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Admiral J. William Kime, U.S. Coast Guard
In 1990, shortly after I became Commandant of the Coast Guard, I issued the following mission statement:
The United States Coast Guard is the nation’s primary maritime operating agency. We protect life and property at sea, enforce federal laws and treaties, preserve marine natural resources, and promote national security interests. As one of the nation’s five Armed Forces, it is our military character—our organization and discipline, our command, control and communications structure, and our multimission surface and air capabilities—which enables us to perform our civil duties within the Department of Transportation, as well as function in the Department of the Navy when Congress or the President so directs. The Coast Guard hallmark is quality service to the public.
This statement encapsulates the Coast Guard as it is today, but is it the Coast Guard that our nation needs? Is such an organization relevant to the future of the United States?
Although I recognize the folly of straight-line extrapolation of today’s trends into the future, examining our current relevancy might be a good point of departure.
Today’s Coast Guard is a conglomeration of many programs. We are deployed worldwide, tending U.S. interests at home and abroad. On an average day we save 16 lives, assist 361 people, prevent $2,500,000 in property losses, respond to 23 oil or chemical spills, board 90 large vessels for port-safety checks, inspect 64 commercial vessels, investigate 17 marine accidents, conduct maintenance of 150 aids to navigation, seize drugs, and interdict illegal aliens. We also respond to crises and disasters, both natural and man-made.
The Coast Guard was the primary maritime participant in the humanitarian maritime interception—and eventual repatriation— of Haitians fleeing the economic conditions of their country. Between November 1991 and September 1992, the Coast Guard rescued more than 37,000 Haitians, most of those at sea in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. These operations required a massive, coordinated effort involving numerous ships and aircraft. Haitian migration has dropped off considerably, but recent trends may indicate an increase in refugees from Cuba.
The Coast Guard’s involvement in disaster-relief efforts has also been notable. After Hurricane Andrew struck the Florida and Louisiana coasts and Hurricane Iniki hit Hawaii, the Coast Guard was a key participant in relief operations—assessing damage to our ports and waterways, rescuing many people whose lives were threatened, providing logistics support for other federal agencies, and assisting with the restoration of martime commerce after the storms. The Coast Guard performed these missions successfully because it was able to dispatch people and equipment from around the nation to augment Coast Guard forces within the affected areas.
The Coast Guard’s role in maritime drug interdiction remains important. In 1991, the Coast Guard seized or assisted with the seizure of more than 90,000 pounds of cocaine, 44,000 pounds of marijuana, and 140,000 pounds of hashish. While maritime activity seems to have leveled off as drug smugglers shift to other routes, the Coast Guard continues to lead maritime drug-interdiction activities.
The Coast Guard’s involvement in fisheries law enforcement intensified as the need to manage U.S. fisheries resources became more critical. The enforcement of increasingly complex regulations required the shifting of Coast Guard resources to this program. We increased our capability in the Pacific by moving two high-endurance cutters to that photoscoumssvofu.s.coast3u*nD area and supplemented
aircraft available for surveillance duty. We expanded our liaison with the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Department of State to ensure coordinated enforcement efforts. In 1991, almost 17% of our ship-resource hours were committed to this program.
The Coast Guard continues to play a leading role in maritime safety and marine-environmental protection through our involvement in the International Maritime Organization. The Coast Guard was instrumental in getting the maritime nations of the world to adopt new standards for passenger-ship safety and oil- tanker construction and operations. The Coast Guard also began issuing and enforcing more than 30 new regulations mandated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to prevent spills, mitigate en-
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vironmental damage, and ensure an appropriate cleanup response to oil spills in U.S. waters. Also in the international arena, the Coast Guard is still engaged in southwest Asia, assisting the enforcement of the United Nations' embargo on Iraq.
Although our mission statement does not specifically mention hurricanes or Haitian emigration, responding to these crises is implicit in our function as a humanitarian organization charged with protecting life and property at sea. Our mission statement does not specifically cite drug interdiction or fisheries protection and management—our current national law-enforcement initiatives. Our mission statement doesn’t mention our aggressive pollution-prevention and -response programs, but these programs are necessary to preserve and protect our marine environment. Our mission is a broad mandate to respond to a host of U.S. needs in the maritime world. Are we relevant? The U.S. Coast Guard is indeed relevant to the security, safety, and economic prosperity of the American people.
Woven into our mission statement are some key Coast Guard attributes: we are a maritime organization; we are an armed force with military tasks and a military structure; we have four major roles—maritime law enforcement, maritime safety, marine environmental protection, and national security; we have multimission assets with both peacetime and wartime functions; and, above all, we exist to provide quality service to the U.S. public. These are the core Coast Guard attributes which currently serve the nation and the attributes that the Coast Guard will bring into the future. They make the Coast Guard relevant today and are the foundation of our future.
Undoubtedly, our focus will change in response to new crises and disasters as well as to shifting public priorities and interests. In order to ensure our relevance and enhance forehandedness, I encourage strategic thinking throughout the Coast Guard, to help us anticipate and respond to change. It has been this ability to change, our free-form response capability and flexibility coupled with the versatility of our multimission character—equipment and people—that has allowed the Coast Guard to serve the nation so well in the past and that allows us to claim our status as the nation’s primary ocean-policy and maritime operating agency. As our nation enters the 21st century, these attributes will make the Coast Guard relevant in a changing world.
What does the future have in store for the Coast Guard? I see us expanding our role as the provider of all domestic federal maritime services. I see the Coast Guard continuing as the primary operating agency charged with protecting our marine environment and ocean resources, and enforcing U.S. laws and international treaties in U.S. waters and our Exclusive Economic Zone. I see the Coast Guard representing the United States at international maritime forums and contributing to “nation building" by assisting developing maritime nations. I see the Coast Guard providing unique capabilities to the National Command Authorities to promote international stability and U.S. maritime interests abroad. I see the Coast Guard enhancing its ability to recruit and maintain a diverse workforce and be a competitive employer. I see an organization that employs strategic thinking to help it anticipate and respond to new needs and demands, and total quality management to improve its performance continually. I see a balanced organization capable of performing almost any task assigned to it in an efficient and professional manner.
Are these roles relevant to the health, security, and economic well-being of the United States? You bet they are. and the U.S. Coast Guard will be ready to perform. Semper Paratus\
Admiral Kime is the Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard.
COAST GUARD ESSAY CONTEST
The U.S. Naval Institute will award cash prizes of $1,000, $750, and $500 to the authors of the three winning essays in its annual Coast Guard Essay Contest,
This essay contest was created to encourage discussion on current issues and new directions for the Coast Guard. Essays must be postmarked on or before 1 June 1993.
Essay Contest Rules
- Essays must be original and no longer than 3,000 words.
- All entries should be directed to Editor-In-Chief, Proceedings (USCG Contest), U.S. Naval Institute, 118 Maryland Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21402-5035.
- Essays must be postmarked on or before 1 June 1993.
- Letters notifying the three award winners will be mailed on or about 30 September 1993.
- All essays should be typewritten, double-spaced, on 8/2" x 11" paper. Include address, phone number, biographical sketch, and social security number with
each entry. . .
- The Naval Institute will publish the winning essays in Proceedings, its monthly magazine. Some entries not awarded prizes may also be selected tor publication. Their authors will be compensated at regular rates.
- The Naval Institute Editorial Board will judge the competition.
DEADLINE: 1 JUNE 1993