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It is difficult to imagine a busier and more challenging year than 1992 for °ne of the oldest federal agencies. During its 202nd year, the Coast Guard responded to an unusually high number of c°mplex missions, some of massive proportions. Coast Guard units rescued more ltlan 38,000 Haitians who fled their county in unseaworthy vessels. Two major hurricanes—Andrew in Florida and Louisiana, and Iniki in Hawaii—required extraordinary humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief efforts. A major December storm along the Northeast coast put the readiness and abilities of units in the First and Fifth Coast Guard Districts to the test. Major fisheries law enforcement actions took place in all regions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) with noteworthy cases in the Bering Sea, along the Gulf Coast, and off New England. A large number of illegal aliens were apprehended aboard foreign-flag ships hound for U.S. ports. Extensive marine safety and security patrols were conducted for five months off San Diego, she of the America’s Cup competition. Major scientific operations were conducted aboard the nation’s two polar icebreakers in the Chukchi Sea, off northeast Greenland, and along the coast of Antarctica’s Marie Byrd Land. An ex- antple of the overall intensity of 1992 operations was that Coast Guard Air Sta
tion Miami recorded the highest number of search-and-rescue (SAR) cases by an air station in any year.
About the only thing the Coast Guard did not have to deal with in 1992 was a rash of major pollution incidents—perhaps an indication of improving federal regulatory efforts. Eclipsed by the high visibility of other operations were the continued high tempo of drug-interdiction operations and the myriad of “routine” safety responses along all of the U.S. waterways.
On 10 December 1992, the efforts of the entire Coast Guard organization from October 1991 through November 1992 were recognized by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In a formal ceremony. Transportation Secretary Andrew Card presented the Humanitarian Service Medal to all military members and the Coast Guard Public Service Commendation to all civilian members of the service. Noted in the citation were the “truly extraordinary service” to the nation, the “unprecedented mobilization of Coast Guard resources,” and a performance “in keeping with the noblest Coast Guard traditions of humanitarian service.” Additionally, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral J. William Kime, became the first recipient of the Transportation Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership during this time.
The Budget vis-a-vis 1987____________
The total fiscal year (FY) 1992 budget of $3.6 billion funded a personnel strength of approximately 38,900 active- duty military and 6,300 civilian employees. Because the Coast Guard is an op- erations-intensive organization, it is not surprising that 68.2% of its total budget was devoted to operating expenses. Table 1 illustrates the actual appropriations and percentage breakdown of operating expenses for the service’s major programs. 83.3% of these 1992 operating funds were divided among four key programs— search and rescue, enforcement of laws and treaties, marine safety, and aids to navigation.
Somewhat deceptive may be the fact that the enforcement of laws and treaties took up 36% of overall operating expenses—$883.7 million. This relatively large share can be split into four unique elements and, thus, more appropriately reflect the Coast Guard’s maritime-enforcement missions: domestic fisheries law enforcement (10% of all operating expenses or $247.5 million), foreign fisheries law enforcement (2.3% or $56.5 million), drug interdiction (14.4% or $352.6 million), and a category titled “Other” which includes migrant interdiction (9.25% or $227.1 million). Balancing these maritime enforcement ac-
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Table 1: Appropriation, for Operating Expend of Major Coast Card Program, in Fiscal Year, 1987 and 1992'
Operating
Program
FY 1987
Appropriations
% of Total
FY 1992 Appropriations
%of
Total
Net % Change
$416.9 | 21.9 | $ 360.9 | 14.7 |
665.8 | 34.9 | 883.7 | 36.0 |
74.3 | 3.9 | 85.2 | 3.5 |
125.4 | 6.6 | 309.9 | 12.6 |
121.0 | 6.3 | 221.0 | 9.0 |
415.8 | 21.8 | 491.1 | 20.0 |
88.1 | 4.6 | 103.6 | 4.2 |
$1,907.3 |
| $2,455.4 |
|
-7.2 + 1.1 -0.4 +6.0 +2.7 -1.8 -0.4
Search and Rescue Enforcement of Laws and Treaties lee Operations Marine Safety
Marine Environmental Protection3 Aids to Navigation. defense Readiness
Totals
rv i " ‘ f j ,.nrt include all funds for operating and maintaining multi-mission cutters, aircraft, and shore facilities. Personnel
s ,he purposes
Of this comparison it has been placed within Marine Environmental Protection. Source: U.S. Coes, Guard Budget m BneJ. toscal rea
Chronology of Selected U.S. Coast Guard Operations for 1992[1]
6 January | Cocaine seizure, 60 nm. NE of Jamaica | USCGC Campbell (WMEC-909) seizes motor vessel (MV) Harbour with 4.5 tons of cocaine, 3rd largest USCG maritime seizure. |
19 January | Offshore rescue, 14 nm. E of Atlantic City, NJ | Air Station (AS) Cape May HH-65 helicopter locates and rescues 5 from sinking fishing vessel (FV) Debbie Lynn in gale-force winds. |
24 January | Explosion aboard USCG C-130 aircraft near Cold Bay, AK | AS Kodiak C-130 aircraft suffers inflight engine explosion, loss of hydraulics and extensive damage; 16 aboard uninjured in complex emergency landing. |
8 February | FV seizure, Bristol Bay, AK | USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) seizes U.S. FV Pacific Scout for unlawful trawling inside closed sea lion rookery and other violations. |
19 February | Medevac, 189 nm. S of Pensacola, FL | Aviation Training Center Mobile HH-60 helicopter medevacs injured British sailor from the sailing vessel (SV) Watermellon. |
27-28 February | Foreign FV seizures off Port Isabel, TX | AS Corpus Christi aircraft, Station Port Isabel, and USCGC Chincoteague (WPB- 1320) combine to seize two Mexican sharkboats fishing within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). |
22 March | Downed commercial airliner, La Guardia Airport, Queens, NY | 20 USCG search units respond to crash of USAir Flight 405; safety zone closing of south Flushing Bay to all traffic put into effect. |
27 April | U.S. response to pollution incident at request of Mozambique government | Atlantic and Pacific Strike Team members join interagency assessment team to provide technical assistance in response to potential 19-million gallon spill from the grounded Greek tanker Katina P. |
16 May | Marine safety patrols, America’s Cup races off San Diego, CA | Conclusion of five months marine safety and security to this international event; April and May saw more than 6,000 vessels in the spectator area. |
26 May | Mid-year status of Cuban and Haitian interdictions | 808 Cuban refugees recovered since October 1991; 465 vessels and 34,134 Haitians interdicted since 28 October 1991. |
29 May | Threat by stowaways in foreign ship off Savannah River, GA | Marine Safety Office (MSO) Savannah, Station Tybee, USCGC Metomkin (WPB- 1325), and INS agents respond to Japanese MV Hemlock Queen with 21 Dominican Republic stowaways. |
6 June | Search and Rescue in Galveston/Freeport, TX | Group Galveston and AS Houston respond to numerous cases resulting from the passing of severe weather front; multiple small boat capsizals in the region. |
10 June | Official closing of Exxon Valdez federal oil spill response | CG Federal On-Scene Coordinator reports Final Shoreline Assessment Program (begun 14 May) complete; Exxon Valdez case opened 24 March 1989—officially closed. |
30 June | Major Benzene Spill, Nemadji River, Superior, WI | MSO Duluth, Station Duluth, and Atlantic Coast Strike Team assist in federal response to train derailment; plume from tank car requires evacuation of 25,000. |
3 July | Foreign MV seizure, St. Paul Island, AK | USCGC Yocona (WMEC-168) seizes Panamanian MV No. I Kotoku for receiving 400 tons of fish meal processed from fish illegally caught within the U.S. EEZ. |
17 July | Major crude oil spill, Galveston Bay, Texas City, TX | MSO Galveston responds to 75,000-gallon crude oil spill by the Japanese tanker Shoko Maru. |
22 July | Cocaine seizure, 400 nm. S of Acapulco, Mexico | USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC-722) seizes the Columbian FV Don Jacinto with an estimated 5,000 pounds of cocaine. |
7-10 August | Major passenger ship grounding, Vineyard Sound, MA | MSO Providence assumes On-Scene Coordinator role in response to grounding of Queen Elizabeth U (2,900 passengers aboard); numerous units assist in pollution response and marine safety tasks; all passengers safely removed. |
23-26 August | Hurricane Andrew sweeps across the Bahamas, South Florida, and into Louisiana | Seventh and Eighth Districts respond to hundreds of emergency situations and rescues; sections of waterways closed due to loss of aids to navigation and vessels adrift; callup of CG Reserves; Transportation Secretary Card named federal task force coordinator. |
1 September | Record search and rescue cases by CG Air Station | AS Miami opens search-and-rescue case number 811 establishing a new fiscal year record for a CG Air Station. |
6-8 September | Vessel Collision with Tool Bridge, Detroit River, MI | Group Detroit and MSO Detroit respond to MV H. Lee White collision with Grosse He Bridge over Trenton Channel; section of bridge knocked into the channel. |
11 September | Hurricane Iniki passes over Oahu and hits Kauai, HI | Fourteenth District responds in federal disaster relief efforts; Hawaii is declared a disaster area by President Bush. |
22 September | Search and rescue, 70 nm. S of St. Paul Island, AK | In severe weather, multiple units combine to rescue all five crew (each in a survival suit) from the FV Majestic sunk in the Bering Sea. |
14 October | Tow boat sinking,Ohio River at Wheeling, OH | MSO Pittsburgh responds to sinking of W.L Tolen after it struck the Wheeling Water Intake. |
3-6 November | Operation Glow 92, multi-agency hazardous-material enforcement, New Orleans, LA | MSO New Orleans joins task force of federal, state, and local officials in major inspection of hazardous materials moving through Port of New Orleans; 284 vehicles and 391 containers inspected. |
November | Major ocean search, Mid-Atlantic Ocean | USCG, USN, Canadian CG, Royal Air Force, and French units search wide region of the Atlantic for U.S. SV Coyote; vessel located 460 nm. N of Azores with ho sign of missing U.S. sailor. |
28 November | Haitian migrant interdiction, NW of Haiti | USCGC Tahoma (WMEC-908) interdicts two small vessels with a total of 321 migrants aboard bound for the U.S. |
10-11 December | Major winter storm along Northeast coast | First District units work 51 search cases and save at least 84 lives in series of complex missions. |
Selections are only a representative sampling of the thousands of Coast Guard operations during the calendar year 1992. |
tlvities with ever-changing national pri- °nties has been a consuming task for the Coast Guard’s leadership.
The figures in Table 1 which show the net change in percentage of total operat- lng expenses by program between FY *587 and FY 1992 illustrate how the Coast Guard has responded to shifting Priorities. Funding has shifted away from the SAR and aids-to-navigation programs. Marine safety and marine-environmental- Protection have witnessed modest growth—in part, because of the Exxon ^aldez oil spill and greater emphasis on environmental and safety responsibilities, he enforcement-of-laws-and-treaties por- tlon of the operating budget also has risen shghtly; this increase can be attributed to et>hanced fisheries law enforcement— domestic and foreign—and the growing challenge of migrant-interdiction. The °Verall 1992 operating budget appears 'Pore evenly distributed among the major Programs than the 1987 budget.
^ey Law Enforcement Statistics [2] l vessels were found to have violated the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act.
The figures related to migrant-interdiction operations reveal even more about the demands made on the service in 1992. From October 1991 through July 1992, 62 Coast Guard cutters and 13 air stations participated in the humanitarian interdiction efforts near the Windward Passage off Haiti. Coast Guard units rescued 37,577 Haitians—13,103 in May 1992 alone—and interdicted 588 migrants from the Dominican Republic and 2,066 Cubans—the most in a single year from that island nation since the early 1980s. The interdiction of 607 migrants from the People’s Republic of China—all stowaways aboard ships bound for the United States—identifies an emerging problem. These figures suggest a continuing, if not expanded, requirement for a strong Coast Guard presence within—and beyond—the U.S. 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
Since he began his watch as Commandant, Admiral J. William Kime has spoken consistently of his watchwords: “People, Balance, and Excellence.” These three words clearly illustrate the hallmarks of his administration: improving the quality of life of all Coast Guard personnel and their dependents, better balancing what the Coast Guard does with changing national priorities, and strengthening the overall excellence of the organization. In 1992, there were four elements of organizational change ongoing to meet these objectives.
► Adopting Total Quality. Training in the principles and philosophy of total quality management (TQM) has been expanded throughout Coast Guard Headquarters and all field organizations. Many processes have been analyzed and improved by quality action teams. Natural working groups of flag officers (and those composed of other ranks and rates) are tackling such complex issues as future training, information-resource management, organizational structures, and the personnel-awards system. A Quality Council headed by the Commandant has been established to provide overall guidance to the Coast Guard’s TQM effort. Vital to the acceptance and value of the service’s quality initiatives will be the continuing encouragement of teamworking, managing by values, and the fostering of continuous learning at all levels of the Coast Guard.
Russia and the Coast Guard
For more than two decades, the U.S. Coast Guard has maintained working relations with a number of maritime agencies of the former Soviet Union. Since the early 1970s, there have been exchange visits of marine-pollution experts; officials of the Coast Guard have conducted radionavigation discussions with the Russians since 1980. Coast Guard delegations to the International Maritime Organization have worked routinely with representatives of former Soviet Ministry of Merchant Marine. Because of their at-sea law enforcement experience, Coast Guard offi-
The USCGC Chase (WHEC-718) tied up in Vladivostok during her visit to the Russian Pacific port in September 1992.
ing year in the Coast Guard’s relationship with Russia. In June, Admiral J. William Kime became the first Coast Guard commandant to visit Russia. Following working visits to Greece, Italy, and Poland, Admiral Kime traveled to Moscow and St. Petersburg to hold talks with a host of
Russian maritime officials. In Moscow, the Commandant was hosted by Colonel General Kalinichenko, commander of the 200,000-strong Frontier Guard—formerly the Border Guard of the KGB. The delegation met with numerous organizations including the Russian Fisheries Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environmental Protection, State Maritime Rescue Coordination, and the Northern Sea Route Administration. While in St. Petersburg, Admiral Kime met with the commander of the Leningrad Naval Base and the Superintendent of the Frunze Higher Naval School and inspected the Frontier Guard Fleet. Subjects touched on during this historic visit included the organization of the U.S. Coast Guard, future port calls, and enhanced cooperation in search and rescue (SAR), marine environmental protection, radionavigation, and fisheries law enforcement.
The broad cooperation between the Russian maritime organizations and the Coast Guard extends to the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Since 1980, discussions have been carried out regarding radionavigation—both sides are working to establish a joint LORAN C/Chayka radionavigation chain in the Bering Sea by 1993. Since July 1989, a SAR agreement has been in effect for the North Pacific and exchange visits have taken place between the Rescue Coordination Center in Vladivostock and the headquarters of the 17th Coast Guard District in Alaska. Under the umbrella U.S./U.S.S.R. Environmental Agreement, a Joint Contingency Plan for the Bering and Chukchi seas has been established since May 1989; cooperation and coordination has been enhanced by subsequent exchange visits by pollution-response experts.
Since 1991, Coast Guard cutters have visited ports in the Russian Far East. The USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717) made the first visit by a cutter to the Russian Pacific port in May 1991. Since this historic first, the USCGC Yocona (WMEC-168) visited Provideniya in October 1991 and, in September 1992, the USCGC Chase (WHEC-718) called in Vladivostok in conjunction with opening of a U.S. consulate. In the next month, the USCGC Storis (WMEC- 38)—the oldest Coast Guard cutter in service—made a port call at Petropavlosk, the first by a foreign warship since 1857. With closer ties on a host of fisheries enforcement issues, more operational ship visits will enhance future professional and cultural exchanges.—L. W. Brigham
► Adjusting the Resource Management and Planning System: In 1992, a number of initiatives related to ways the Coast Guard adjusts to shifting national issues and priorities were completed. For example, a quality action team, guided by TQM principles, studied the entire Coast Guard planning system in order to recommend improvements in the linkages between short-term (resource-budget issues), long-term, and strategic planning. An effort also was undertaken to better the Coast Guard’s Capital Investment Plan, a key strategic document outlining 140 the future acquisitions of such things as cutters, boats, aircraft, shore facilities, and information systems. Also, a new document—Program Directions—was mandated as a part of the planning system at Headquarters. In it, each of the most senior managers responsible for operational and support programs must outline the future of their programs out to a 15-year horizon.
► Enhancing Work-Life and Human Resource Programs: Overall, the Coast Guard has begun many work-life or human-resource programs that are designed to strike a balance between the needs of the Coast Guard and the needs of its military and civilian personnel. IrO' proving the quality of life is important to maintaining the Coast Guard as a com' petitive employer in the future. In 1992- many of the recommendations of three major human-resource studies conducted i in 1990-92—the Work-Life Study, the Health Care Delivery System Study, and the Women in the Coast Guard Study— were implemented. A myriad of im' provements were accomplished in the Coast Guard’s housing program and its *
Proceedings/May 1993 !
An “Average Day”
During the Coast Guard’s 202nd Year, 1992
> Seized 318 pounds of marijuana and 253 pounds ot
cocaine (street value of cocaine $5 million)
► Interdicted 112 illegal migrants
The cost of this “average day” of Coast Guard operations (known as “operating expenses”) to the American taxpayer was $6.7 million.
(Adapted from Commandant’s Bulletin, November 1992 1993 U.S. Coast Guard Overview”)
► Saved 12 lives and assisted 315 people
► Saved $2 million in property
► Conducted 144 search-and-rescue missions
► Responded to 23 oil or hazardous-chemical spills >• Boarded 90 large vessels for port safety checks
► Inspected 64 commercial vessels
► Investigated 17 marine accidents
► Serviced 150 aids to navigation
individual and family services.
^ Institutionalizing Strategic Planning Qnd Strategic Thinking: Fostering strategic thinking and creating a workable strategic planning process have been crit- lcal objectives in preparing the Coast Guard for an increasingly complex and demanding world. For the past two years, Admiral Kime has used the Strategic Agenda to outline his broad directions for 'he Coast Guard. During 1992, two settlor management boards at Coast Guard Headquarters focused their deliberations Primarily on the future: the Strategic banning Group (a monthly meeting chaired by the Commandant and attended hy the Vice Commandant, the Chief of Staff, and members of the Strategic Planting Staff) and the Senior Advisory Group (a quarterly meeting of the Vice Commandant, the Chief of Staff, and 'he Atlantic and Pacific Area Commanders). Forums were held during the year among the senior leadership to identify the Coast Guard’s con- 'ributions to the nation’s economy and environmental health.
Alajor Events and Initiatives
( released early in 1993). The contributions of the Coast Guard in terms of the nation’s economic, social, environmental and military security are discussed. Nearly all of the tasks the Coast Guard performs are noted in the policy as unique, and not duplicated by the other armed services.
> Fisheries Enforcement Strategy Study. A key fisheries law enforcement study was completed by the Operational Law Enforcement Division of Coast Guard Headquarters in late 1992. Participants in the study team included Coast Guard law-enforcement personnel, officials of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), fishermen, and selected members of the regional fisheries-management councils. The analysis showed that enforcement will become increasingly complex and that the demand for Coast Guard enforcement in the U.S. EEZ likely will increase. All factors point to an expansion of this at-sea mission with related requirements for greater expertise by Coast Guard personnel in fisheries management issues. Several important recommendations include: establishing closer linkages among Coast Guard and NMFS personnel in Washington and all regions of the nation; improving detection and intelligence capabilities for fisheries enforcement; enhancing fisheries enforcement training throughout the Coast Guard; developing quantitative methods to better determine Coast Guard asset requirements for presence and enforcement
in terms of aircraft and cutters; and, ensuring the myriad of fisheries-management measures adopted by the regional councils can be enforced.
>• The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 1990)'. The Coast Guard issued an interim final rule which will regulate the construction of double-hull tankers after June 1990 and provides a 25-year phaseout schedule for existing single-hull tankers. This rule applies to domestic and foreign vessels transporting oil in U.S. waters. By 1995—to remain in operation—older, larger ships will be required to be retrofitted with a double hull; smaller vessels will have until 2015 to be retired or be retrofitted. Some have estimated that requiring double hulls will reduce the annual amount of oil spilled by tankers in U.S. waters by more than two million gallons.
A negotiated rule-making process—in which Coast Guard officials, industry representatives, environmental organizations, state officials, and other public interest groups participated—was used to develop the vessel pollution-response plans required by OPA 1990. This process produced a set of agreed-upon rules for establishing vessel response plans, many of which have been passed to the Coast Guard for review in early 1993. As required by the Act, the Coast Guard’s OPA 1990 implementation staff also published proposed rules describing the conditions for tug escort of tankers in Puget Sound and Prince William Sound, Alaska. >New Hardware: The USCGC Midgett (WHEC-720), the last of the 12 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters that underwent a Fleet Renovation and Modernization project during the past decade, was delivered 2 April 1992 by Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle. The delivery of HH-60J helicopters continues; a fleet of 47 of this new medium-range recovery helicopter is planned.
Also, a SAR concept borrowed from the Norwegian Coast Guard was tested at Station Taylor’s Island on the Chesapeake Bay near Cambridge, Maryland. During the experiment, the boats and berthing facilities at the shore station were replaced by an experimental 50-foot boat in which the station crew lived. This concept not only reduced the total station personnel requirements from 19 to 8, but eliminated the need for shore facilities. The experiment is being extensively evaluated in order to determine the feasibility ot this
In late January 1993, the Coast Guard picked up a distress call from the MV East Wood—saying she was adrift some 1,500 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii and had been hijacked. A boarding team from the USCGC Rush (WHEC-723) discovered more than 500 illegal Chinese migrants on board. Rising illegal seaborne immigration from Asia will demand a strong Coast Guard presence within— and beyond—U.S. waters.
new concept for selected coastal regions around the nation.
► Differential GPS Navigation System: Coast Guard engineers are continuing the development of a differential global positioning system (GPS) navigation system for harbor approach and coastal piloting. Differential GPS—which uses satellitepositioning technology and advanced communications data networks—is the follow-on electronic aid to navigation to Loran-A, Loran-C, and Omega. The new system, planned to be in service in 1996, will provide all-weather navigational accuracy of closer than 10 meters. Prototype reference stations have been installed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Montauk Point, New York; Cape Henlopen, Delaware; Cape Henry, Virginia; Corpus Christi/Galveston, Texas; and, Whitefish Point, Michigan. >Vessel Traffic Services: Enhanced vessel traffic services in the nation’s busiest ports will be the norm rather than the exception in the 21st century. An example of the Coast Guard’s modernization of its vessel- traffic services (VTS) is VTS New York. Serving the ports of New York and New Jersey, this system was recently expanded into the seaward approaches to the city by the installation of radar and communications equipment at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. Future plans call for expanding VTS coverage into the entire East River, Raritan Bay, and Arthur Kill. More interaction with the VTS’s “customers”— the maritime industry and groups such as the Sandy Hook Pilots Association— has helped improve the overall effectiveness of the service.
Future Challenges
overall economic well-being and security.
As in 1991, the Coast Guard faces some uncertainty regarding its roles in national defense and national security. Commensurate with the profound changes ongoing within the Department of Defense (DoD), the Coast Guard will need to define and redefine its essential relationships with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Navy, and various commanders-in- chief.
Several significant challenges await the Coast Guard in the decade ahead:
► Planning for potential increases in at- sea law enforcement in response to expanding fisheries-management and migrant-interdiction responsibilities.
> Maintaining an appropriate balance between the Coast Guard’s regulatory functions and vast operational responsibilities and between its domestic services and national defense roles.
► Firmly establishing the Coast Guard as a leading federal environmental organization that is responsive and committed to the nation’s environmental health.
> Enhancing its role as a model sea service for countries—particularly Russia, former Soviet states, the Baltic nations, and Eastern European nations—that plan to establish small navies or coast j guards.
► Monitoring the effects of the plans for DoD base closures. Base closures will have significant impacts on the Coast Guard’s ability to provide services to its personnel and obtain maintenance and training support for its cutter and aviation fleets. >■ Establishing a more visible, lead- j ing role in the development of U.S- ocean policies.
► Monitoring trends in the growth of the domestic and international cruise-ship industry, to respond to enforcement challenges posed by international maritime standards. . >■ Defining the appropriate roles and size of the Coast Guard Reserve.
► Continuing creative and strategic planning for investment in the Coast Guard’s human-resource programs that will improve the quality of lift of all Coast Guard civilian and military personnel and their dependents—and ensure that the organization will remain a highly competitive employer in the future.
>■ Developing a more integrated ap' proach to management of the nation’s navigable waterways. The amalgamation of Coast Guard programs such as VTS, aids to naviga-1 tion, bridge administration, and other marine-safety functions will estab' lish a strategic direction worthy of |
spirited follow-up.
► Preparing for responses to U.N. and other international initiatives, where the I Coast Guard's unique maritime expertise will be needed.
> Developing an organizational (or corporate) data base—using appropriate information technologies—for ease of j access by both internal and external customers.
These issues present a challenging future for the Coast Guard. 1992 was a yeaf that clearly demonstrated its diverse capabilities and value of its service to the nation. In this era of profound change* both nationally and globally, the Coasl Guard is well positioned to respond to a host of future U.S. maritime concerns.
Captain Brigham is chief of the Strategic Planning Staff at Coast Guard Headquarters and is prospec- live commanding officer of the USCGC Polar Se“ (WAGB-11). He recently was assigned as the director of the Coast Guard's Work-Life Study, a majot human-resources task force. A distinguished graduate of the Naval War College, he has served as precommissioning commanding officer for the USC’Gf Mobile Bay (WTGB-103) and USCG Escanabf (WMEC-907). During 1989-90, Captain Brigham was a Marine Policy Research Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
^National Security Roles: Following a United Nations decree to enforce a trade embargo against
Jugoslavia, the Coast Guard was
asked to provide expertise in
boarding and searching merchant
v®ssels plying the region. In a his- 'oric November 1992 decision for 'he Coast Guard, four of its law- enforcement boarding teams were ordered to join a NATO task force >n the Adriatic Sea.
Operating under foreign command—another first for the Coast Guard—these Coast Guard personnel boarded and searched ships suspected of trying to evade the embargo and also trained NATO sailors in maritime law-enforce- uient techniques. A small Coast Guard staff continued to serve '* * * * v'th U.S. Naval Forces Central Gommand in Bahrain. Law-enforcement detachments (LEDETs) were deployed in H-S. Navy combatants and inspected ships in the Red Sea bound for Aqaba, ■*°rdan. Last year, Coast Guard LEDETs and multinational force teams boarded and verified the cargo of more than 1,600 Merchant ships; these operations are likely to continue as long as the U.N. imposes sanctions against Iraq.
Also in 1992, the Coast Guard prepared a new national security policy 'hied The United States Coast Guard: A distinct Instrument of National Security
Among the core strengths of the Coast Guard are its military character, flexibility, a multimission response capability, humanitarianism, a highly professional work force, and a proved track record of enviable service to the country. These strengths will be tested as the Coast Guard moves into the 21st century and faces the challenges stemming from changes in the way the federal government operates. In the future, all agencies will be reformed to become more responsive to the taxpayer, and will be required to demonstrate plainly how they add value to the nation. Therefore, the leadership of the Coast Guard can expect that it will have to be more articulate about its relationships to the nation’s
[1]han 26,200 boardings in FY 1992— 7.800 in the Atlantic and 8,400 in the acific—and the seizure of 52 vessels for carrying illegal drugs.
In 1992, the tempo of fisheries law en- 0rcement increased. In all, 8,974 domestic and foreign fishing vessels were hoarded; of these, 865 were found in vitiation of U.S. fisheries laws—including the Magnuson Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Lacey Act and agreements related to high seas drift net fish- erV- More than 1,200 domestic fishing
While the statistics for at-sea Coast Cuard law-enforcement activities are impelling in any year, the 1992 data Suggest an extraordinary range of marine derations. The service’s law-enforcement information system recorded more