.S. COAST GUARD READY, AWARE, AND RESPONSIVE – WITH RENEWED FOCUS ON MISSION EXECUTION

The U. S. Coast Guard is a unique gov- ‘SENTINELS OF THE SEA’ responsibilities over the past two centuries – ernment agency – one whose 216-year becoming what Adm. Thad W. Allen, the history continues to exert a dominant The Coast Guard originated when the U.S. service’s current Commandant, has described as Congress created the Revenue Cutter Service in a ‘clearing house’ for multiple maritime mis- influence on its character, values, and 1790 as a component of the U.S. Treasury sions. The modern Coast Guard came into being mission performance. Owing to its mil- Department. It was Secretary of the Treasury in 1915 when the U.S. Life-Saving Service was itary structure, law-enforcement author- Alexander Hamilton who first referred to the combined with the Revenue Cutter Service. The ity, and humanitarian functions, the youthful service as ‘sentinels of the sea’ for its 1930s saw the Lighthouse Service become part crew of a distinctively painted orange- law-enforcement responsibilities enforcing U.S. of the Coast Guard, and in 1942 the Bureau of striped, white-hulled Coast Guard cutter tariff laws, protecting shipping from pirates, and Marine Inspection was realigned under the Coast will not find it unusual to perform a intercepting smuggled good – including human Guard (which was placed under Department of wide variety of maritime and naval mis- contraband. the Navy control during WW II, as it had been The Coast Guard has, perhaps, the most during WW I). sions during a single cruise. unusual history of any U.S. maritime service Each of the Coast Guard’s five principal stra- owing to the way it has assimilated disparate tegic roles and 11 mission areas today may be

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Fig. 1: Each of the U.S. Coast Guard’s five Coast Guard’s historian notes that cutters on laying the foundation for a more capable Coast principal strategic roles and 11 mission areas escort duty during the Normandy invasion res- Guard. Few anticipated just how critical this today may be traced to its evolutionary cued more than 1,500 in the waters off France development would prove to be until the terror- development since 1790. The service’s alone. ist attacks of 9/11. responsibility for maritime homeland security has assumed high priority since 9/11. Coast Guardsmen, active and reserve, also Subsequently, in March 2003, the Coast Here, in New York harbour, a 25-foot “Defender” served with distinction during military opera- Guard was realigned intact into the new Depart- class security boat from Coast Guard Maritime tions in the Cold War – from Korea to Vietnam, ment of Homeland Security (DHS) as its larg- Safety and Security Team 91106 keeps watch off the coast, in ports, and on inland waterways est agency. In the view of Adm. Allen, signifi- over passenger vessels and high profile landmarks – and in Operations DESERT SHIELD and cant advantages have been realised by this reor- during the 2004 Republican National Convention. (Photo: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard / DESERT STORM in 1990 and 1991. ganisation. “This is the right department for us PA3 Kelly Newlin) The Coast Guard has experienced two major to be in”, he told NAVAL FORCES, citing far post-war realignments under executive branch more effective cooperation with all DHS agen- departments. In 1967 it was transferred from the cies and a host of initiatives contributing to traced to this evolutionary development. Dur- Treasury Department to the newly created improved homeland security. ing time of war, operational control of the Coast Department of Transportation (DOT). As the Guard may be transferred to the Department of 20th century drew to a close, it was not uncom- ROLES AND MISSIONS the Navy as the President may direct, but the last mon to hear critics of this arrangement call for Not surprisingly, the Coast Guard’s maritime time this occurred was during WW II – a trans- the Coast Guard to be transferred to the Depart- security role expanded considerably since 9/11 fer that lasted from November 1941 until Janu- ment of Defense. Increasingly, the Coast Guard as part of a concerted U.S. effort to implement ary 1946. had become a ‘bill payer’ for other agencies a security strategy aimed at creating a layered The Coast Guard served shoulder-to-shoul- within DOT owing to the significant level defence extending well to seaward from U.S. der with the Navy with distinction during WW (approaching 70 percent) of ‘fenced funding’ shores. In 2005, President Bush approved a new I and II. During the latter conflict, its patrol boats (i.e. protected budget line items) in DOT’s bud- National Strategy for Maritime Security, an sank 11 enemy submarines and, on shore, Coast get for U.S. air, rail, and federal highway overarching plan developed jointly between the Guard port security and beach patrols on foot systems. All too frequently, it seemed, DOT Department of Defense and the Department of and horseback protected U.S. harbours and budget cuts were absorbed by the Coast Guard’s Homeland Security. Its supporting plans seek to coastlines. Coast Guardsmen were assigned to accounts for operations, maintenance, and acqui- reduce U.S. vulnerability to terrorism and secure 802 cutters, 351 naval ships, and 288 Army ves- sition. U.S. maritime borders. The Coast Guard and the sels. The service’s crews manned amphibious As a result, during the 1970s and 1980s the U.S. Navy are now actively collaborating to ships in the Pacific and Europe during every Coast Guard became renowned as an agency that develop new maritime and naval strategies to major U.S. amphibious invasion of WW II. The did more with less – rallied by its motto Semper guide their operations during the post-9/11 era. Paratus, always ready – even as its ranks of officers and enlisted personnel fell in numbers The United States Coast Guard is a mili- Fig. 2: The Coast Guard served as part of below the size of the City of New York’s Police tary, multimission, maritime service with- the Navy during World Wars I and II. In addition Department. Cutters launched during WW II still in the Department of Homeland Security to important convoy escort duties and other combat operations, Coast Guard crews took to sea – well past their fifth decade of com- and one of the five branches of the U.S. manned amphibious ships in the Pacific and missioned service by the late 1990s. Other armed forces. Its core roles are to protect Europe during every major U.S. amphibious ageing legacy cutters, designed for the threat the public, the environment, and U.S. eco- invasion of WW II. Here, U.S. Marines express environment of the 1960s and 1970s, became nomic and security interests in any mari- their appreciation to the Coast Guard for its increasingly obsolete, technologically deficient, time region in which those interests may be support during the liberation of Guam in 1944. (Photo: Courtesy U.S. Marine Corps) unreliable, and unsafe. a risk, including international waters and Forward-thinking officers, including future America’s coasts, ports, and inland water- Commandants like Adm. James M. Loy, recog- ways. U.S. Coast Guard nised the service was rapidly heading for shoal water if its inventory of cutters, boats, and air- Collaborating with the U.S. Navy and other craft was not replaced. As a result, formative U.S. agencies and international partners in its steps were taken to plan the service’s s progres- maritime security mission and law-enforcement sive modernisation and recapitalisation through role, drug smugglers are interdicted, apprehend- the Integrated DEEPWATER System acquisi- ed, arrested, and returned to shore for prosecu- tion. Revalidation of the service’s vital contri- tion. Last year, the Coast Guard prevented more butions to the nation’s maritime security, nation- than 338,000 pounds of cocaine from entering al economy, and defence came in 1999 when an the United States by sea – an all-time maritime interagency task force concluded that all Coast Guard roles and missions supported national pol- 1 icies and would endure into the 21st Century. Capt. Gordon I Peterson, USN (Ret.) is North America editor of NAVAL FORCES and a Sen- The task force judged the DEEPWATER Pro- ior Technical Director with General Dynamics gramme to be a near-term national priority, stat- Information Technology. Dr. Scott C. Truver is ing, “Planning for and modernising these capa- Group Vice President for national security programmes, General Dynamics Information bilities must begin now.” This led to the Technology, and directs its Center for Security programme’s eventual contract award in 2002, Strategies and Operations.

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record. Additionally, the Coast Guard intercept- investigations back into prevention programs, The Coast Guard’s protection of the marine ed 9,500 undocumented migrants attempting to frequently in the form of revised regulations and environment takes many forms – including enter the United States illegally by sea – a 100 safety standards. emergency response teams called away in the percent increase over 2001 and the second high- Working with other nations and agencies, event of a major spill of oil or other hazardous est number in any non-mass migration exodus including the International Maritime Organisa- substances and the enforcement of laws aimed over the past 20 years. tion (IMO), the Coast Guard also promotes high- at eliminating environmental damage and other Maritime safety is one of the Coast Guard’s er safety standards for commercial vessels and degradation of natural resources. Cutters regu- most visible responsibilities for a nation that their crews and advocates the implementation larly conduct fishery patrol to enforce U.S. and depends upon sea-borne commerce valued annu- of international safety and pollution standards. international law aimed at protecting steadily ally at US$2Tn to power its economy and continues to see its pleasure-boat community FUNDAMENTAL ROLES OF THE U.S. COAST GUARD increase year by year. Coast Guard fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, cutters, and small boats are Strategic Role and Accompanying Goals U.S. Coast Guard Mission-Programmes dispatched daily along the more than 95,000 Maritime Safety – Eliminate deaths, injuries, Search and Rescue miles of U.S. coastlines to rescue mariners in and property damage associated with maritime Marine Safety distress. On a typical day in 2005, for example, transportation, fishing, and recreational boating. the service’s cutter, boat, and air crews saved 15 Maritime Mobility – Facilitate maritime Aids to Navigation lives, assisted 117 people in distress, and con- commerce and eliminate interruptions and Ice Operations ducted 90 search-and-rescue cases. Property val- impediments to the economical movement of ued at nearly US$3M also was protected during goods and people, while maximising recreational a typical Coast Guard day last year. access to and enjoyment of the water. Coast Guard men and women regularly pro- Protection of Natural Resources – Eliminate Marine Environmental Protection mote safety in both regulatory and inspection environmental damage and natural resource Living Marine Resources roles by inspecting merchant vessels in U.S. degradation associated with all maritime activities, including transportation, commercial fishing, and waters and licensing their masters and crews. recreational boating. The Coast Guard Auxiliary – a valued compo- Maritime Security – Reduce America’s Illegal Drug Interdiction nent composed of more than 30,000 civilian vol- vulnerability to terrorism by preventing Undocumented Migrant unteers – provides free boating safety courses, waterborne terrorist attacks; courtesy marine examinations for recreational Interdiction – securing maritime borders by Law Enforcement (LE) boaters, verification for aids to navigation, and halting the flow of illegal aliens and contraband; Ports, Waterways, & Coastal Security inspections of commercial facilities. The Coast preventing illegal incursions of our Exclusive Guard investigates maritime accidents to pre- Economic Zone; and suppressing maritime vent future mishaps, feeding the result of its violations of federal law. National Defence – Defend the nation as one Defence Readiness of the five U.S. Armed Services; Enhance regional Fig. 3: These are the assets of the Coast stability in support of the National Security Guard as of March 2006 – many of the Strategy, utilising our unique and relevant ‘legacy hardware’ is to be replaced under maritime capabilities. the Integrated DEEPWATER Programme. U.S. Coast Guard, 2007 Budget in Brief (Graphic: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard HQ)

dwindling and increasingly threatened stocks. Related efforts include patrolling national marine sanctuaries and other protected areas, providing support to other agencies involved in disentanglement operations, and providing logistical support to reintroduce rehabilitated animals to the wild. Black-hulled Coast Guard buoy tenders; three red-hulled, ocean-going icebreakers, and a dual- purpose icebreaker assigned to the Great Lakes serve the important maritime mobility role to maintain aids to navigation and conduct both Arctic/Antarctic and inland icebreaking operations. Last year, the Coast Guard ensured more than 1 million safe passages of commercial vessels through congested waters, maintained more than 50,000 federal aids to navigation along more than 25,000 miles of marine transportation routes, kept Great Lakes ports clear of ice without interruption, and conducted International Ice

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Patrol sorties to enable the safe movement of He does so through two area commanders for sibility for maritime homeland security and is a more than 1 million tons of cargo across the the Atlantic and Pacific regions. Nine Coast critical player across a broad spectrum of activ- North Atlantic Ocean during the winter ice sea- Guard geographic districts and additional sub- ities – from inland waterways and the high-water son. The U.S. Coast Guard’s statutory respon- ordinate commands are aligned under these area mark along U.S. coastlines to collaborative sup- sibilities for national defence established it as commanders for local operations. In 2004, an port to other countries’ Navies and Coast the fifth branch of the U.S. armed forces. Its important realignment saw the creation of sec- Guards. Numerous initiatives, perhaps best per- national-defence missions have been shaped by tor commands to create unity of command in sonified by the Integrated DEEPWATER its participation in nearly every war since the U.S. ports. Coast Guard group commands, System programme, are shaping the service for U.S. Constitution was enacted in 1789. Cutters marine safety offices, vessel traffic systems and, its next century of service. Building on the support the requirements of U.S. joint combat- in some cases, air stations were drawn together efforts and achievements of his predecessor, ant commanders around the world. to consolidate the full range of Coast Guard mis- Adm. Thomas H. Collins, Adm. Allen has set Beginning in 2003, more than 1,250 Coast sions into a single command in major U.S. port his pelorus on the next four years and, most Guard personnel were deployed to the U.S. Cen- areas. importantly, mission execution. tral Command and U.S. European Command The wisdom of the sector reorganisation and In his first ‘All-Coast Guard’ message, Allen theatres of operation to conduct port security, the multifaceted mission competencies of the pledged his “passion, devotion, and energy” to maritime interception, environmental response, Coast Guard were forcefully displayed when ensure the service has the best possible tools, and coastal sea control operations during Oper- Hurricane KATRINA devastated approximate- support, and leadership to carry out its missions. ation IRAQI FREEDOM. Deployed Coast ly 90,000 square miles of Mississippi, Louisia- His situational assessment outlined a strategic Guard forces included two high endurance cut- na, and Texas in 2005. At the height of KATRI- environment that has changed dramatically in ters, eight patrol boats, two tactical law enforce- NA rescue operations, the Coast Guard surged the past five years and will continue to change. ment detachments, six port security units, a strike 62 aircraft (a third of its assets), 30 cutters, and “This requires continuous adaptation from the team detachment, support and logistics person- 111 small boats. In concert with other DHS Coast Guard”, he said. “We live in a world of nel from 20 separate Coast Guard commands, agencies and branches of the armed forces, local, dynamic threats and hazards and must adapt and members assigned to Navy Harbour and state agencies, the Coast Guard rescued accordingly.” He plans to do so purposefully, Defence Command Units. more than 33,500. with strategic intent and focus a first priority of Coast Guard cutters provide escort and force The multi-mission Coast Guard also respond- mission execution. protection to Navy aircraft carrier and amphibi- ed to the storm’s massive environmental impact The Global War on Terrorism, Maritime ous battle groups. Port security units and patrol – including the removal of 785 wrecked vessels Transportation Security Act, Homeland Secur- boats protected commercial shipping, naval and coordination of alternate routing for the ity Act, National Strategy for Homeland Secur- combatants, and Military Sealift Command nation’s inland barge fleet to maintain com- ity, and the National Strategy for Maritime Secur- ships in strategic ports. Law enforcement teams merce. Marine response and strike teams ity are among the ‘strategic drivers’ for the Coast provided security for Iraqi oil terminals vital to responded to or monitored the contracted Guard and have mandated new areas of mission Iraq’s economic recovery. These missions con- response and cleanup of more than 950 mari- emphasis. Calling out the Coast Guard’s tinue today, albeit at a reduced level. time pollution spills; six were classified as major “extraordinarily successful operations” in Another important dimension of the Coast (greater than 10,000 gallons for inland spills). response to terrorism and to hurricanes KATRI- Guard’s national-defence mission set entails Coast Guard crews conducted survey and sal- NA and RITA, Allen believes that the Coast overseas international engagement in support of vage operations to restore aids to navigation and Guard’s “unique blend of capabilities, compe- U.S. combatant commanders. “We continue to reopen to maritime commerce the vital Missis- tencies, and authorities” in multiple missions is be a very relevant maritime model for many sippi River, adjoining coastal waterways, and recognised and valued as never before. As a countries around the world”, said Adm. Allen. regional ports. The task was enormous. Coast result, expectations for the Coast Guard’s per- Guard crews calculated that 58 percent of near- formance and contributions in routine and crisis ‘A BIAS FOR ACTION’ ly 1,800 aids to navigation were destroyed or operations are greater than ever. “Meeting new With a personnel end strength of approximate- damaged. Damage to off-shore oil platforms and demands while sustaining the trust and confi- ly 40,000 active-duty military personnel; 8,000 other structures also was widespread. “It was”, dence of the public we serve requires us to con- military reservists; 7,100 civilian government said Capt. Frank Paskewich, Sector New tinually challenge ourselves and improve the way employees; and 30,500 civilian auxiliarists, the Orleans commander, “a mission of biblical pro- we do business”, he told NAVAL FORCES. Coast Guard has slowly rebuilt its manning in portions.” Allen’s strategic vision is intently focused on response to its higher operating tempo and threat The Coast Guard’s response to KATRINA improving and sustaining mission execution. He levels in the ‘new normalcy’ of the post-9/11 was, in the eyes of some, the service’s finest is structuring the service as a three-pronged force world. hour. “We have a bias for action”, said then-Vice around shore-based operations, maritime oper- With 251 cutters, 68 airplanes, 144 helicop- Adm. Allen, who was assigned as the principal ations, and deployable operations. “We’ve tak- ters, and 1,400 small boats the U.S. Coast Guard federal official for recovery operations while en bold steps forward by creating sectors for is one of the world’s largest maritime forces in serving as the Coast Guard’s Chief of Staff. shore-based operations”, he said. “We’ve taken its own right, but it also is one of the world’s old- equally bold steps by advancing the DEEPWA- est in terms of the average age of its legacy fleet ‘A WORLD OF TER acquisition for maritime presence, patrol, – ranking 37th out of 39 comparable naval forc- DYNAMIC THREATS’ and response. And we’ve created truly deploy- es. Unlike the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) In retrospect, the tragedies of September 2001 able forces”, he added. “We must now expand or service chiefs of staff for the other branches were the catalyst for a fundamental and far- our deployable force capabilities and support of the U.S. armed forces, the Commandant exer- reaching transformation of the U.S. Coast them with proper doctrine, logistics, training, cises operational control of Coast Guard units. Guard. The service has assumed lead respon- and exercises.”

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With his focus clearly on mission execution across the spectrum of law-enforcement, humanitarian, and national security/defence roles, missions, and tasks, Allen called for a broad assessment and realignment of the Coast Guard’s command-and-control structure and mission-support system – organisational structures, human resources, maintenance, logistics, financial man- agement, and information systems. “Every active duty, reserve, civilian, and auxiliary mem- ber of the service is critical to mission success”, said Allen, and he has pledged they will have the tools and support they need to do their jobs. Finally, Allen has emphasised the importance of partnership across all Coast Guard forces and with other services and agencies as being criti- Fig. 4: A newly re-engined U.S. Coast Guard Allen’s plan is to take all such surge or deploy- cal to achieving his vision. “We will remain HH-65C DOLPHIN helicopter assigned to able units and align them into one force struc- aligned with our department, sister services, and Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., ture to create a more agile, flexible force that partner agencies”, he asserted in his first mes- rescued an injured hiker from a near-vertical could integrate well with other DHS units and mountain slope at an elevation of 6,300 feet sage to the fleet. in Washington State in July. The DEEPWATER deploy in advance of an event if you knew it was Programme's conversion of older DOLPHINs coming, or after an event to mitigate any threats STRUCTURING A to the more powerful HH-65C multi-mission or hazards. This third branch of the Coast ‘THREE-PRONGED FORCE’ helicopter made the difference in enabling the Guard’s trident has a working title of Deploy- Shore-based operations, maritime operations, operation. Maritime safety, search, and rescue able Operations Group. are some of the Coast Guard's best publicised and deployable operations comprise the foun- responsibilities. On a typical day in 2005, By reallocating resources in fiscal year 2006, dation of the Coast Guard’s transformation into Coast Guard fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, the Coast Guard established a prototype a ‘three-pronged force’ with mission execution cutters, and small boats saved 15 lives, Enhanced Maritime Safety and Security Team at its core. This strategic trident provides layered assisted 117 people in distress, and conducted (E-MSST) to provide a unique counter-terror- security for the nation and correlates well with 90 search-and-rescue cases. ism and law-enforcement response capability the Coast Guard’s expanding roles, missions, (Photo: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard) for scheduled events; it could serve as the mod- and tasks in achieving maritime security for the el for the Deployable Operations Group. As part United States as well as allies, coalition partners, of this, the Coast Guard created two Direct and friends world wide. EXPANDING DEPLOYABLE Action Sections (DAS) – one section devoted to In this, Allen is trying to do several things. “I FORCE CAPABILITIES immediate response and the other as a follow- tried to come up with a way to describe the Coast For several reasons, largely related to the evo- on relief for the response team. Guard’s force structure that was cohesive and lutionary growth of its multi-mission competen- The Maritime Security Response Team allowed us to look at different packages and cies, the Coast Guard has developed deployable (MSRT) initiative expands the prototype and capabilities, but also that aligned with our mar- teams and units that are now ‘stove-piped’ into leverages all U.S. government maritime capa- itime security strategy that has been evolving to different mission areas. A good example is the bilities to address potential maritime threats create a layered defence. You start with DEEP- Coast Guard’s Port Security Unit programme, requiring rapidly deployable counter-terrorism WATER forces that are able to project boarding which supports overseas port and waterways capabilities. The plan calls for the Coast Guard, capability a thousand miles at sea to meet the security requirements, but certainly also has the working jointly with the Departments of Defense threat as far from shore as possible. That is con- means for domestic support in the United States. and Justice, to transition the prototype E-MSST sistent with our conversations with DOD [De- In the immediate post-9/11 environment, when to an MSRT with 7/24 capacities. It also will partment of Defense] on maritime operational Allen was the Atlantic Area commander, he take good advantage of the existing partnership threat response as part of the National Strategy deployed them immediately to Boston and New with the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, for Maritime Security. Then you have the abil- York. Later, he dispatched them to Guantana- N.C, to improve the Coast Guard’s Special Mis- ity to conduct a higher level of presence, cover- mo Bay, Cuba, for waterside security for Tali- sions Training Center facility to accommodate age, and deterrence within our ports with the ban detainees during Operation ENDURING maritime counter-terrorism training. expanded resources we have given to our shore- FREEDOM in Afghanistan. Current thinking is that the Deployable Oper- based commands and sectors with a unified com- Subsequent to 9/11 the service also created ations Group will be responsible for training and mand for every port”, he said. “Then the third Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSST) equipping personnel and defining common doc- option is to surge for an incident or respond to a to respond to a specific threat or mission, much trine, tactics, techniques, and procedures, and higher threat level”, a concept very similar to the like the Coast Guard’s three oil and hazardous unified logistics and training support. The units Navy’s Fleet Response Plan for surge-deploy- material (HAZMAT) strike teams for the Gulf will be deployed aboard Coast Guard C-130 car- ments to meet emergent needs. In this area, the Coast, Pacific, and Atlantic. The HAZMAT go aircraft wherever they are needed and their concept of a three-pronged force will also prove strike teams were strengthened significantly operations will be integrated with other home- to be of great value to the much more closely after the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 came into land security missions. aligned Navy-Coast Guard relationships articu- effect, in response to the “Exxon Valdez” dis- “I’m talking about urban search-and-rescue lated in the National Fleet Policy. aster. teams, deployable medical-assistance teams, the

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national-distress medical system, deployable erably since 2001, Adm. Allen noted he would the inventory of long-range search aircraft, ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], scrutinise future changes closely. “At some point including missionisation of six improved HC- and law-enforcement units, Customs and Bor- you’re going to start feeding so many changes 130J aircraft. Small and medium-range helicop- der Protection units including aircraft”, Allen into the design you’re going to defeat the time- ters also are being modernized and converted to told NAVAL FORCES. “If you could force- line and the cost associated with this”, he said. serve as more capable multi-mission platforms. package these disparate deployable elements “If I were to give you two words that would In assessing and acquiring its DEEPWATER inside the Department of Homeland Security, categorise the next four years in relation to platforms and systems, the Coast Guard devel- you could go a long way toward meeting require- DEEPWATER”, Allen said recently, “they oped a system-of-systems architecture and put ments for an incident or a natural disaster – either would be ‘ruthless execution’.” in place a performance-based contract to meet before or after it occurred.” When first envisaged, DEEPWATER was to near- and far-term requirements. “When I talk This immediate surge capability within DHS be a US$500M-dollar-a-year programme (in fis- to members of Congress about this during testi- would have the added advantage of enabling cal year 1998 baseline dollars). “We have sta- mony”, Allen explained, “I focus on my near- DHS to raise the bar before it was necessary to bilised our funding stream at a little less than term gaps and requirements, and where do I have turn to DOD or other agencies for assistance. “I US$1Bn a year, we have a 25-year plan adjust- mature designs where you could do accelerated think this is a win-win for everybody”, Allen ed for post-9/11 requirements, and we have a production. It’s tough to accelerate something said. foundation to measure its execution”, Rear Adm. that has not been designed”, Allen noted. “You Gary T. Blore, DEEPWATER’s new Pro- need to pick your platform based on where it is THE CENTREPIECE gramme Executive Officer (PEO) noted recent- in the life cycle of its design and construction. OF A 21ST CENTURY ly. “This is a huge step. Much more has been This is the best approach to close the gaps in COAST GUARD achieved, of course, with some 16 major acqui- capability as soon as you can.” Begun in 1997, launched with contract award sitions now moving forward in our surface, avi- What Allen has in mind is to pick out the most in 2002, and revised in 2005 to accommodate ation, logistics, and C4ISR [command, control, suitable platforms and close the operational gaps the homeland security imperatives of post-9/11 communications, computers, intelligence, sur- as soon as he can. The FRC [Fast Response operational requirements, the Coast Guard’s veillance, and reconnaissance] programme are- Cutter] is a good example. Facing a shortage of Integrated DEEPWATER System (IDS) pro- as.” craft able to deliver sufficient patrol boat hours gramme is the foundation for the Coast Guard’s “During the past year”, Allen told the House – at a time when the critical design review of the mission execution for the next 50 years and Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime FRC has been deferred for technical reasons – beyond. The innovative acquisition programme Transportation June 14, “we achieved many the Coast Guard is evaluating an off-the-shelf provides for the sustainment, modernisation, and milestones in DEEPWATER programme are- acquisition of an existing in-service patrol boat recapitalisation of surface, air, command and as.” Allen singled out the construction of major as a stop-gap measure. By mid-June, the Coast control, and logistics assets for the Coast surface and aviation platforms, including the first Guard had received more than 20 design sub- Guard’s multiple maritime missions. in class of DEEPWATER’s new National Secur- missions from U.S. and international ship “If you look at our force structure as a trident”, ity Cutters, the “Bertholf”, scheduled for launch designers and builders. When the FRC is ready Allen said, “DEEPWATER constitutes one of this autumn and delivery next year. Additional for production, the Coast Guard will back off on three major spears. We can’t have an adequate cutters in the class are being built or are on order. its interim off-the-shelf design. layered defence to project offshore and do the The first CASA HC-235A medium-range mar- missions the country expects of us unless we itime patrol aircraft was rolled out at its factory THE NAVY-COAST GUARD recapitalize these assets and deploy them.” in March and made its first flight in June. The NATIONAL FLEET While the requirements have broadened consid- DEEPWATER programme also is upgrading ‘Filling gaps’ has driven some far-reaching collaboration between the Coast Guard and the Navy. In March, Adm. Collins and Adm. Mul- len signed a revised version of the National Fleet Policy, first put in place between the Navy and Coast Guard in September 1998. Renewed and

Fig. 5: Commandant Adm. Thad W. Allen will improve and expand the Coast Guard's deployable force capabilities as part of a strategic vision focused on mission execution. Here, in waters off the port of Ash Shuaiba, Kuwait, in 2004, Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Melissa Steinman (right) manoeuvres a 25-foot Transportable Security Boat during a high speed security patrol while Machinery Technician 2nd Class Mike Ransdell keeps a look out for possible threats. Steinman and Ransdell, members of Coast Guard Port Security Unit 307 from St. Petersburg, Fla., deployed to the region to bolster port security during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. (Photo: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard / PA1 Matthew Belson

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expanded twice since then, the National Fleet ed a demand for expanded and strengthened will carry out riverine and ‘brown-water’ oper- Policy has become a focus of enthusiastic, out- linkages and even greater and more comprehen- ations, the essence of Coast Guard expertise of-the-box thinking by Navy and Coast Guard sive collaboration and cooperation, as the 2006 honed in Vietnam during the 1960s and refined leaders and planners. It is now shaping the strat- statement makes clear: in coastal counter-drug missions. Allen would egies, plans, and operations of both services to “The National Fleet has three main attributes. like to see his reorganisation of Coast Guard meet the post-9/11 challenges ahead. First, the Fleet is composed of ships, boats, air- deployable and response units reflected in an As Adm. Collins, who signed the 2002 and craft and shore Command and Control nodes extension of the National Fleet concept for expe- 2006 updates, noted, “Our relationships with the that are affordable, adaptable, interoperable, and ditionary missions. “I have already had a discus- Department of Defense, NORTHCOM [U.S. with complementary capabilities. Second, these sion on this with Admiral Mullen”, Allen said. Northern Command], and particularly the U.S. forces will be designed, wherever possible, The primary challenge confronting both ser- Navy, are priority partnerships.” Collins and around common equipment and systems, and vices in mid-2006 is to ‘operationalise’ the Mullen both committed to synergising intelli- include coordinated operational planning, train- National Fleet, to deal with the myriad details – gence efforts, collaborative planning, acquisi- ing and logistics. Third, the National Fleet will from common 57mm guns to fully interoperable tion, maintenance, and deployment of their be capable of supporting the broad spectrum of communications systems and much more – that service’s respective fleets to achieve comple- national security requirements, from power pro- will make the reality of the National Fleet far mentary, non-redundant capability and capac- jection to security and defence of the homeland.” exceed the rhetoric of the past several years. ity. “We’ll try to take the policy as far as we can In a January 2006 speech, Adm. Mullen stat- take it”, Adm. Allen told NAVAL FORCES. “It EXPANDING ed, “We talk a lot about the Navy-Marine Corps ultimately bears on nearly every facet of Coast INTERNATIONAL Team, and we should. But we are also going to Guard-Navy operations and interoperability, and ENGAGEMENT start talking about the Navy-Coast Guard it may extend further into the joint community.” Allen also has incorporated a greater empha- Team.” He acknowledged that the two services By way of example, Allen cited the collocation sis on international engagement in his plans to have worked well together but said that more of Navy and Coast Guard intelligence services move the Coast Guard forward. “What we’re must be done. “We must bring together our mul- at the National Maritime Intelligence Centre for trying to do is come together and create an inter- ti-mission assets, personnel resources, and shore well over 10 years. “The synergy derived from national strategy that reflects where we want to command and control nodes to enhance secur- having Navy and Coast Guard intelligence oper- be as an agency”, he noted. He plans to subsume ity of our ports, coastal approaches, rivers and ations at the same location manifests itself in this effort into an overarching Coast Guard mar- waterways - the entire maritime domain”, he improved maritime domain awareness but, more itime strategy that he has targeted for promul- asserted. Its continuing partnership with the U.S. importantly, global maritime intelligence inte- gation this autumn. This new strategy will sup- Coast Guard, he emphasised, was the Navy’s gration – one of the supporting plans under the plement the service’s 2002 Maritime Strategy “single most critical relationship” when it comes new National Strategy for Maritime Security”, for Homeland Security and the National Secur- to securing the maritime domain. he said. ity Strategy for Maritime Security that President While the policy initially focused on surface Another example is the Navy’s incipient Bush signed in September 2005. “What you are warships and cutters, the 9/11 attacks generat- Naval Expeditionary Combat Command that going to see is a fairly cohesive, broad Coast Guard international strategy.” One of the objectives of the international engagement strategy is to unify and align what Coast Guard Headquarters and its two area commands have been doing for some time, and it will link the Coast Guard more closely with DOD’s joint geographic combatant commanders, as well as the U.S. Navy. In mid-July, for example, Adm. Mullen announced that the Navy would develop, for the first time since the Cold War Maritime Strategy of 1983, a national maritime strategy. For that truly to be effective as a

Fig. 6: The first EADS-CASA HC-235A medium-range maritime patrol aircraft was rolled out at its factory in March and made its first flight in June; it is shown here during a test flight at the EADS-CASA facility in Seville, Spain, piloted by a U.S. Coast Guard aviator. The DEEPWATER Programme also is upgrading the inventory of the Coast Guard’s long-range search aircraft, including missionisation of six improved HC-130J aircraft. Small and medium-range helicopters also are being modernised and converted to serve as more capable multi-mission platforms as part of the DEEPWATER Programme. (Photo: Courtesy EADS-CASA)

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national strategy, some officials say, all U.S. National Strategy for Maritime Security, but it to ensure the people and the tools will be in place, naval and maritime services – Coast Guard, also must support all of the operations that the Adm. Allen, the Coast Guard, and the United Navy, Marine Corps, and perhaps even the Mar- Coast Guard conducts. There will be three major States will be frustrated in achieving that vision. itime Administration, and National Oceano- sections in this strategy”, Adm. Allen stated. “In my view, the mandate for my watch is to graphic and Atmospheric Administration – “First, there will be a security piece. There will start to have a discussion in this country about should be closely aligned within a joint and inter- be a safety piece, and there will be a steward- what constitutes a maritime security regime for agency task force. ship of the oceans piece. That will form the cap- a coastal nation state, understanding that is sub- “The Coast Guard’s maritime strategy will stone strategic driver for my time as Comman- ject to some discussion given globalisation, the link us more closely with our DOD and DOS dant.” Internet, and networking as a concept for organ- [Department of State] counterparts”. Allen add- ising structures”, Allen told NAVAL FORCES. ed. “When you go into an area you have many KEY CHALLENGES “Nonetheless, legal regimes recognise territori- equities – not only do you have the Coast Guard “We are nothing without our people, and our al seas, contiguous zones, and exclusive eco- equities in that particular country, you must be people cannot be effective without the right nomic zones. How do they intersect with the mindful of what the combatant commander is tools”, Allen stated at his change of command need to identify who is approaching your shore trying to achieve in terms of theatre engagement. ceremony last May. That summarises the key and deal with threats as far off shore as we can? You also must be mindful of the mission plan of challenges that will continue to shape his vision We’ve taken a couple of incremental steps, but the State Department’s country teams that are of the future Coast Guard. The need for highly I would suggest we have taken a couple of fix- there and what they are trying to achieve. We skilled, motivated, and committed people is the es, but I’m not sure we know what the DR [dead need to meld those all together. That creates a sine qua non for mission execution. But with- reckoning] is. Coast Guard portfolio of activities and compe- out the right tools – aircraft, cutters, boats, com- “Our challenge is to attack each day and each tencies on offer to either the Secretary of Defense mand-control-communications equipment, task with a purpose grounded in who we are, or State.” actionable intelligence contributing to maritime what we have been, and what we must become”, “The broader Coast Guard maritime strategy domain awareness, integrated logistics, and Allen concluded: “Semper Paratus – Always that we will produce will support, in part, the more – and the sufficient and sustained funding Ready.” NAFO

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