A new era of operations is dawning for the Coast Guard. Its transition to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) involves more than simply moving to a new department—it is a major shift in mission priorities. Under the Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard's roles of maritime safety and mobility were a natural focus. Understandably, the relocation to DHS will increase the service's commitment to maritime security while it continues to maintain safety watches over mariners.
Future Coast Guard operations are aimed at increased protection of U.S. maritime borders, ports, and territorial seas. For the first time since World War II, developing maritime security roles will be at least as important as maritime safety missions. Success in balancing the nation's maritime security concerns with traditional safety oversight will require well-trained, efficient, and decisive officers.
In the hours following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, the Coast Guard responded quickly to provide immediate port security and secure the maritime approaches to key U.S. coastal facilities. New domestic units were created and directed to specialize in port and infrastructure security. This surge effort continues today, with Coast Guard men and women posted across the United States and throughout the world.
The Requirement
Concurrent with organizational transition, the Coast Guard is undertaking the most aggressive transformation in its history. Over the next 20 years, the Integrated Deepwater System will recapitalize and modernize surface, air, and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capabilities. Although the Coast Guard is accustomed to change, a major transition in the middle of epic transformation is an entirely new experience. The Deepwater overhaul and fielding of Rescue 21—a coastal communications network—are much more than equipment acquisition programs. They involve the leveraging of technology to expand capabilities, which undoubtedly will create new training demands. These projects have tremendous potential, but they will require forward-thinking, results-oriented officers to lead the way to implementation.
The critical building block for transition and transformation plans is development of a junior officer—lieutenants (junior grade) and lieutenants—professional military education (PME) system that regularly produces a corps of leaders capable of maximizing the productivity of enhanced mission resources. Further leadership development of officers at this level will resonate positively across the range of Coast Guard missions and serve as a catalyst for meeting the demands of the new era.
Officer training is conducted routinely for deck and engineering watch officers, aviators, boarding team leaders, and other specialties. Once officers complete initial training, however, they usually serve in a series of assignments that can lead to retirement without benefit of additional institutional training. Each year, dozens of officers, lieutenant (junior grade) through lieutenant commander, compete to attend advanced civilian education programs; a select few lieutenant commanders are offered seats at the various service command and staff colleges. The benefit of advanced civilian education to the individual and the service is apparent—graduates normally serve follow-on tours in staff assignments that relate to their fields of study. These officers assist in improving systems and programs throughout the Coast Guard, but their advanced education is devoid of service doctrine, the operational art, and staff officer training.
Most officers are left to their own devices in seeking PME through other-service correspondence or distance learning programs. The plain fact is that the Coast Guard needs to go well beyond its recommended reading list and adopt a higher standard for officer professional development. There are facilities to support PME and the time is right for making it a reality.
The Leadership Development Center was created on the grounds of the Coast Guard Academy to serve as the focal point for leadership training.
- The Leadership and Management Course focuses on the human aspects of leadership and includes practical lessons in leader relations and responsibilities. Much of this short course on basic leadership emphasizes the art of influencing others in a personal setting; it is taught in a seminar format. The target audience includes senior petty officers, junior officers, civilians, and members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
- The center's Command and Operations School was created to prepare personnel for senior leadership positions on all classes of cutters. It refines professional seamanship skills and renews enthusiasm for cutter duty, but attendees must be selected as prospective commanding officers or executive officers.
School of Professional Military Education
The Leadership Development Center courses meet important service needs and cater to specific purposes—at the same time, they do not furnish the level of professional knowledge required of the Coast Guard's future officer corps. To accomplish that, I propose creation of an institutional school of PME for junior officers with three to seven years of service. Gathering seasoned officers in a formal academic environment would promote in-depth understanding of organizational roles, missions, and doctrine, foster expression of diverse leadership experiences and opinions, and encourage interaction between officers of diverse backgrounds. Greater efficiency and better leadership skills would be the payoff that graduates take to their succeeding assignments.
As the operational environment of the Coast Guard changes, its officers must adapt to new circumstances while maintaining a firm grounding in leadership, ethics, and primary specialties. After reviewing Coast Guard history, roles, missions, and principles of operations, PME instruction would move to historical cases of successful and unsuccessful sea and air operations that conform to current and future service responsibilities. Intelligence assistance to operations and the ability of the fleet to gather information for decision makers would highlight the way the Coast Guard leverages technology to support operational units and meet future demands. Student officers should be familiarized with the variety of computer and software systems that are coming on line rapidly. In the past five years, the Coast Guard has made monumental advances in operational, intelligence, administrative, and logistical computer systems. An overview of their software applications and potential would be preferable to in-depth, technical instruction.
Reassignment to the Department of Homeland Security introduces the Coast Guard to a new family of players. In that regard, instruction should stress Coast Guard capabilities in concert with the roles and missions of the U.S. Northern Command and the other organizations assigned to homeland security. Orientation in contingency management, the U.S. Incident Command System, and interagency cooperation would be covered as well.
The school of PME forum would bring Coast Guard officers together with members of other agencies and services to discuss capabilities and explore opportunities for mutual support. Coast Guard relationships with other DHS agencies could be clarified in threat-based staff simulation exercises. The academic environment extracts experiences from the students and encourages independent and critical thinking. Education of this kind fosters career-long relationships among students and encourage future coordination across service and organizational lines.
Graduates would return to the fleet with expanded awareness of the missions, capabilities, and resources that affect their service. They would develop an understanding of the Coast Guard of the future and would be better equipped to take an active role in leading their units toward that vision. The curriculum would challenge student officers to learn effective staff skills and provide preparatory training for more senior positions. Finally, the school would rededicate officers to a career in service to the nation. (See the proposed curriculum at Figure 1.)
Conclusions
As international threats and accessibility to maritime operating environments evolve, the Coast Guard must continue to adapt and effectively counter enemy threats to U.S. maritime borders. Because its developing junior officers are key agents of change for adaptation to the vexing challenges of the future, the Coast Guard's senior leaders should move now to create a school of professional military education that will enable the service of tomorrow to be smarter, faster, and more powerful. The maritime safety and security of the nation depend on it.
Lieutenant Knapp, an HH-60J helicopter pilot, is assigned to Coast Guard Air Station, Alaska.