The November 1993 Navy-Coast Guard Board initiated a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Transportation (DoT). Signed in October 1995, the basic agreement, titled "The Use of Coast Guard Capabilities and Resources in Support of the National Military Strategy," has not changed since, though the Chief of Naval Operations and Coast Guard Commandant can and have signed updates to several of the MOA’s annexes.
The purpose of this MOA is twofold: (1) to identify national defense capabilities of the Coast Guard; and (2) to improve Coast Guard responsiveness as a force provider. Five annexes address specific areas of Coast Guard support: maritime interception; military environmental response; peacetime military engagement; port operations, security, and defense; and coastal sea-control operations. Reoccurring themes in the annexes are that the Coast Guard maintains currency of experience through routine peacetime operations. In addition, the Navy and Coast Guard agree that it is appropriate and desirable for the Coast Guard to participate in support of the National Military Strategy.
In response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the federal government and DoD realigned to better protect and defend the homeland. U.S. Northern Command and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were established to conduct and coordinate homeland security and defense. The Coast Guard’s move to DHS in March 2003 provides the impetus for the Coast Guard and Navy to modernize the 1995 MOA and revisit the use of Coast Guard capabilities and resources in support of the National Military Strategy.
Lieutenant Commander Stoll is assigned to Maritime Defense Zone Atlantic, Policy and Plans.